The Struggles and Survival of SUR in Vanderpump Rules Season 12
When Lisa Vanderpump returned to our screens with the premiere of Vanderpump Rules Season 12, it was clear that the show was entering a new chapter. Alongside a fresh group of SUR-vers, the episode highlighted a sobering reality: Lisa was confronting the financial struggles of her iconic restaurant, SUR, and making it clear that the stakes were higher than ever.
During a staff meeting featured in the December 2 episode, Lisa addressed her team directly, stating, “Restaurant costs are up. Many restaurants close down. Four in the last week have closed down.” She added bluntly, “Nobody is surviving this s—t. This is survival of the fittest.” Her words underscored the precarious position SUR was in, especially after the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
The tension came to a head when Lisa’s business partner, Nathalie Pouille Zapata, discovered surveillance footage of two SUR staff members, Marcus Johnson and Jason Cohen, sneaking drinks during their shifts. Nathalie expressed her frustration to Lisa, saying, “It’s not respectful. We’ve been struggling so much that, at least, you want to have the support of your staff.”
Lisa took the situation seriously and used the opportunity to reinforce the importance of professionalism and dedication. During the episode, she reflected on the changes in West Hollywood, once the heart of Los Angeles’ nightlife. “Since COVID, it never seemed to recover,” she said. “SUR has survived, but it hasn’t been thriving.”
Despite these challenges, Lisa remained determined to keep SUR afloat. Earlier in the season, she had made the difficult decision to close another of her iconic restaurants, Pump, but she was resolute about not repeating the same mistake with SUR. “I already made the decision to say goodbye to one baby. I’m not gonna do it again,” she declared during a confessional interview.
Lisa Vanderpump during Vanderpump Rules Season 12 Episode 1.
Photo: https://soeara.com
Lisa also sought to reassure Nathalie, telling her, “S—t like this goes on, okay? We’re going to catch it, we’re going to deal with it, and this restaurant—I know it’s been a really hard few months for you. We have survived over the years. We’re going to survive now, okay?”
To her staff, she issued another warning: “If we are going to continue to survive, this is a business. It’s about being your best and your brightest.”
The Importance of Staff in SUR’s Success
As Season 12 welcomed a new group of SUR-vers and bartenders, Lisa emphasized that her staff was crucial to the restaurant’s continued success. “SUR has been in business for 20 years,” she explained during the Dec. 2 premiere. “One of the reasons we’ve lasted as long as we have is the high expectations for the food, and the ambiance. But without a vibrant staff, it wouldn’t be SUR.”
The show’s announcement in November 2024 described the new cast as “close knit SUR-vers who are as complicatedly involved with one another as their iconic predecessors.” Executive producer Alex Baskin also shared his excitement about the new direction, stating, “What a thrill it is to build on the legacy of this series by doing it all over again. With profound appreciation for the original group and their iconic run, we can’t wait for the audience to see a dynamic new group of co-workers and friends make their way through life together.”
The cast at a SUR photo shoot in Vanderpump Rules Season 12.
Photo: https://soeara.com
Lisa teased the new season and cast to TMZ in February, insisting it would “not disappoint.” She also told Us Weekly, “When you have a restaurant, especially in Hollywood, with a revolving door of beautiful people who are all kinds of normally rather large personalities because they come to Hollywood for a reason, it’s always complicated. I am sure it’s gonna be very different with these young minxes when they get to work, but we shall see. I got some very interesting characters for sure, but SUR has been around for a very long time, and as I say, it’s a show we could have shot 12 months of the year.”
Why a New Group of SUR-vers Was Needed
Although Alex Baskin called the first 11 seasons of Vanderpump Rules “extraordinary,” he was candid about the reason for the cast shakeup. During the season finale of his Hot Mic Podcast, which included a sit-down with Lisa, he explained that the show “wasn’t grounded in what it originally had been” as the focus in later seasons had shifted toward the cast members’ personal and professional lives outside of SUR.
Original cast members who were on all 11 seasons included Tom Sandoval, Katie Maloney, and Scheana Shay. Some cast members moved on to The Valley, including Brittany Cartwright, Kristen Doute, Lala Kent, and Tom Schwartz.
Lisa shared that she felt the Season 11 cast’s lives had taken “a different direction.” “I felt that we told the story, and we always said together that we didn’t want to go down on a sinking ship,” she continued. “It just changed, and I think that I still have a great relationship with some of them. But the others, their attitude changed, and it wasn’t what we set out to be. So, I think it was time to move on.”
Don’t miss Tom Sandoval’s advice for the SUR and Vanderpump Rules newbies.
