Entertainment

Here’s How The 'Vanderpump Rules' Cast Has Changed Since Season 1

by Kristie Rohwedder
Craig Barritt/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

On Jan. 7, 2013, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills gave birth to a spin-off about bunch of creatives who work for Lisa Vanderpump at West Hollywood restaurant SUR. Oh, how the show has changed since its premiere. To look at the Vanderpump Rules cast in Season 1 vs. now is to go on an emotional expedition, an overwhelmingly nostalgic adventure. The relativity of time is never more apparent than when one revisits the first season of Pump Rules.

Yes, Season 1 aired only five years ago, but Jax Taylor tearing off his cardigan in the middle of a Las Vegas strip mall parking lot before charging at his ex-girlfriend’s then-boyfriend like a rhinoceros hopped up on six gallons of Red Bull really does feel like something from another lifetime. But it also feels like it all happened just yesterday.

This is not about lip fillers or nose jobs or hairstyles. This is about how the members of this cast have changed as people, how their lives have taken twists and turns that no one saw coming. How their relationships, career goals, and world views have evolved over the years. How this group of models/actors (or as Tom Sandoval would say, "mactors") blossomed into a bouquet of Bravolebrities.

...OK fine, it is about Tom Sandoval's hairstyles, too. Sandoval's ever-changing coiffure is its own character, and one would be remiss not to bring it up. Anyway, here are some of the ways the present-day Pump Rules cast has and has not changed since Season 1.

Jax Taylor

Season 1: Jax was a model and SUR-tender. When the series began, he was dating Stassi. A few episodes into the season, they broke up, and much to Stassi's chagrin, Jax began dating fellow SURver Laura-Leigh. They broke up, too.

When Jax was accused of cheating on Stassi and getting someone pregnant, he spent the rest of the season denying it. But by the season finale, honesty got the better of him. He showed up to SUR with flowers in his hand and a confession in his heart. He admitted to Stassi that he did indeed have relations with someone else while they were a couple. Jax tried to win Stassi back the following season, but things didn't go the way he'd hoped.

Present Day: A few years ago, Jax met Brittany while he was in Vegas. They hit it off, and so she moved from Kentucky to Los Angeles to be with him. Jax and Brittany have been together ever since... erm, sort of.

On the Season 6 premiere, word got out that Jax cheated on Brittany with fellow SURver Faith. Rather than deny the tryst, he confessed to the indiscretion almost immediately. He’s still a SUR-tender, but this season, he toys with the idea of moving to Tampa to do social media for a hockey team. Jax began seeing a reiki healer in an effort to work on his anger issues and whatever else might be driving him to do the not-great things that he does.

Speaking of not-great decisions, at the end of the episode that aired April 9, Jax flipped two birds at Ken Todd and LVP, screamed at just about everyone in the Sexy Unique Lounge, ripped off his mic pack, and then punched a payphone. Oh, and the following episode, he broke up with Brittany. *Spoiler alert.* Assuming their social media posts aren’t red herrings, it appears as though Jax and Brittany got back together and are still together.

Stassi Schroeder

Season 1: Stassi was a SURver at SUR and a model. After breaking up with longtime boyfriend Jax on Episode 2, she began dating Frank. And then, she and Frank broke up. Stassi and Jax’s break-up, Stassi and Frank's relationship, and the Las Vegas cheating rumors created a lot of friction within in the cast. Stassi spent a good chunk of the season at odds with most of her co-stars, including her best friends Katie and Kristen.

She wrote for Pandora’s website, but after a few hiccups, that gig came to an end. Jax and Stassi attempted to rekindle things on Season 2, but they did not make it to the season finale.

Present Day: For many moons Stassi could not stand to be in the same room as Jax, but now they're chill. She has a podcast called Straight Up with Stassi. She seems to be on solid terms with most of the cast these days — including Jax’s current girlfriend, Brittany. She no longer works at SUR. She was on the outs with Lisa Vanderpump for years, but eventually returned to SUR to work as an event planner. During Season 6, she and on-again, off-again Patrick gave their relationship one final try. *Spoiler alert.* After officially ending things with Patrick last summer, Stassi started dating a guy named Beau Clark.

Tom Sandoval

Season 1: Tom Sandoval was in a relationship with Kristen. They fought a lot. He was a SUR-tender. He was a model/actor/musician. His hair was something to behold. He was close friends with Jax and Tom Schwartz.

