Peter Madrigal Says He Knows Vanderpump Rules Reboot’s New Cast for Season 12: ‘It’s Going to Be Insane’

“There’s a lot of drama going on at the restaurant. There always is,” the SUR manager tells PEOPLE of the new SURvers

Peter Madrigal and Lisa Vanderpump during ‘Vanderpump Rules’ season 3. Photo: Nicole Weingart/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty 

Bravo hasn’t revealed the cast for the Vanderpump Rules reboot yet — but one familiar face at SUR claims to know the new SURvers “pretty well.” 

SUR manager Peter Madrigal, 40, teased the season 12 cast while speaking exclusively to PEOPLE on Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Young Hollywood & the Breakout Stars of 2024 event in Los Angeles.

“I know the new cast. Yeah, I know them pretty well,” he explains. “There’s a lot of drama going on at the restaurant. There always is ... So, it’s going to be insane. It’s going to be a little bit intense. Absolutely.”

SUR owner Lisa Vanderpump, the only main cast member returning for season 12, confirmed in December that she had already chosen the servers, hosts and bartenders who will make up the new cast. The selections came after Bravo announced on Nov. 26 that it had scrapped the old cast.

“I have an existing group,” Vanderpump, 64, told Entertainment Tonight. “But there’s always room for people because it’s West Hollywood. It’s always people coming through the door, ‘Can I have a job?’ ”

Peter Madrigal at the Young Hollywood & the Breakout Stars of 2024 event on Jan. 5, 2025. Paul Archuleta/Getty

Asked if he’s in talks with Bravo to return for the Vanderpump Rules reboot and whether he even wants to be part of it when the cameras start rolling, Madrigal replied to PEOPLE, “Yeah, yeah. Yes. Yeah, all of the above.”

Madrigal had previously claimed during an appearance on The Domenick Nati Show in December that he would be the only original cast member returning for the reboot aside from the titular character.

“The one that’s still there is yours truly,” Madrigal said.

Bravo did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for confirmation at the time, but the network typically does not comment on casting.

The original cast — of Tom Sandoval, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz, Ariana Madix, James Kennedy and Lala Kent — had learned of the casting shakeup 24 hours before Bravo announced it in November.

From left: Peter Madrigal, Lala Kent, Rachel ‘Raquel’ Leviss, Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, Brock Davies, James Kennedy and Ally Lewber in July 2022. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty 

“The last 12 years of filming have been an extraordinary run full of laughter, tears and everything in between,” Vanderpump said in a release in November. “I can’t thank enough those who have shared their lives. How I love you all. In the restaurant business, one shift always gives way to another. Cheers to the next generation of Vanderpump Rules.”

Meanwhile, Madrigal told PEOPLE on Sunday that “we shall see” if season 12, with its fresh faces, will rival the drama from seasons 1 and 2. 

“I think it’s got the potential, but we’ll see,” Madrigal says. “I’m excited. I think everybody out there should be excited as well to see a brand new cast and something fresh and new and different — but still at SUR.”

Vanderpump also told PEOPLE in December that she’s looking forward to the “refreshing” restart at her West Hollywood restaurant. 

“I think we're going back to the grassroots and a different set of people is kind of new and refreshing,” Vanderpump said.

“I think we’ve laid out the last 11 years, I’m not minimizing the importance of how successful they’ve been and how wonderful they were as reality stars as they came into it really green and then they kind of ran with it,” she continued. “So we'll see. But I try not to ever disappoint.”

Production for season 12 is set to begin in 2025.

Vanderpump Rules seasons 1 through 11 are streaming on Peacock.