Lala Kent Explains Defending Sandoval Against Boos at BravoCon

Lala Kent attempted to silence the crowd of the Vanderpump Rules cast’s panel as they flooded her deserving co-star, Tom Sandoval, with boos. But why?

As Lala, 33, admitted to wanting to move on from the drama surrounding Sandoval’s sordid affair with Raquel Leviss, 29, Lala lashed out at James Kennedy, 31, for suggesting she was hanging out with Sandoval in Las Vegas and said that when it comes to season 11, fans are going to be “torn.”

“I can’t give you too much…I think it’s going to be interesting,” Lala teased, via Bravo’s The Daily Dish. “Y’all are going to be torn. Yes, I told you all to go insane on Tom Sandoval, and now I’m telling you to kind of disengage.”

Following the release of the trailer on Friday, Sandoval admitted that filming the new season was “a lot.”

“It’s really intense, per usual…but it’s really short,” he noted.

According to Sandoval, something happens during the season that will surprise fans.

“There’s definitely something that you don’t see coming that happens, that’s not involved with me,” he teased.

Fans will also see an evolution between him and Tom Schwartz, 40, who faced backlash, both at their businesses and on social media, due to their ties following the breaking of “Scandoval” earlier this year.

“Considering, I mean, I definitely put him through a lot,” Sandoval said. “You know, [he] got a lot of residual hate just from me, you know what I mean? I feel like [our relationship has] definitely gotten better. Obviously, we went through tough times because of me, and he dealt with a lot of residual negativity, and I really appreciate [him] sticking by.”

“And then everything I did, and, you know, I feel like we’re stronger than ever,” he added. “We’ve always had a resilient friendship and a loving, caring friendship and yeah, we’re in a good place.”

Lisa Vanderpump, 63, also confirmed viewers would see their journey on season 11.

“It wasn’t that easy, was it?” she asked Sandoval.

“No, it wasn’t. It’s definitely the most strain we’ve ever had on our friendship, for sure,” he replied.

As for what prompted Lala to pop off on James, that took place after he suggested she was secretly spending time with Sandoval.

“I don’t think that was Lala. I heard that was somebody else,” Ariana Madix, 38, noted.

“I saw someone’s Story [and] I didn’t like what I saw. You know, if the girls are so tight over there,” James explained as the crowd signaled to Scheana Shay, 38.

“Scheana’s not even up here,” Lala responded. “I was not hanging out with Sandoval. Stay in your f*cking lane. No, I was not.”

According to James, he saw Logan on the couch in a clip shared from Sandoval’s suite and assumed that because he and Lala are “always together,” she was there too.

But Lala insisted she was not.

“I’m not gonna let you tell this whole room that I was kicking it at Sandoval’s room last night. The lies! The lies!” Lala proclaimed.

Following the panel, during a red carpet interview, Lala explained why she seemingly defended Sandoval against boos, reminding the audience that he didn’t have to show up.

“I just felt like it was enough. I don’t know that it was really directly for Sandoval. It was just like, we can’t keep doing this. We’ve got to move on at some point,” Lala told Us Weekly. “And I didn’t feel like the punishment is fitting the crime any longer.”

“The question that came in for him was so rude. And then the booing. Honestly, if I were him, I’d be chucking up my middle fingers and telling you to kick rocks,” she added.

Continuing on about her experience filming season 11, Lala pointed out that she’s never really liked Sandoval.

“I’ve been in a room with him for many years when I didn’t want to be, so for me it was normal,” she stated. “Nothing changed for me. We’ve all got to move on in some way — and we had a fantastic season 11. It’ll look very different, but it’ll still be amazing.”

Vanderpump Rules season 11 is set to premiere on Bravo in January 2024.