Peter Madrigal Admits It Wasn’t His Choice to Not Appear on ‘VPR’ Season 11, Says Money Played a Role

Peter Madrigal said money led to him not appearing on season 11 of Vanderpump Rules — or rather a lack thereof.

"No, you won't be seeing me," Madrigal confirmed on the Friday, March 1, episode of the "Bravo and Blaze" podcast. "It wasn't by my choice. I mean — I guess it was by my choice. In a sense. Basically, my choice was to come back to the show for free or not do it."

The SUR manager, who has made cameos on Vanderpump Rules since season 1, clarified that Bravo didn't ask him to work for free.

"I've been getting paid on this show since the inception of the show," Madrigal continued. "And then they asked me, 'Do it for free.' ... They didn't [actually] say for free. But they didn't have it in the budget — [they didn’t have] any payment for me in the budget."

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Madrigal ultimately made the choice to walk away from the current season of the show. "That's the reason why I was like, 'Well, you know what? I'm not coming back,'" he added. "I'm one of the biggest staples there. I'm still at SUR for the most part."

The comments about Madrigal’s salary come after executive producer Alex Baskin revealed how Tom Sandoval and Rachel "Raquel" Leviss' season 10 affair affected negotiations.

“This is as hard as it’s ever been because typically, we have a rate card, a tenure card, we’ve used in prior seasons. There are all sorts of asks across the board," Baskin told the Los Angeles Times in January. "Something like a producer credit is off the table because that isn’t something that we could open up."

He continued: "But otherwise, I knew that it would take a little bit of time for the cast expectations to settle. Because a lot of the time too, we are making sure that they’re aware of the state of the industry and the fact that shows are challenged these days."

In March 2023, news broke about Sandoval, 41, and Ariana Madix calling it quits due to his infidelity. The entire cast subsequently reunited to film a new finale for season 10. They also addressed the drama during a three-part reunion, which delivered record-breaking ratings for Bravo and Peacock.

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Baskin said he understood why the cast members wanted to see larger salaries as a result, adding in January, "Their point is, rightfully, ‘You guys are touting the show’s success. Where is our piece of that?’ Those are tough conversations. I did think that everybody, with the exception of Rachel, who had to make a personal decision, wanted to come back. Everybody did better than what they had previously gotten.”

Leviss, 29, meanwhile, didn't return to film season 11 of Vanderpump Rules after checking herself into a mental health facility. She has since claimed that she wasn't offered the paycheck she thought she deserved.

“I asked for equal pay with Tom and Ariana and for them to reimburse me for my treatment expenses. They refused to pay me equally," Leviss claimed on Bethenny Frankel's “ReWives” podcast in August 2023 about one of the reasons for her exit. “I feel like when you pay your employees, it really shows how much you value them.”

Baskin noted that Leviss was given a "healthy offer" to return to the show.

“We had conversations with both her reps and her directly. Our first concern was how she was doing, and whether or not it made sense for her to come back — personally, emotionally. She was very conflicted about it," he told the LA Times. "There was, frankly, a lot of conversations about money. Her team was very clear that they felt that she should be rewarded. At one point, they raised the idea of her getting a development deal.”

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As the drama continues to unfold on screen, Leviss shocked Bravo fans by suing Sandoval and Madix, 38, for revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Leviss accused Sandoval of filming a private video call between them without her consent, which Madix then acquired and allegedly sent to other people.

Despite not naming Bravo in the lawsuit, Leviss claimed she felt she couldn't speak out about her experience.

"As a result, she suffered in silence as Bravo and Evolution watched viewership explode, and the rest of the cast enjoyed unseen levels of public recognition and professional opportunity," the February 29 documents, which were obtained by Us Weekly, stated. "Meanwhile, Leviss, who was humiliated and villainized for public consumption, remains a shell of her former self, with her career prospects stunted and her reputation in tatters."

Sandoval and Madix have yet to address the legal drama.

Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.