Stassi Schroeder was joined by Katie Maloney for her final tour stop for her Straight Up With Stassi Live — The Mommy Dearest Tour on Saturday in Los Angeles, where the longtime besties dished on all things Vanderpump Rules.
As they commented on the recently-aired reunion, looked ahead to season 11, which recently went into production, and weighed in on the double standards of the Bravo reality series, Stassi and Katie reflected on their time together on the show, specifically a season two moment in which “Tequila Katie” was in full-effect.
As Pump Rules fans may recall, Stassi and Katie got into a fight amid Stassi’s birthday trip to Mexico, where Katie and her then-boyfriend Tom Schwartz, who she’s since married (twice) and divorced, got into an argument in which Schwartz dumped a drink on Katie’s head.
“[I thought Katie was] just choosing to be an angry b-tch … boy was I f-cking wrong,” Stassi admitted, via a June 26 report from Rolling Stone.
After receiving an apology from Stassi, Katie said that people long had the wrong idea about the dynamic between her and Schwartz.
“It’s kind of like everyone’s finally seeing that I wasn’t just being an angry b-tch,” Katie explained. “I also remember that it was the night before that Tom dumped a drink over my head, so you gave me a talking to on the balcony, and you were like, ‘Pull it together, you’re not going to fight,’ and it was, like, all on me to not cause a scene. I was like, ‘OK.’”
Over the years, Katie was labeled “drunk” and “angry” due to her antics against Schwartz. But, following the reveal of his blind loyalty to Tom Sandoval, even in the midst of his affair with Raquel Leviss, many have realized that the labels were misogynistic.
“I feel like the misogyny that is behind [the nickname ‘Tequila Katie’] is the one that gaslights,” Katie noted. “I feel like society doesn’t like women that do stand up for themselves.”
“No one likes when the girls stand up for themselves [on the show], except now they like it,” Stassi replied.
According to Stassi, the tables turned once “Scandoval” was exposed and now, people like to see the women of Pump Rules being vocal.
“There was definitely a different lens put on it,” Katie agreed. “And now that people are seeing it through a different light they are seeing, no, that wasn’t the case, these were women that actually were really advocating for themselves.”
Katie even admitted that she’s thankful to “Scandoval” in “some ways.”
“Because if it had to happen this way, then yeah, thank f-cking god. Thank f-cking god for that worm with a mustache,” she said.
Although not everyone is looking forward to resuming filming with Sandoval and, potentially, Raquel, Katie said she’s not completely against the idea, although she doesn’t know what that would look like.
“I’m not gonna be like, ‘Hey Rachel, I know the last time I spoke to you in the back alley of SUR I said I was so f-cking done with you, that was the last thing I ever said to you,’ so I don’t know how we bridge that gap,” Katie shared. “And Sandoval also was telling my mom to shut the f-ck up, so it’s not really up to me how we would bridge that gap, but I never said I wouldn’t film with them.”
Moving on to the season 10 reunion, Stassi confessed to feeling “so left out.”
“We’ve always said the reunion is the worst day of the year. After the reunion’s over we’re like, 364 days until we have to do this again,” she said. “But this time around, I’ve never wanted to be at a reunion more.”
Meanwhile, Katie said that although she wasn’t looking forward to the taping at first, due to her lingering tension with Scheana Shay and drama with Schwartz and Raquel, those items were overshadowed by “Scandoval.”
“I was tormented all year long for no f-cking reason,” Katie said. “Rachel and Tom Schwartz making out for no reason, I was tormented for no reason because Sandoval and Rachel were having sex in Mexico as well. That’s sick.”
Katie then noted that Schwartz got off “way too easy” at the reunion and said she wished she and Scheana had a chance to hash things out. However, due to Raquel’s restraining order against her, Scheana wasn’t able to be on stage for the entirety of the taping.
As for Raquel and the lack of emotion she showed as Sandoval and Ariana Madix spoke of the end of their nine-year relationship, Stassi and Katie said, “The giddiness was psychotic.”
Stassi also said that regarding the “big reveal,” her biggest takeaway was the “fear” in Raquel’s eyes.
“I think the bombshell was that the way that that interview was conducted, how she acted, the things that she said, the fear in her eyes over losing Sandoval for telling the truth,” Stassi said. “The bombshell was that we saw just how f-cking horrible and controlling he is. To be honest, I was like, ‘Holy sh-t, it’s so much worse than I thought, look at her.’ She’s the problem too, but it was wild to see just how much of a hold he has.”
Also, during the reunion, Raquel expressed interest in having a “throuple” with Sadoval and Ariana, which Katie said was “what someone with psychosis would think.”
As Pump Rules fans witnessed, one of the most cringe-worthy moments of the reunion was when Sandoval poked fun at Ariana for leaving her T-shirt on during sex.
“We walked away when we went to dinner with our friends, we were like, can you believe that’s what that scumbag said?” Katie said.
And when it came to his explanation to TMZ, during which he said he was referring to his and Ariana’s lackluster sex life, Stassi said that did Sandoval no favors.
“He sucks. He really f-cking sucks. We’ve always known,” Stassi said.
“We’ve always had his number,” Katie agreed.
Vanderpump Rules season 11 is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.
