A comprehensive guide to the Vanderpump Rules Scandoval
“I really don’t want to talk about Vanderpump Rules anymore,” a friend told me over lunch a few days ago.
Although only one of my friends has been bold enough to actually say those words to my face, I’m sure all of them have been thinking it. For the past month, VPR is pretty much the only subject I have been able to talk, write, or even think about. Myself and hundreds of Bravo fans across the globe have been infected with this VPR brain rot since Friday, March 3rd, 2023, when TMZ reported that two of the show’s oldest cast member’s, Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, were ending their almost ten-year-long relationship after Ariana caught Tom cheating with their close friend and fellow cast-member Raquel Leviss.
The ‘Scandoval,’ as the affair has been coined by fans is a big fucking deal. It’s a cultural reset, a reality TV state of emergency. It’s a betrayal of Caesarian proportions. And the news surrounding it never stops rolling in. It feels like every hour, a new cast member or friend-of creeps out of the woodwork to share a juicy tidbit, opinion, or statement on the affair. Fans worldwide struggled to make it to work the following Monday morning after an all-consuming weekend of keeping up with the Scandoval. Chrissy Teigen started 20 different group chats just to talk about the drama.
It’s like Brangelina big… bigger even, if you ask some of my friends.
In part, that’s because Tom and Ariana’s relationship had seemed so stable for so long. Although they had their ups and downs, they always seemed to stand by each other in the end, something that was relatively unusual for the cast of VPR. While he was a polarizing character, I think many of us found Tom to have a relatively straight moral compass compared to the other men on the show. His seemingly unwavering dedication to Ariana made him all the more likable. Thus, when it came out that not only had Tom been cheating on Ariana but also that the affair had been going on for months and had allegedly started while Raquel was staying in the guest room of Tom and Ariana’s shared house, the Bravo world was turned on its head.
Ariana herself only found out about the affair two days before the news broke to the rest of the world. Tom, who has had musical aspirations since the beginning of the series, had been playing a concert with his corny cover band, Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras. Ariana was in attendance. As he was performing, Tom’s phone fell out of his pocket, and Ariana picked it up to find risque videos and messages being exchanged with none other than her good friend Raquel.
As soon as the news dropped, Bravo producers had cameras locked and loaded on site at the Sandoval-Madix household to record the aftermath of the discovery. Although the show was already in post-production, editors worked overtime to recut and add to the already airing season. Their efforts are truly paying off. I have to applaud the whole team for their dedication here because the mid-season trailer, which dropped this past Monday and includes post-Scandoval footage, honestly gave me goosebumps. It’s filled with rage, romance, and revenge. Sexy scenes are cut between tears and screams, and there’s a particularly bone-chilling shot of Ariana screaming bloody murder, the intensity of which I have never seen on a reality show before.
To fully understand the scope of the Scandoval, one would need to watch VPR from the beginning (an activity I cannot recommend enough) because at its core, VPR is a about a cast of characters so codependent, so incestous, so messy, that there’s no one on the show this drama doesn’t touch. Moreover, the connective tissue that implicates them all directly in the scandal goes back a full decade, to the show’s very inception.
That being said, this season is sure to be one for the books. What’s to unfold in the rest of the season will be nothing short of explosive. There’s not a better time to jump into the show, and, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday, there’s just not enough hours in the day to catch up on ten seasons worth of lore. So, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide to every major fight, scandal, and betrayal leading up to the Scandoval.
For those not familiar, VPR is a reality television program following the lives of the waitstaff at a series of West Hollywood restaurants owned by the former Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Lisa Vanderpump. While the show covers topics ranging from the friend group’s attempts to make it in Hollywood to their struggles with alcoholism and their entrepreneurial pursuits, at the end of the day, it’s the repeated history of double-crossing and infidelity that has made VPR the greatest show currently airing. To quote Allie Jones for the New York Times (Yes, the Scandoval even made the Times), “‘Vanderpump Rules’ is a show foundationally built on cheating scandals.” After all, the show was catalysed by an affair: Scheana Shay, a server at one of Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants had carried-out a long-term rendezvous with Eddie Cibrian, the husband of one of Lisa’s co-stars on RHOBH.
Ten years in, our current cheating scandal still stands above the rest.
Season One
- Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, and Katie Maloney are best friends and servers at Lisa Vanderpump’s Sexy Unique Restaurant (SUR). Queen bees of the serving staff, they call themselves “the Witches of WeHo.” They’re also dating three best friends Jax Taylor, Tom Sandoval, and Tom Schwartz, respectively. Jax and Sandoval work behind the bar at SUR. The six of them are aspiring models, actors, and musicians.
