Stassi Schroeder knew convincing Katie Maloney to return to reality television wouldn’t be easy.
After years on “Vanderpump Rules,” Maloney had embraced life away from the cameras, making Stassi’s pitch for her to join “House of Stassi” a delicate conversation. During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s “Smith Sisters Live,” Schroeder pulled back the curtain on the voice note she sent her longtime friend and explained why she believed filming together could help repair parts of their friendship that had been left unresolved.
The candid story comes just days before House of Stassi premieres on July 29.
Stassi Schroeder Took a Different Approach With Katie Maloney
Rather than trying to pressure Maloney into saying yes, Schroeder said she opened the conversation by acknowledging how happy Katie seemed living outside the reality TV spotlight.
“I sent her a voice note and I was like, ‘Listen, I know that you are really happy right now living life off camera, and I totally respect that, so if you want to tell me to [expletive] off, you can tell me to [expletive] off,'” Schroeder recalled.
But she also saw an opportunity.
Schroeder explained that she knew filming together could give them a chance to address conversations they had never fully had as friends.
“I think that there is an opportunity here because I’m pretty sure I’m going to start filming in October and I think that there are a lot of things that have gone unsaid, like my fault, I kind of ghosted, whatever,” she said.
She continued by telling Maloney that joining the show could benefit both of them.
“I think that this would be a good opportunity for everyone, like for us to try and talk things out, for you to do this if you decide you want to do this. It’s just like a win-win and you’re the person who I know how to do reality TV with.”
Schroeder also made one thing crystal clear. If Maloney wanted to keep her life private, there would be no hard feelings.
“And then again, I ended it with being like, ‘And if you’re happy and you don’t want to do this again, tell me to [expletive] off and I will leave you alone,'” she said.
Instead, Maloney shocked her.
“And she was like, ‘That actually sounds like something I would want to do,'” Schroeder revealed.
From there, Maloney met with the show’s producers, and Schroeder said the conversations went smoothly.
“They had a great conversation and it was go time,” she shared.
Why Producer Control Was Non-Negotiable
Schroeder also discussed another major condition she had before agreeing to make her return to reality TV.
She insisted on serving as an executive producer, explaining that she wouldn’t have put her family on television otherwise.
“I will not let my family be on a show unless I’m a producer,” she said. “And that was it.”
She elaborated that having producer authority gives her a say in how her children are portrayed on screen.
“This is for my children. I need to be able to say, ‘I want that out,’ or like, ‘I don’t want that in’ about my children and if not, I’m just not going to do a show.”
Schroeder acknowledged she understood why production companies are sometimes reluctant to give talent that level of control.
“I understand because when talent becomes a producer, then they’re going to want to get all their bad moments edited out,” she said.
Still, she insisted that wasn’t her intention.
“I was like, ‘Listen, trust that I know how to make good TV and I know not to cut out my bad moments. I know that that’s part of what makes good TV and that’s what makes me human, and that’s what people want to see.'”
To avoid any awkwardness once filming began, Schroeder even sent the cast a group text explaining that although she helped develop the series, she would simply be their co-star during production.
“But as of today, for the next eight weeks, I am your co-star. I won’t know about your storylines. I’m not going to ask. I don’t know what you’re filming. I am going to show up every day as if I was on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ and that’s it. No executive producer.”
According to Schroeder, the approach worked, and the cast wasn’t afraid to challenge her while filming.
“House of Stassi” premieres Tuesday, July 29, on Freeform with a two-episode debut before streaming the following day on Hulu.
