With the recent announcement that Vanderpump Rules will feature an entirely new cast for its newest season, reality TV fans are mourning arguably one of the greatest shows in the genre to ever exist, and certainly one of the most dynamic legacy casts to ever do it. 

 

But it appears that one thing that is uniting fans in their grief is revisiting of some of the most iconic scenes over the past 11 seasons. And since we’re not entirely sure whether we’ll ever experience a show or cast of this calibre again, here are my list of top 10 scenes from the OG Vanderpump Rules.

10. Lisa Vanderpump reads Stassi

There were very few occasions when we saw a grovelling Stassi. But when she showed up to Lisa’s restaurant after months of saying rancid things about Lisa, her staff and her restaurants on bended knee, Lisa read her for filth, reminding her that she gave her a huge opportunity in her early 20s and saved her from a sex tape going public. Even still, Stassi remained doubtful about the impact that Lisa’s had on her life, saying that all she really did was facilitate her serving ‘a couple hundred crispy chickens’. Oh, Stassi.

 

9. Brittany tells Jax to “rawt in hail”

I don’t think our Kentucky belle was prepared for the havoc she would wreak on reality TV when she delivered this line. But she inspired the creation of mugs, t-shirts and merch of all kinds. She had to say this to Jax on a few occasions, because, well, he’s Jax. But the most iconic delivery was when she reached into the depths of her soul for that southern drawl after he confirmed that he did, in fact, cheat on her with Faith Stowers.

 

 

8. ‘Space level’ James goes head-to-head with Jax 

During James’ California sobriety, he may not have been drunk but he was totally stoned at Villa Rosa one night. In fact, he admitted that he was on ‘space level’, whatever that means. Perhaps that explains his bravado in approaching a much larger Jax, of all people, and refusing to shy away from a confrontation. Though obnoxious, it sure was nice to see Jax finally being called out over his felony, and very ironic to see Jax criticizing James for his lack of respect for women. 

 

7. James tells Lala ‘it’s not about the pasta’

During an argument with Lala, a dear friend of his, who he correctly feels did not respect his then-girlfriend, Raquel, the pair argue over…pasta. Essentially, Lala says she was offered a bite of Raquel’s pasta and Lala went on to eat the whole plate. In fairness, that is actually super disrespectful. And to James’ point, it’s not just about the pasta. James, more often than not, was right about a lot of things. But he could never quite nail the delivery. 

 

 

6. Drunk Raquel reminds Lala she doesn’t have a man

Despite the hate Raquel received over the last two years, there were moments it was clear she was being bullied long before her affair with Tom Sandoval began. Like the weekend that she accompanied Lala, Katie and Kristina to Vegas, where the girls made fun of her for having a light projector that she preferred to sleep with. How rude.

 

After a wild night out where she kissed Oliver (Garcelle Beauvais’ son, we love a crossover!) who Lala was semi-interested in but still gave her the ok to kiss, Lala, the woman who did in fact date a married man and later on admitted to sleeping with James while he and Raquel were together, had the nerve to tell Raquel that she wouldn’t trust Raquel around her man. And Raquel didn’t hold back in her drunken response, which was this iconic one liner: 

“I mean, like, thank God you don’t have a man to have around.” Get her Raquel!

 

5. Tom pours a drink on Katie

While Tom Schwartz may definitely be perceived as a pretty laid-back guy, sometimes so laid-back that it was to his own detriment, there were moments where he would snap. And during this scene, we see him telling his own girlfriend she’s ‘being a bitch’ before pouring a drink on her head. Katie storms back into the venue and tells her friends that she ‘has this relationship all wrong’. Had she listened to herself and not decided to marry the guy, she might’ve saved herself a divorce. And the cost of that wedding. Guess that’s why they say hindsight is 20/20.

 

 

4. Stassi slaps the sh-t out of Kristen Doute 

Long before the Oscars slap became the slap heard around the world, Stassi left a mark on Kristen’s cheek. Like, Stassi walked so Will Smith could run. And while violence is never the answer, it can make for some damn good TV, especially when it’s coming from someone who just found out that one of their closest friends secretly banged their ex-boyfriend and has been lying to them about it for months. 

In this clip, tensions boil over as Stassi confronts Kristen about the rumour that Jax, himself, has confirmed to everyone else in the group, which is that he and Kristen slept together not once but twice.

Kristen remained in denial throughout the entire clip despite Stassi spelling out with immaculate precision the events that led to her and Jax’s rendezvous to a packed room of people, including Kristen’s then-partner, Tom Sandoval, who also denied Jax’s claims. 

And to be clear, the only reason for Tom’s denial was because if he said anything to make Jax look even remotely honest, it would mean having to answer for the rumours Jax was spreading about him and Ariana. These were the days when the group was messy, the eyeliner was laid on thick, and the tequila was flowing. Gold. Absolute gold. (BTW, Kristen admitted it in a later episode).

 

3. Jax crashes Stassi’s birthday party and all hell breaks loose

The first season of Vanderpump Rules was truly one for the ages. Stassi is no stranger to planning elaborate birthday celebrations, and she’s certainly no stranger to excluding whoever she’s not on good terms with. In this case, it was Jax who got disinvited. But that meant nothing to him because he showed up anyway, and he unleashed a lot of drama when he started levying some serious attacks against Frank, Stassi’s then-boyfriend. 

 

 

2. Tom Sandoval calls Tom Schwartz ‘a battered wife’ while both are in drag 

During an epic group trip to New Orleans, Tom Sandoval has Tom Schwartz’ back, who is, yet again being accused of cheating. Tom may have been a piece of sh-t in the end but he was a damn good friend to Tom that night. Nothing else needs to be said about this epic clip.

 

1. Scandoval 

Measuring the impact of this scandal is next to impossible. This was really the first time that reality TV news made headlines to the extent that this particular scandal did. It became a bigger news story than housewife prison sentences, people being voted off islands, anything you could imagine, this was bigger than that. So to try and narrow it down to one scene is difficult, to say the least. But if I had to, it would be this one, the first on-camera interaction between Tom and Ariana after the show picked production back up. It really encapsulates it all – the pain, the hurt, the embarrassment, the rage. And most importantly, the rawness of it all.