Present Day: Tom Sandoval and Kristen have been broken up for a while. He’s been in a relationship with Ariana for years. He is still a SUR-tender. He is still close friends with Jax and Tom Schwartz. He and Tom Schwartz are opening a restaurant with Lisa Vanderpump. His hair has been through a lot of exciting phases.

Tom Schwartz

Season 1: Tom Schwartz was not part of the opening credits. He and Katie were dating. He did not work at SUR. He and Stassi threw drinks at each other at Stassi’s birthday party after Jax showed up uninvited. He was a model/actor. He was close friends with Tom Sandoval and Jax.

Present Day: Tom Schwartz's has been in the opening credits for the last few years. He and Katie are married. He has a knack for getting drunk and possibly making out with women who aren’t his wife, but Katie always forgives him for his behavior. He still has never worked at SUR. He and Tom Sandoval are opening a restaurant with Lisa Vanderpump. He and Stassi are as chummy as can be. When Schwartz and Katie went on their honeymoon, they invited Stassi to come hang out with them during the tail end of their trip. He’s still close friends with Tom Sandoval and Jax.

Kristen Doute

Season 1: Kristen Doute was dating Tom Sandoval. She was a SURver at SUR, as well as an actor and model. She was BFFs with Katie and Stassi. When Stassi accused Jax of cheating on her, Kristen took Jax’s side.

Present Day: Kristen Doute has been dating a dude named Carter for several seasons. It took a few years, a lot of tears, and one Miami Girl before they got to this point, but she and Tom Sandoval are finally cordial with one another. She was fired from SUR years ago. She runs a vegetarian lifestyle site called Vegiholic.

Now that the Season 1 Jax drama and the Season 2 Jax drama is behind them, she and Stassi are in a solid place. (Except when they travel together, that is.) She is close friends with Katie, Stassi, and Brittany. After feuding with Lala and Ariana for what felt like a million seasons, Kristen is now buddies with both of them.

Katie Maloney-Schwartz

Season 1: Katie was dating Tom Schwartz. She worked at SUR. She wanted to run her own record label. She was BFFs with Stassi and Kristen. Like Kristen, Katie took Jax’s side during Jax’s Season 1 cheating scandal.

Present Day: Katie and Tom Schwartz are married. She still works at SUR. She co-created a lifestyle and beauty site called Pucker & Pout. She collaborated with Julie Hewett on a lipstick line called Pucker & Pout x Julie Hewett. Like Kristen, Katie took Brittany’s side during Jax’s Season 6 cheating scandal. She is close friends with Stassi, Kristen, and Brittany. She also seems to be pals with Ariana and Lala now, even though their relationships didn't exactly start off on the best foot.

Scheana Shay

Season 1: Scheana was the new kid in town at SUR. Stassi was reluctant to befriend her because of the whole Eddie Cibrian and Brandi Glanville debacle. Lisa Vanderpump forbade Scheana from working at a SUR event because Brandi was in attendance. Scheana was in a longterm relationship with Shay. She was an actor and aspiring pop star. During Season 1, she recorded and performed her debut single “What I Like.”

Present Day: Scheana and Shay filed for divorce back in Nov. 2016. She’s starring in Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man in Las Vegas. She started a podcast called Scheananigans. She and Brandi have a polite rapport.

Her friendships with Katie, Stassi, and Kristen have gone through a lot over the last few years, and it looks like they may be on the outs for now. She and Ariana seem to still be cool with one another. After Scheana split up with Shay, she started dating Rob Valletta. *Spoiler alert.* They broke up in Oct. 2017.

Ariana Madix

Season 1: Ariana was not a part of the main cast. She was barely on the first season of the show. She worked at Villa Blanca, not SUR. She and Tom Sandoval were not together. She was one of Scheana’s backup dancers during that concert at the Roxy.

Present Day: Ariana and Tom Sandoval have been together for a few years. She’s been tending bar at SUR for years. After butting heads with Stassi, Katie, and Kristen for several seasons — especially Kristen — she now seems to be on friendly terms with just about everyone in the cast. She collaborated with Frankie Rose Cosmetics on a lipstick line and has been working on a cocktail book with Tom Sandoval.

James Kennedy, Lala Kent, & Brittany Cartwright

Paul Cheney/Bravo

Season 1: These three were but twinkles in Bravo’s eye.

Present Day: They are all Vander-stars and oh how they shine.

Whew, what a trip the first six seasons have been. Raise your glasses high to the dream of getting at least six more.