Kristen Doute had a surprising response to Stassi Schroeder reuniting with Lisa Vanderpump for Vanderpump Villa after their respective Vanderpump Rules exits.
During the Thursday, May 8, episode of the “Housewives Nightcap” podcast, Kristen, 42, weighed in on Stassi, 36, and Lisa’s new collaboration, saying, “No [I am not surprised] because Stassi is going to get her own show — good for her.”
Kristen understood where Stassi was coming from.
“If you have to swallow that pill to do what’s best for you, your family and for your career then get it,” Kristen added. “I commend her because I don’t know if I could have done it. I really don’t.”
She continued: “I think my ego and my pride would have taken the best of me if someone offered me something like that. So I’m like, ‘Good for you girl. Look at the bigger picture.'”
Kristen and Stassi were original cast members on Vanderpump Rules when it debuted in 2013. They were both fired in June 2020 due to past racially insensitive behavior toward former costar Faith Stowers. Kristen broke her silence on the scandal one month later.
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that I have so much to learn,” she said on the “Hollywood Raw” podcast in July 2020. “I know that’s super cliché and a lot of people say that, but it’s absolutely true, because I think that I thought that I understood racism, but now I’m really learning about unconscious bias. Learning about anti-racism. Learning about how we can do things locally to really truly make changes and putting work into your community locally to make those changes I think [are] so important.”
Stassi later addressed the “huge” mistakes that led to her departure from Bravo. “Just imagine making a terrible mistake, but one that has nothing to do with how good you are at your job. And one that doesn’t truly reflect who you are,” she wrote in her 2022 memoir, Off With My Head. “You’re told to stay quiet. You’re already ashamed of the mistake you made. You already want to fix it. But on top of that, every single person you know or have ever met knows about this mistake.”
Kristen has since made her reality TV return with The Valley, which is currently airing its second season and also stars VPR alums Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright.
Stassi, meanwhile, was at the center of season 2 of Lisa’s Hulu series Vanderpump Villa. Stassi additionally signed a larger deal with Hulu that includes her own show, Stassi Says. The half-hour docucomedy is currently in development.
Despite both returning to the reality TV space, Kristen and Stassi have not remained as close as they were in the past.
“The last time I talked to her [was] like a year ago. When [Luke Broderick and I] had our pregnancy loss, she was texting me pretty often and being very loving,” Kristen, who is currently expecting a baby with fiancé Luke Broderick, told Alex Baskin on a January episode of his “Bravo’s Hot Mic” podcast. “It was the way I think she just naturally is, especially because we were in each other’s lives and were very close for so long.”
The former costars interacted once more after that. “Since then — as of today — we haven’t spoken since her anniversary [with husband Beau Clark],” Kristen added. “I texted her and she was like, ‘Oh, you introduced us.'”
Kristen clarified there is “no hate” between her and Stassi, saying, “It’s just how people grow apart. She has two kids and a huge taxing career that keeps her very busy. She has a husband and she has a different group of friends.”