- Scheana Shay, the new girl at SUR is being bullied by the Witches of WeHo. Stassi, in particular, is fiercely jealous of Scheana. She calls Scheana a “homewrecking whore,” referring to Scheana’s past indiscretion with Eddie Cibrian.
- Stassi ends things with Jax after hearing a rumor that he got a girl pregnant in Vegas a couple months prior. Jax denies the rumor. Katie and Kristen try to convince Stassi that it’s fake and that she should stay with Jax to preserve their friendship circle.
- Finally, on the season finale, Jax reveals that the rumor was true. He did in fact cheat on Stassi in Vegas.
Season Two
- Tom and Kristen are on the rocks. There’s a new bartender at SUR, Ariana Madix, and she and Tom have been spending an awful lot of time together. Kristen spirals with jealousy. This also turns the other women of SUR—besides Scheana who has been Ariana’s best friend for years—against Ariana.
- Tom eventually admits that he made out with Ariana at Coachella.
- Stassi hears a rumor that Kristen and Jax have slept together. Although both parties deny the rumor vehemently, Stassi goes to extreme lengths to prove that it is true. So many of these attempts fail to reveal anything, however, that the rumor seems absurd and Stassi comes across as paranoid and cruel. Until…
- Like the first season, Season Two ends with a shocking admission of guilt. Jax and Kristen reveal that they had sex with Sandoval asleep in the same apartment, a colossal betrayal to both Stassi and Sandoval. This moment lives on in Bravo history and is still referenced regularly by fans as one of the show’s most legendary finales.
- Stassi slaps Kristen.
- Bravo manages to keep Tom and Kristen’s break-up a secret until it is revealed on air. Kristen and Sandoval spend the whole season and its lead-up giving interviews where they pretended to be together, simply to make the betrayal that much more shocking for viewers.
Season Three
- Tom and Kristen have broken up, and Tom is now officially dating Ariana, leading Kristen into an even darker spiral of jealousy, rage, and self-sabotage.
- Kristen, meanwhile, has started dating young James Kennedy, a 21-year-old barback and aspiring DJ at SUR and also a good friend of Tom Sandoval. James is known for his quick temper, scathing insults, and generally unpleasant disposition. I think it says enough about him that he calls himself “The White Kanye.” Rumors of James cheating on Kristen are rampant, and the two have an unbelievably toxic dynamic.
- Eager to break up Ariana and Tom, Kristen takes on the role of a private investigator, uncovering Tom’s various improprieties. Convinced that he cheated on Ariana with a girl from Miami, Kristen flies “Miami Girl” out to L.A. and brings her to SUR for a confrontation while Tom is bartending.
- Tom flees the scene, managing to avoid the conflict and completely denies the affair. He refuses to film with Kristen, who loses her job at SUR. Sandoval and Ariana’s flame burns on, seemingly stronger than ever.
- The same, however, cannot be said for Kristen and James. At Scheana’s wedding, at the end of the season, Kristen punches James.
Season Four
- Tom and James become friends again, and Tom remains one of James’s only defenders throughout the series.
- The Toms get butt tattoos for their girlfriends. Schwartz gets the word Bubba, the pet name he and Katie call each other, and Sandoval gets an A for Ariana.
- Schwartz finally proposes to Katie.
Season Five
- In perhaps the worst sartorial decision of all time, Tom has inexplicably chosen to adorn himself with hair extensions and white streaks. Ariana stays with him despite this.
- Ariana receives an offer to write a cocktail book. Tom gets jealous and throws a hissy fit, demanding to be included. Ariana concedes.
- James starts dating Raquel Leviss, a beauty pageant queen who Brian Moylan once described as “the dried pulp stuck to the inside of an empty mimosa glass.” She’s an instant favorite of mine and an instant enemy of VPR girls. As is always the case with James’s relationships, this one too is riddled with cheating rumors.
- At Katie and Schwartz’s wedding at the end of the season, Lisa Vanderpump asks Sandoval and Schwartz–Schwartz being a man who has seemingly never worked a day in his life aside from the odd modeling gig here and there–to partner with her in her new restaurant venture. Capitalizing on the likability of this dynamic duo, Lisa reveals that she wants to name the new restaurant after them: TomTom.
Season Six
- The season starts off strong with Jax, who is now dating a woman from Kentucky named Brittany, admitting that he slept with a fellow SUR employee, Faith Stowers. This affair allegedly happened in the room where a 95-year-old woman that Faith was taking care of was sleeping.
