Vanderpump Rules premiered back in 2013. At its start, this cast consisted of broke-down bartenders and servers, all hustling to pay their rent. At the end of filming, they’d each go home to their cramped, tiny apartments, which they often shared. It was relatable af, but as the years went by, noticeable changes started taking place.
First, those with bad dye jobs started presenting with great hair. Then, their apartment buildings all got a tad bit fancier. Some of them even moved out into their own places, tired of living with their costars. All of a sudden, these plucked from obscurity young adults were finally making enough to live, laugh, love lust, which was nice to see.
As the years continued to roll by, houses got purchased, babies entered into the fray, and side businesses started forming. Aka, their accounts were no longer struggling because Big Daddy Bravo started bankrolling the shiznit out of this cast. As for what they’re earning these days, it’s a lot. And on this note, who wants to start a reality television series with me?
But first, a look at the side pieces
Bless their hearts. When you’re a side piece, or even just new to this series, you’re going to be broke. Case in point, Max Boyens went on the Up and Adam podcast, where he revealed that he only earned $4,000. Additionally, this check of his was split in half, just to make sure that he would “stick around” for the entire season.
Similarly, Billie Lee told Page Six that she struggled to get by on the low pay that she received. “They have a system on how they pay their newcomers and it starts out at a low scale,” she explained. However, she did not divulge the amount that she ended up taking home.
Shockingly, Scheana Shay’s husband Brock Davies revealed that he didn’t even earn a single dime from his first season. That’s “zero” dollars. Catch Scheana outside on a bad day, singing Scrubs by TLC.
Speaking of sticking around, Peter Madrigal, aka my favorite side piece, refused to even film for Season 11. This is because Bravo expected him to appear for free. As if.
The OG’s started from the bottom
Thank goodness this cast had their SUR paychecks to fall back on during their earlier years of filming. Due to the high costs of living, and their excessive love of a good time, there’s no doubt in my mind that these aspiring reality television stars were struggling. Especially after they let the cameras into their modest rentals, where microwaves and ACs could not run simultaneously without an outage transpiring. While I’m sure that they appreciated their VPR checks, they were for sure underpaid, if you ask me.
The New York Times revealed that in Season 1, Scheana, Jax Taylor, Tom Sandoval, Kristen Doute, Stassi Schroeder, Tom Schwartz, and Katie Maloney each made $10,000 for the entire season. When you do the math, that’s just $1,000 per episode. Knowing this, their earlier living situations now make sense.
Now, they live under flight paths
In Season 2, Ariana Madix joined this cast, with James Kennedy following in Season 3. One year later, Lala Kent came on as well. All three of these wonderful hot messes are still leading the charge over on VPR, so for the sake of this section, I’ll be considering the DJ, LFU, and Ariana as OG’s.
Within the same article that quoted their earlier salaries, their current salaries are also revealed. To date, each of these OG’s is making roughly $35,000 per episode, which is why we’re now seeing them all buying houses with hefty price tags attached. Even still, let’s do some math here, but no fear parents, I’m not talking about that new math that our kids are bringing home, that not even Google understands. Instead, I’ll keep it basic.
At 35K per episode, with roughly 20 episodes per season (there have been more in the past), that’s a $700,000 payout. Insert Scheana happily fanning her face here, explaining “I can’t cry, because these eyelashes are mink.”
But wait, there’s more
While the Vanderpump Rules series regulars are now earning decently-sized paychecks, simply just for showing up, they’re also making bank outside of Bravo. After the Scandoval storyline unfolded, Ariana found herself scoring 17 brand sponsorships, plus a stint on Dancing with the Stars (sorry Scheana). Following this, she scored a run on Broadway, and a hosting job on Love Island. While the exact report on how much she’s earning from these side hustles is unknown, it’s clearly not small, because our girl just treated herself to a fancy new house.
Likewise, James is booking gig after gig as a DJ, where the VPR fans show up for him in droves. Meanwhile, the others have opened bars, created beauty lines, started podcasts and merch lines, and also written books. Oh, there’s also a sandwich shop that may or may not be forthcoming as well. When you add in all of these extra coins to their Bravo paychecks, it’s clear to see that these cast members are all going to be alright.
TELL US – ARE YOU SHOCKED BY THESE SALARIES?