'Vanderpump Rules' Scandoval Explained: What's Next?
If you are a fellow Bravoholic, you know it’s been a very long couple of weeks … and if you’ve watched the most recent trailer for what’s to come on this season of Vanderpump Rules, you also know the cast isn’t finished mentioning it all on the Scandoval drama.
For those still asking, “What is ‘Scandoval?’” Allow us to explain …
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On the afternoon of March 3, TMZ released a report that Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval had been cheating on his girlfriend and co-star of nine years, Ariana Madix, with one of her close friends and castmate, Raquel Leviss. The news sent a shockwave through the Bravoverse, triggering some very eyebrow-raising responses from former and current cast members, fans of the show, and even Andy Cohen himself. Thus, the Sandoval scandal—henceforth referred to as "Scandoval"—was born.
Needless to say this cast has a decades’ worth of history together, making Scandoval one of the betrayals to end all betrayals (but … THAT’S OUR OPINION). For our newbies, here’s a quick rundown:
What is ‘Vanderpump Rules’ about?
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Vanderpump Rules first aired in 2013 as a spinoff to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, documenting the lives of young, eager employees of SUR Restaurant, a glitzy, West Hollywood bar and upscale eatery owned by longtime Beverly Hills housewife Lisa Vanderpump. The original cast included SUR servers Stassi Schroeder and her two best friends Katie Maloney and Kristen Doute, along with Schroeder’s then boyfriend and SUR bartender Jax Taylor, and Doute’s boyfriend and bartender Tom Sandoval. Scheana Shay was also a prominent character on the show as well as Maloney’s aspiring model boyfriend Tom Schwartz. By Season 3, Schwartz and new SUR bartender Ariana Madix became series regulars.
Sandoval and Madix became close coworkers and friends in 2013 when Madix was transferred from Villa Blanca, SUR’s sister restaurant, to become a bartender at SUR. They confirmed their romantic relationship at the Season 2 reunion, after Sandoval’s then girlfriend Doute discovered Sandoval and Madix had been intimate on a trip to Las Vegas.
For over 10 seasons, we have watched the Vanderpump gang experience career successes and downfalls, friendship breakups and makeups, and lots and LOTS of relationship drama; often stemming from cheating and lies happening within the friend group. Since airing, Bravo also added significant side characters to the show including Lala Kent, James Kennedy, Taylor’s now-wife Brittany Cartwright, Shay’s now-husband Brock Davies, and Kennedy’s ex-fiancée Raquel Leviss.
What’s happening on Season 10 of “Vanderpump Rules?”
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Up until Season 10, Vanderpump Rules had pretty much gone stale for most Bravo fans. All but a few cast members had left SUR for other career pursuits, most were married or in long-term relationships, and the drama between the group of now 30-somethings was feeling like a reach.
It looked like the show may be over until a few major developments occurred: Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz announced their divorce in March of 2022, and Lala Kent was also divorcing Hollywood producer and father of her first child, Ocean, after many cheating indiscretions and legal allegations including civil fraud, sexual misconduct, and more. Viewers also quickly discovered that Raquel Leviss was going to be causing all sorts of trouble after breaking off her engagement with James Kennedy at the conclusion of Season 9.
Season 10 premiered on Feb. 10, taking audiences back to the summer of 2022. The main players this season are Maloney, Schwartz, Sandoval, Madix, Shay, Kent, Kennedy and Leviss. Schwartz and Sandoval are working hard to get their new bar, “Schwartz and Sandy’s,” staffed and opened by the end of the summer, while Maloney and Madix are making plans to open a sandwich shop together. Schwartz and Maloney are trying to maintain a friendship after divorce, but are still fending off feelings of jealousy and resentment.
Leviss is adjusting to single life, and has her sights set on a hookup with Tom Schwartz thanks to some meddling from Shay. This stirs up a feud between Maloney and Shay, and has the rest of the girls feeling like they can’t trust Leviss. Meanwhile, Leviss’ ex Kennedy is already dropping the “L” word in his relationship with Vanderpump Rules newbie Ally Lewber.
By the looks of it, Season 10 is going to continue to deliver. Bravo TV announced on their social media that they kept the cameras rolling as the Scandoval drama began to unfold.
What more is there to know about “Scandoval?”