- Raquel throws a “puppy party” for her new pooch and invites the entire cast. Only Tom and Ariana show up. Looking back on this time in her life, Raquel would call Ariana one of her only true friends on the show.
Season Seven
- TomTom is now open.
- Brittany and Jax get engaged as she tries to forget that he’s a notorious liar and cheater. They feud with James who won’t let her forget and incorporates raps about Jax’s affair into his DJ sets at SUR. This creates a major rift between James and the rest of the cast.
- Kristen returns to her private investigator ways by sneaking into SUR with a girl who alleges to have slept with James at Coachella behind Raquel’s back. Raquel feigns naivety and chooses to believe James when he denies the claims. The entire cast gangs up on James and Raquel.
- Tom tries to mediate between James and the rest of the group. His capacity to stick up for the underdog, his apparent support for Ariana–especially in comparison to the way the rest of the men on the show treat their partners–and his ridiculous flair for grand gestures and dressing up, make him a sympathetic and charming character to many.
Season Eight
- Katie and Schwartz, Tom and Ariana, and Brittany and Jax all buy houses in Valley Village.
- Tom and Ariana spend months designing their house to fit the perfect blend of each of their aesthetics.
- Jax and Brittany get a homophobic pastor to officiate their wedding and Tom confronts Jax about it on camera. This destroys their friendship once and for all. It’s a pretty polarizing moment in VPR history with the fanbase split between those who think Tom is just putting up a good guy act for the cameras and those who appreciate his efforts.
Pandemic Hiatus
- Jax and Brittany are fired, making Tom Sandoval the “number one guy in the group.”
- Stassi and Kristen are fired for racism after Faith reveals that they called the cops on her for a crime they knew she didn’t commit.
Season Nine
- The Toms decide to start a restaurant of their own called “Schwartz and Sandy’s.” Katie hates the name and wants to be involved, but Tom Sandoval pushes her out. This leads to conflict between all three of them. Surprising no one, the Toms are revealed to be terrible entrepreneurs.
- Eventually, Ariana and Katie decide to start a sandwich shop called “Something About Her.”
- James proposes to Raquel by creating her own personal Coachella for her. She says Coachella is the most romantic place on earth. Tom Sandoval spends $12.5k of his own money to help James finance this vision. James calls Tom his best friend. If you’ve been following up to now that means:
- James and Raquel call off their engagement at the reunion, and she gives him the ring back on air.
Mid Seasons Nine and Ten
- Katie and Schwartz announce their divorce. This makes Tom and Ariana the longest-standing and seemingly most secure relationship on the show.
- Rumors about a budding romance between Schwartz and Raquel start to arise before Katie and Schwartz have even finalized their divorce.
- Raquel shows up to Bravocon in October wearing a limited edition TomTom hoodie.
- Katie calls Raquel a “fan girl.” This feud was originally supposed to be one of the main plotlines for the currently airing season.
- Tom Sandoval dresses up as Bravocon Raquel for halloween, supposedly showing support for his younger co-star amid her feud with Katie.
- Raquel posts a picture of herself to Instagram with the caption “Not sure what to caption this so here’s three emojis 🌩🔮🚺.” Bravo sleuths–some of the sharpest investigative minds on the internet–have since divined a secret message in the emojis: “Tom’s future girl.” (Tom’s logo is a lightning bolt, and it is rumored that he and Raquel had matching lightning bolt necklaces to show their secret love for one another).
Season Ten (currently airing)
- The main storyline for this season is originally set to explore the conflict between Katie and Raquel.
- James is dating a new girl, Ally, and Raquel tries to warn her of James’s cheating ways. She also expresses her sadness over James moving on so quickly, and she confides in Lisa Vanderpump that she’s still in love with James.
- Raquel mentions that Tom Sandoval helped her draw boundaries with James.
- Scheana encourages Raquel to move on with Schwartz.
- Katie, who is not yet officially divorced from Schwartz, asks Raquel not to make a move on him. She does anyway. Katie is furious at both Scheana and Raquel.
- At the Vanderpump Garden Lounge in Vegas, Raquel makes out with Oliver, the son of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Garcelle Beauvais. It is later alleged that Oliver was married at the time.
- Ariana experiences two big losses. Her grandmother dies, and then her dog, whom she has had for over a decade, dies. In the aftermath, she and Tom have a conversation about the future of their relationship in which Tom expresses his support and commitment to her.
- Scheana and Raquel embark on a press trip to New York together. After filming an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the two go to a bar to celebrate. There, Raquel gets a call from a heartbroken Ariana who has just discovered the affair. Upon overhearing the conversation and finding out that Raquel stabbed Ariana in the back, Scheana is allegedly so filled with rage on behalf of her best friend that she becomes physical with Raquel.
