Between cheating boyfriends and lying best friends, former Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder has seen her fair share of toxicity play out on reality TV, but even she can’t stomach the darkness currently unfolding on The Valley.
On the latest episode of Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan’s Disrespectfully podcast, Stassi spoke to her fellow former Bravo stars about the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ spinoff, with Katie kicking off the conversation by noting how “intense” the show is and how the cast is seemingly “out for blood.”
“It’s f**king nuts,” Katie said.
While Stassi– who was fired from ‘Vanderpump Rules’ in 2020 (along with Kristen Doute, who now stars on ‘The Valley’) for racist actions against former cast member Faith Stowers– admitted that she tuned in to Season 1 of ‘The Valley’ and thought it was “great f**king television,” she revealed this week that she had to stop watching in the show’s second season.
“ … I think I saw the first two or three episodes this season and I’m like, this is so f**king dark and it’s not even interesting enough to balance the darkness,” she said. “ … I’m just like, this is making me feel uncomfortable, it’s making me feel icky.
“Like, I need to tap out, otherwise I’m going to have to talk to my therapist about what it all means,” she added.
Katie pointed out that while topics like divorce are “real” and “intense,” these (and other) storylines on ‘The Valley’ are “on another level.” Dayna added that ‘The Valley’ also seems to be lacking a balance of “real love and connectivity.” While Stassi told Katie and Dayna that she believed the “real love and connectivity” was present in Season 1, the vibe has changed for the worse in Season 2.
“ … I’m like, ‘Oh, you guys don’t give a f**k about each other,’” Stassi said of the cast.
“ … It just seems that, like, everyone’s just willing to throw each other under the bus and say horrific things,” Katie added. “And everyone wants to be the morally superior one … .”
As viewers know, while many former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ stars have gone on to join the cast of ‘The Valley,’ Katie and Stassi are among those who have opted out of the spinoff from the very beginning; however, Stassi did make her return to reality TV earlier this year when she appeared on Season 2 of Lisa Vanderpump’s Hulu series, Vanderpump Villa, nearly five years after getting the boot from ‘Vanderpump Rules.’
(It was also announced last summer that Stassi will be getting her own docuseries for Hulu called Stassi Says.)
As for Katie, she’s yet to make her return to reality TV; however, during a recent Reddit AMA, she and Dayna noted the “darkness” of ‘The Valley’ compared to its predecessor, telling fans they believe the “friendship dynamic is very different” on the spinoff, as the history among the cast “isn’t as rich.”
“ … therefore, the stakes are different,” they said. “There’s a certain darkness about it.”
Even Alex Baskin, executive producer of ‘The Valley,’ and some of the show’s cast members recently spoke to Variety about the “dark” storylines being featured in Season 2 of the Bravo series, with Alex recalling the moment Brittany Cartwright told production that her husband, Jax Taylor, had done “something unacceptable” prior to filming the new season.
As viewers know, Brittany went on to reveal in the Season 2 premiere that her soon-to-be ex-husband had become so angry during one of their arguments that he threw a coffee table, which allegedly hit her in the knee and caused a bruise. She also shared that Jax had punched holes in the wall of their once-shared home during his moment of aggression, as well as screamed at her while their four-year-old son Cruz was in the next room.
Season 2 of ‘The Valley’ has also shown Jax– who went public about his decades-long cocaine addiction prior to the premiere– seeking treatment at an inpatient rehab facility, only to continue rage-texting Brittany from inside the facility and admit to spying on her through cameras placed throughout their home.
While the drama between Brittany and Jax has arguably been the main (and most disturbing) storyline in Season 2, the former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ stars aren’t the only exes currently feuding for all to see on ‘The Valley.’
Despite calling it quits at the end of Season 1, Jesse Lally and Michelle Saniei continue to throw insults and allegations at one another, with Jesse in particular hitting below the belt when he accused his ex-wife of being a hooker earlier this season.
Another “dark” storyline in the current season involves Danny Booko, who is being accused by some of his cast mates of having a drinking problem– a rumor that seemingly began after Danny exhibited inappropriate behavior towards cast member Jasmine Goode and her fiancée, Melissa Marie, at a Halloween party that took place (off-camera) between Season 1 and 2. Danny recently revealed to Variety that Jax was responsible for bringing up the Halloween incident on-camera, as he claimed that Danny and wife Nia Sanchez “got off easy in the first season.”
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