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Vanderpump Rules fan or otherwise, the social media noise surrounding Scandoval has been hard to ignore. Just when we thought things couldn’t get much worse, more dirty details continued to reveal themselves. Here’s what we know:
Madix allegedly became aware of the affair on March 1 while at a performance of Sandoval’s band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, in L.A. Madix checked Sandoval’s cell phone, where she discovered an inappropriate video of Leviss saved to his camera roll. That same night, Leviss and Shay appeared on Andy Cohen’s talk show, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, in New York City. Shay apparently learned of the betrayal shortly after the show, and reacted by “punching Leviss in the face.”
Leviss has since filed a restraining order against Shay, claiming that she was pushed up against a brick wall, where she hit her head and was then punched in the face, giving her a cut on her left eye. Shay’s attorney asserted to TIME that “the case is a fabrication by a known liar and a cheat that has betrayed everyone close to her,” and “they look forward to presenting the full and true story at the March 29 hearing.”
It was also alleged that Leviss and Sandoval wore matching lightning bolt necklaces to secretly declare their devotion to one another and repeatedly slept together in Sandoval and Madix’s home while Madix was asleep in the other room. To thicken the plot, Bravoholics theorized that in Season 10, Schwartz was being used as a decoy to distract from the affair. True or not, Schwartz is now getting social media hate for aiding in the deception.
Sandoval broke his silence on Instagram on March 4, where he indirectly confirmed the affair with Leviss. Sandoval asked followers to “please leave Schwartz, [his] friends and family out of this situation,” and asserts that “Schwartz specifically only found out very recently, and most definitely did not condone [Sandoval’s] actions.” He also apologized to the “3 other partners and 20 employees” of Schwartz and Sandy’s, who “rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families.”
The post got an uproar of hate from Vanderpump Rules cast members and baffled fans who noted that the apology was missing a key character in this whole mess: Madix. Sandoval followed up with a second statement on March 7, mentioning that he “can only imagine how devastating this has been” for Madix. He went on to explain that his “love for Ariana was stronger than any camera could ever have captured” and that he wished things had “ended with the same respect” as they had begun.
Leviss also made attempts to apologize in an Instagram post on March 8, specifically to Madix, who she “deeply regrets hurting.” She went on to address that she “sought emotional validation through intimate connections that are not healthy … often prioritizing the intimate connection over [her] friendships.” Leviss also confirmed rumors that she had been “physically assaulted,” “received death threats and hate emails,” and had her “privacy violated” after news broke of the affair.
Leviss did state in an additional post on March 9 that despite the “indefensible circumstances” her “feelings for Tom have always been sincere and born out of a loving friendship” and that she doesn’t “want to label anything or predict what lies ahead” for their relationship.
Madix was the last to speak out on social media regarding the affair, keeping her update brief and positive on March 16. She started by thanking friends, family and fans for the “outpouring of love and support” and revealed that she is without a doubt “devastated and broken.” Madix also mentioned that she and close friends are all “grieving the loss right now and reeling from this betrayal on so many levels.” She signed off her message with “what doesn’t kill me better run.”
When will “Scandoval” air on Vanderpump Rules?
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Although it would take weeks to comb through all the drama that has transpired over the first 10 years of Vanderpump Rules, fans and Scandoval onlookers can rest assured that Season 10 will address everything that has gone down since the cheating bomb was detonated. After all of the regularly scheduled episodes air, the additional Scandoval footage captured by Bravo TV will be tacked on to the conclusion of the season. Then comes the highly anticipated reunion show, which will give cast members and major players of the scandal an opportunity to discuss the drama head-on. The names of those who will be attending the reunion, however, have not been confirmed.
We will also be seeing some ghosts of SUR past appear in the Scandoval footage, including former server and series regular Kristen Doute. Doute and current cast members including Maloney, Shay, Kent, and Kennedy have all shown their unwavering support for Ariana on social media, which we will likely see play out during the conclusion of Season 10.
Bravo TV released an additional trailer on March 20, giving audiences a scathing glimpse at what is to come. We see Leviss and Schwartz seemingly on a date, after Maloney clearly expressed that their flirtation was very upsetting and that Schwartz is “still [her] husband.” We also see some exciting moments like Shay and Davies’ wedding, Maloney and Madix making strides on their sandwich shop, and Kennedy considering proposing to his girlfriend, Lewber.
More importantly, the trailer revealed snippets of real-time reactions to the cheating scandal. Sandoval solemnly states to Madix that he “wishes they both would have tried harder.” Madix is then seen telling Sandoval that he “doesn’t deserve one f**king tear of [hers].” Leviss is also seen telling someone that she “doesn’t f**king regret [their] relationship,” which fans are assuming is hers and Sandoval’s. Worst of all, Sandoval asks Ariana, “You want anything?” To which she responds “... for you to die.” - Hannah Rice
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