Stassi Schroeder, former star of Vanderpump Rules, is back in her own eight-episode series, House of Stassi, on Disney+ and Hulu. The show was pitched as a self-aware redemption arc, but it ends up exposing the dark side of reality TV and Schroeder's own life.
A return after cancellation
Schroeder rose to fame in the 2010s as a standout on Vanderpump Rules, known for her charisma and chaos. She was fired in 2020 after it emerged that she and castmate Kristen Doute had falsely reported their Black castmate Faith Stowers to police for a crime she didn't commit.
After years of podcasting and brand work, Disney and Hulu announced her return with House of Stassi. The show was meant to show her reflecting and growing, allowing fans to follow her again.
Producing her own reality
From the first confessional, Schroeder jokes with producers and notes Disney money improved the set design. She admits: "I'm scared of reality TV, but it's all I know … I love it, but I'm also traumatised by it. I can't stay away from it."
She arranges friends and family like dolls, coaching them on camera presence. She sets up confrontations, triggers her sister's insecurities, and baits her husband Beau into fighting about their marriage. She justifies it by saying the show will help them "level up their lives" and "all become rich and famous – like the Kardashians!"
A marriage turns toxic
Beau, the house husband, is clearly unhappy, complaining about being out of work and wanting to return to casting. Schroeder blocks his attempts to work or talk about it. The season builds to a finale dinner on a haunted boat, where friends stage an intervention about the marriage.
Schroeder delivers an epic meltdown, admitting she's afraid of her own children and telling her husband she never wants to see him again. The show accidentally delivers something truly real: a brutal look at motherhood and the guilt of not being able to handle her children.
At the end, Schroeder tells the camera: "I feel stupid because I didn't see this coming, and I should have." House of Stassi is available on Disney+ in Australia and the UK, and on Hulu and Fubo in the US.
