Entertainment

If 'Vanderpump Rules' Returns For Season 8, It Needs To Make These 3 Key Changes

Nicole Weingart/Bravo

Though this season, and the three-part reunion special, felt like it would never end, Season 7 of Vanderpump Rules will conclude on Monday night. It'll be a while before we see the cast back on our screens, but even though Vanderpump Rules Season 8 hasn't officially been confirmed, there's surely more to come. Scheana has hinted at drama next season, and Bravo surely isn't going to let Jax and Brittany's wedding go unfilmed.

However, when Vanderpump Rules does return, it may need to make a few changes. The cast is growing up, buying houses, getting married, and not working at SUR nearly as much as they did when the show first started (if at all). A lot of the drama this season has also felt a little redundant — how many times are we going to contemplate if Jax has really changed, or await the next time James asks Lisa for his job back? Some fans have even said that lately, the cast have become too vicious toward each other for Vanderpump Rules to even be a fun watch anymore.

So with some people growing tired of all the name-calling and questioning what storylines they're even supposed to care about anymore, there are a few ways Pump Rules could get fans back onboard.

Let The Cast Embrace Their Celebrity

There's really no way around it — the cast members aren't just unknown servers at a popular West Hollywood restaurant anymore. They're celebrities in their own right.

Reality TV is never truly a reflection of real life, and there are always going to be some produced moments. But if we saw the cast talking about Pump Rules itself, bickering over screen time or editing, taking selfies with fans, or even stressing about social media responses to their storylines, it would make things so much more interesting and authentic, especially in these later seasons.

When there's celebrity beef happening offscreen — looking at you, Lala and 50 Cent — the show should lean into it rather than pretend Lala's biggest concern is a hosting shift.

Drop The SUR Pretense

Yes, Vanderpump Rules began as a show about SUR, but let's be real, the cast doesn't actually work there anymore. It's a little weird that some of its most successful stars still act like picking up shifts at SUR makes some huge financial difference.

As of December, Jax was reportedly the highest paid cast member (other than LVP, of course), earning $25,000 per episode. If that includes reunion episodes, Jax would've made $600,000 for Season 7 alone. Brittany is snatching those Instagram partnerships, and so is Lala, and so is Katie… They're obviously not as stressed about tips as they used to be, and the show shouldn't hide that. God knows they already have plenty of drama outside the Sexy Unique Restaurant that brought them together.

Bring In Some New Blood

Lisa is reportedly planning spinoffs of Pump Rules in new locations, but she'd do well to bring in and fully flesh out the stories of new SUR workers for the O.G. show. Pump Rules was initially interesting because it followed a group of young people struggling to work together in a high-pressure restaurant — there's no reason lightning can't strike twice if the show phases out some of its older, less interesting cast members in order to recenter on what made it popular to begin with.

Pump Rules hasn't altogether lost its spark — people are definitely still watching. But the question is: how long can these storylines stretch? When Pump Rules inevitably returns for Season 8, some tweaks to keep things fresh would be a very welcome change.