Dayna Kathan Reveals New ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Cast Members Are ‘Paid Nothing’ – Returning Would Have Destroyed Her Mental Health
Single-season Vanderpump Rules cast member Dayna Kathan revealed that fat salaries cast members like Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney get aren’t what newbies receive. In fact, Kathan said new cast members aren’t paid until they demonstrate their value on the show – which was bad for her bank and mental health.
New ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast members are paid ‘nothing’
Kathan, who only appeared in season 8, was invited to continue as a Vanderpump Rules cast member into season 9. But she revealed that she was in such a bad place that returning to the series would not have been healthy, Not to mention the fact she wasn’t making any money by being on the series.
“Anyone who starts out in reality tv people are like, oh, you make all this money. They don’t pay you anything,” she shared on Dear Media’s Scheananigans with Scheana Shay podcast. “You get paid nothing starting out cuz it’s basically like, earn your keep. Like show that you have worth, that you add value to the show, which I kind of get, but they pay you nothing.”
Adding, “So they basically wanted me to come back again, not making anything. And I’m like, look, I’m not being a diva. I burned through my entire life savings during Covid. And I’ve been unemployed trying to find work for a year. I can’t just keep doing this.”
Dayna knew she’d struggle financially if she returned to ‘Vanderpump Rules’ if she wasn’t paid
Struggling financially was a huge drain on Kathan’s mental health too. “It’s still months out from when we’re even filming where I’m like, I have like a month left of rent,” she recalled.
“Coming from a childhood I came from, that was nothing but financial insecurity, that was also really traumatizing and triggering for me,” she added. “Because I’ve made it my business to distance myself from having no financial stability. And that’s why I chose to work the way I did and the path I did in terms of career.”
“it was just like such an ugly, scary feeling all around,” she said.
What was the final straw?
Complicating matters, Kathan was kicked off of her health insurance so she tapered off her anti-depressants, something she now regrets.
“In that stillness it was like, oh, you just ruined your entire life and everything you’ve worked for to be on a reality show for a year that mentally kicked your a** and what do you have left to live for at this point?” she said.
“So it was just like a perfect storm of things. So when I really reevaluated, I decided to start looking for jobs in my chosen industry and got back into that,” she said. “And then, that was December of 2020 when I was talking to Bravo and Evolution, if I was gonna come back.”
“And I was just like, I can’t do this,” Kathan concluded.
That’s she decided to move forward –without Vanderpump Rules.
“I was like, you can’t keep doing this cycle of every few years of having these big breakdowns,” she said. “Eventually, you’re not gonna come back from it.”
So this is your choice. Take this job, start making all these small changes, and be happy. Find real happiness for the first time ever. Or sink,” she said. “What are you gonna do? And so that’s what I chose. And going back to the show would not have allowed for that.”