- Raquel tries to file a restraining order against Scheana, claiming that Scheana gave her a black eye. Scheana denies the allegations, saying she can’t form a fist with her long nails. Fans suggest that Raquel has only filed the restraining order as a means to avoid attending the Season Ten reunion and having to face Ariana. To circumvent any legal restrictions, they film with Raquel and Scheana separately. Eventually, the case is dismissed.
- Katie and Scheana put their differences aside to support Ariana.
- Kristen announces that she is filming again, because who is more qualified to talk about Tom Sandoval than she is? Any bad blood she and Ariana once had has been forgotten as Kristen appears to be sitting shiva with her in the aftermath of the affair.
- Jax and Brittany appear on What What Happens Live, proving no one can escape the tangled web that is VPR.
- In a pre-Scandoval scene from the mid-season trailer, Scheana jokingly calls Raquel a “homewrecking whore,” harkening back to Scheana’s own start on the show.
- The Season Ten reunion films, and cast members are exhausted afterward. Jax tells the press that it almost ended in an all out brawl. Later, Tom and Raquel are spotted at the same restaurant he took Ariana to for their nine-year anniversary celebration.
- Tom and Raquel show very little remorse through the aftermath. Tom refuses to leave the house he and Ariana share, and Raquel is spotted leaving the Sandoval-Madix house with bags one night while Ariana is away.
Besides VPR, my other favorite television show of all time is MTV’s Daria. One of the things I like so much about the cartoon is that it really makes us believe in the rich interiority and mutability hiding within characters we might have been too quick to write off as moronic or shallow. VPR, on the other hand, has the opposite effect: it lets me revel in the absolutely cyclical missteps of a group of friends for whom personal growth seems impossible. You know what they say about constants in life… death, taxes, and the cast of VPR ruining each other’s lives. And yet, there’s something so compelling and watchable about this circle of hell the stars have created for themselves; there’s a fascinating, almost beautiful darkness to watching them torment each other (and indirectly themselves) season after season.
That’s a large part of why I’ve been so entranced by The Scandoval. For one, it came at a crucial time for the show. Vanderpump Rules had been tragically bad for several seasons; I use the word tragically deliberately because its fall from grace was staggering. This show, which had once been marked by betrayal, scandal, and even physical violence from time to time, was suddenly about taking out loans, playing pickleball, and trying new foods. And it was frankly devastating to see the cast members hide behind a veneer of happy, married, settled life when they had once been pure agents of chaos and infidelity. But The Scandoval reminded us that when it comes to this group of friends, there’s always unrest and deceit lurking just below the surface. As Reddit user u/ughsomanytypod explains, “[Tom’s] incorrect assumption on the reason behind his fame is the root of his downfall…We liked Tom for his morals. He thought he was loved [because] he’s an ‘amazing bartender,’ ‘a rockstar,’ etc. He destroyed the ONE thing he was beloved for.” And while not everyone felt this way about Tom, for those of us who rooted for him, we quickly learned our lesson: What makes VPR so great is that no one is exempt from this self-destructive drive for intimacy, attention, and pleasure that plagues each cast member and also brings them all together. Raquel, for example, might think that she ruined her reputation by carrying out this affair with Tom, but what none of the stars of VPR seem to realize is that their reputation was ruined the minute they appeared on the show. Like a washed up athlete or someone who peaked in high school, the cast of VPR live in a bubble fueled by delusions of grandeur, deep-seated and unrecognized insecurities, and a profound lack of perspective.
And despite being so nihilistic in some ways, there’s also something hysterically funny and strangely heartwarming about VPR. There’s an absurdist comedy to watching the cast get in ferocious screaming matches about pasta, calling fifty cent “fofty,” or simply contorting their bodies into bizarre shapes and angles while chain smoking in the SUR alley. The program has lifted me out of some of the most chaotic and depressing phases of my life by inspiring me to be a kinder, more empathetic person. They represent a complex and wide variety of maladjusted behaviors in such an exaggerated way, that it’s easy to pick out and assess my own negative traits and insecurities while watching VPR. Changing my selfish or unforgiving reactions to certain situations feels easier when I watch the cast of VPR fail at this task time and time again.
So, raise your glasses high, and cheers to an amazing season of the best reality show ever created.
Recommend If You Like is not owned or funded by a billionaire or even a millionaire. We do have a Patreon. If you can’t afford to become a patron, please sign up to our mailing list. It’s free and we’re asking here instead of a pop-up. Pop-ups are annoying.