How Did Kristen Doute Get on 'Vanderpump Rules'?

To say that Kristen's suspension from SUR was a long-time coming would be an understatement. Beyond Lisa Vanderpump's history with her, I can't imagine why Queen Pump has decided to keep her on this long. Despite all of her misgivings as an employee, though, Doute makes for pretty good television as an inherent pot-stirrer. How did Kristen Doute get cast on Vanderpump Rules , anyway? Well, the stars just kind of aligned perfectly.

In a Season 1 interview with cast members, Doute tells Bravo TV that she and Vanderpump go way back, even further than anyone on the cast. Doute was taken on as a server at the restaurant back in 2008, she recalls in the 2013 interview:

I have worked at Sur for five-and-a-half years.... This was when we had all of 12 employees and no liquor license. Now the place has evolved in to this giant LA hotspot. The more employees there are, the more rules we have. I don't do well with change there!

The fact that she was just there made her a natural casting choice. Not to mention that her personal life revolved around SUR at the time. When the show premiered in early 2013, Doute was living with Tom Sandoval, who had also worked for Vanderpump for a while, and was best friends with Katie and Stassi. Given the fact that she was so enmeshed with the SUR clique, all the potential for drama was already built in. Furthermore, she's an actress, and probably saw this as an opportunity to further her career. Feast your eyes on her reel, which includes a particularly entertaining clip of her and Sandoval in a movie called 23 Minutes to Sunrise. SPOILER ALERT: Tom has a mustache and some Disney Prince hair...

Couple this with an adversarial personality just made for reality TV, and she was a shoo-in to be put on the air. Even in a November 2013 video blog, Vanderpump says that Doute is constantly fighting her on decisions and directions. "Basically, she wants the polar opposite of everything I want." She continues, saying:

I know I really should have fired Kristen for her behavior, but when somebody's worked for me for six or seven years, it's really not that simple.

Why is it not that simple? Well, my best guess is unemployment insurance.

Even if she hasn't gone into detail herself about how exactly she got cast, the choice seems pretty intuitive. If you combine Doute's history with Vanderpump, with her social circle, with her demeanor, she was a natural shoo-in for the show.