Andy Cohen swears! In the wake of the Vanderpump Rules cheating scandal, no one edited the final episode of the reality show, which was taped before their infamous love triangle exploded onto the pop culture landscape this month.
“Guys, you’re going to watch Wednesday’s episode,” the Bravo host said on his Sirius XM show Radio Andy on Tuesday. “You’ll think it’s been recut. OK? It won’t be recut. That was the result.”
Cohen continued, his voice dripping with drama: “The conversations between Katie and Lala and Raquel are not. Are. believed. Given what came out. But I’m telling you, the episode hasn’t been touched. shocking. You won’t believe it.”
And while die-hard fans may not believe it, non-viewers and new viewers just can’t understand it at all. Tonight’s episode, “Vanderpump Rules,” may have a deeper, hidden meaning given the scam situation that broke out in early March. It was then that one of the cast members of the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” spin-off found out that her old boyfriend was having an affair with her co-star.
For those ignorant folks, we present the Vanderpump Rules Scam Scandal Explained.
The show
The first episode after spying “Vanderpump Rules,” a reality show about the people who work in “RHOBH” star Lisa Vanderpump’s WeHo restaurants and bars, garnered its highest ratings in three years, the Wrap reported Wednesday. The March 8 episode was watched live by 2.2 million people, double the March 1 episode. Clearly sex sells.
“Vanderpump Rules” — or just “Pump Rules,” if you’re cool — launched its 10th season on Bravo in early February, promising “a new era of ridicule, drama, and betrayal” on its website. Episode 6 airs tonight.
The players
The current main cast includes, in no particular order, Vanderpump, Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz, James Kennedy, Lala Kent, Charli Burnett, Scheana Shay, Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, and Raquel Leviss. Note the last few names as they are intertwined.
With the exception of restaurateur Vanderpump, all current or former waiters, hostesses, waiters or bartenders at their restaurants are SUR and Pump. TomTom Restaurant & Bar, part-owned by Sandoval and Schwartz, is also part of the landscape. While most of the cast members have left their original jobs at the restaurant, they have not left the show, placing them firmly in the ranks of “middle-class show business.”
Sandoval and Madix have been dating for nine years, and he’s in LA with Vanderpump, Schwartz, and two other owners of Schwartz & Sandy’s Lounge. Leviss did not become a full-time cast member until Season 9.
The affair
Madix, 37, discovered that Sandoval, 39, had cheated on her on March 1 while she was at a venue to watch her boyfriend’s tape, according to People. Sandoval and Leviss, 28, were spotted smuggling, the store said, presumably before Madix found a loud video of them on her friend’s phone. Then she found her story of inappropriate lyrics.
At that point, the cat was miles out of the bag.
Meanwhile, Leviss and Shay appeared on Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live that same night, with Leviss defending a recent decision to kiss black, who is Sandoval’s best friend and business partner. Leviss had previously been linked to Schwartz after Schwartz divorced Maloney after Maloney ended her engagement to Kennedy. Unpack the last sentence slowly.
The consequences
As of March 3, the couple’s relationship was dead, dead, dead, though Madix reportedly planned to spend the rest of her life with Sandoval.
“It’s been like this for over six months — all the time Tom has slept in bed next to Ariana,” a source told People. “She was completely surprised by it; crushed does not even touch the surface of their feelings.”
Sandoval posted a message on Instagram on March 4 urging people to keep Schwartz and his friends and family out of the fight, noting that “Schwartz only recently found out about this and certainly didn’t approve of my actions. Sandoval also said that he will take his “rest” in the lounge out of respect for his employees and partners.
Three days later, Sandoval formally apologized to Madix and “everyone I’ve hurt through this process”. He said he has “acted in a way that is contrary to who and how I want to be” and will continue to “think and work on myself”.
He also got a little emotional when he wrote, “My love for Ariana was stronger than a camera could ever capture the same respect…for her that started it all. I owed Ariana more.”
On the same day, March 7, Leviss apologized “to Ariana, my friends and the fans who invested so much in our relationship. There is no excuse. I am not a victim and I must admit my actions. I am very sorry that I hurt Ariana.” She said she spoke with a counselor and took steps to make “healthier” choices.
She also defended herself a bit by writing, “Even though I chose to be on a reality show and accepted the good and bad that comes with it, aside from my own actions, I have been physically assaulted, lost friendships, death threats and hate emails on top of my privacy being violated.
That day, Leviss also filed a restraining order against Shay, according to TMZ, that her apparently ex-boyfriend “pushed Raquel against a brick wall and punched her in the left eye.” Shay, 37, is said to have defended their mutual friend Madix and the file included photos of Leviss with dark spots on her eyes.
Then on March 8, Leviss returned to Instagram to say in part, “I need to take care of my health, work on my self-growth, and take time to get along with being alone. I care about Tom and I don’t want anything label or predict what’s coming. Now I have to heal.”
The next day, a lawyer for Shay said in a statement to the Times: “Scheana never hit Rachel, period. The alleged dark spots around her left eye have been there for months.” The statement called Leviss “a known liar and con artist.”
The complaint?
Cheating and scandal are baked in the Vanderpump Rules cake, but this particular cheating scandal has fan chat groups buzzing.
“People feel played. And they’re putting all the pieces together now,” the person who anonymously runs the @QueensofBravoPlus Instagram account told The Times last week. “There is a lot of deceit involved. …people may not identify with misleading ancients or [a spouse accused of] Taking money from orphans and widows, but it feels understandable when people know what it’s like to be betrayed or scammed by a friend.”
The show – again
What happens now? “Vanderpump Rules” Season 10 Episode 6 airs tonight at 9 p.m. Pacific on Bravo. Viewers who want to catch up on the drama so far, which has nothing else to offer apart from the cast, can do so by tuning in early each week. Previous episodes run before the new one comes out.
A source close to the production told People last week that “the cameras are rolling now,” so the breakup will likely be part of the current season.
Yvonne Villarreal, a Times contributor, contributed to this report.
Source: LA Times
Thomas Summerville is an author and entertainment journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for keeping readers informed about the latest trends and happenings in the world of film, music, and pop culture.
