Madix tells Schwartz to “choke on Sandoval’s dirty ass d—,” her new man makes his debut and she makes an emotional return to the scene of the Scandoval, before Lala drops a bomb.
Tom Sandoval didn’t appear until the very last moments of the Vanderpump Rules Season 11 premiere — titled “Notes on a Scandal” — but his name was on everyone’s lips throughout the hour.
The episode began inside Tom and ex Ariana Madix’s shared Valley Village home, which they are both still living in despite the Scandoval fallout last year. The premiere was filmed in June, around Ariana’s birthday, and the home was filled with flowers — as well as a note from Cameron Diaz and her Avaline wine partner reading #TeamAriana. That’s right, Cam is a Pump Rules girl.
Sandoval, meanwhile, was out of town filming Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
Getty
Rachel Leviss Swears Off Dating for a Year Following Scandoval Drama
View Story
“Three months ago when Tom blew up our lives, I was not prepared to be kicked out of my house and start a whole new frickin’ life. Even though we still live under the same roof, I’ve been able to maintain a no contact policy,” Ariana explained. “We communicate via his assistant Anne, which is great for me because I don’t have to look at his stupid face, but bad for Anne because that’s literally her job.”
Madix had Katie Maloney over, telling her she felt it was “psychotic” Tom wanted to buy the house from her and keep living there.
“I’m sorry, but then you don’t have to move and I do? You gonna bring you little pen pal back over here? I don’t f–king think so,” she added in a confessional, claiming Tom and Rachel Leviss — who most of the cast still referred to as Raquel at the time of filming — were still sending packages to each other while she was at a mental health facility.
Getty
Howie Mandel Confronts Andy Cohen About ‘Jackhole’ Diss After Tom Sandoval Interview
View Story
Later, Ariana met up with Scheana Shay for a spa date, where Madix opened up about her new boyfriend, Daniel Wai. She said the two met at a wedding, “literally 10-11 days after everything blew up” — adding that they were doing the “long distance thing” because he lives in New York.
While Scheana thought Daniel was already a “giant step up from her ex” because he wasn’t sleeping with any of her friends, she also felt Madix hadn’t “fully processed the trauma” with Tom. Shay also said the Scandoval fallout made her own OCD and anxiety worse, adding that her brain was “going crazy” as she wondered if Tom could cheat on Ariana, could her husband Brock Davies do the same. “It’s been a f–king roller coaster, I’ll say that,” said Scheana.
As they spoke, Ariana also revealed she blocked Tom Schwartz on her phone, after he went on Watch What Happens Live and told fans to give Sandoval a hug if they ran into him on the street. She said she texted Schwartz and then blocked him, claiming her message wasn’t that angry. Tom, however, read it aloud — and claimed it said, “F–k you, blocking your number. Go choke on Sandoval’s dirty ass d–k some more.”
“For the record, I’ve never choked on Sandoval’s dirty ass d–k,” he clarified to camera, before Ariana said she didn’t “see a friendship there” with Schwartz going forward.
Getty
Rachel Leviss Reveals Why Tom Sandoval Was ‘Not Happy’ with Schwartz During Reunion
View Story
The pair did cross paths later in the hour, as the entire group — sans Sandoval — met up at TomTom for one of James Kennedy’s DJing sets. Though Tom said hello, it barely registered with Ariana.
Labeling her an “ice queen” in a confessional, Schwartz added, “I understand she has this exalted status, Queen Ariana, patron saint of scorned women. Until the ice melts with her, I have a feeling it’s going to be really hard making inroads with the rest of the girls.”
For Madix, being back at TomTom was pretty triggering — as it was the first time she was back at the establishment since she uncovered Sandoval’s affair during one of his concerts there.
“If I don’t go, then it’s like, that wins. I shouldn’t have to make my life smaller because Tom messed everything up,” she said. “If I can go there and make new memories, maybe it won’t have power over me anymore and I’ll be able to look at it as some bar.”
While there, she was overcome with emotion and even teared up at one point, admitting the cheating was “just really kind of taking over my memories of this place,” despite all the other good times she had there previously.
Getty
Rachel Leviss Details ‘Embarrassing’ First Hookup with Tom Sandoval While Ariana Madix Slept Nearby
View Story
After reflecting on her split from Randall Emmett earlier in the hour, Lala Kent grabbed Lisa Vanderpump during James’ event and pulled her aside. Something Rachel had said during the reunion — her feeling that if she betrayed Sandoval, she’d have nothing — really hit a nerve with Kent, who told LVP she could “relate” to feeling isolated and risking it all for someone while ignoring everyone around you.
Lisa said she was happy to see Lala — of all people — wasn’t being as “rigid” about Rachel as the rest of them, telling her that Leviss could probably use somebody to talk to. With that, Kent stepped outside and left Rachel a voice note.
“Hey Raquel, I’m sure I’m like the last person you expected to hear from. I hope you’re doing okay,” she said. “I don’t know if you’re back in LA or not, but I’d like to have a conversation with you at some point, if you’re open to that. Hope to talk to you soon.”
In a confessional, Lala added, “What Raquel did, what she said, how she went about things was so f–king stupid. But as someone who knows what it’s like to walk through life and see comments about being a mistress, I don’t want her to wear that forever.”
Getty
Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz Issue PSA on Cheating: ‘Don’t Have a F–king Affair’
View Story
While we doubt we’ll be seeing or hearing Rachel on the show this season — she stepped away from the show and feels secure in her decision to leave — the big question is how would Ariana react to one of her friends reaching out to She Who Shall Not Be Named. Well, we found out the next day, as all the women met up for more drinks.
As they spoke, Lala decided to be “very, very honest” with Ariana and came clean about her voice note to Rachel.
“My feeling is, whatever work she’s doing, I hope the best for her … over there,” Madix told Kent. “But she’s still in contact with him, they’re sending packages back and forth to each other. She knew better. She literally came over to my house one time when I was crying, this was January, it was very clear Tom and I were still together and she was there consoling me.”
Bravo
Ariana Madix Claims Tom Sandoval Tried to Buy Her Out of Shared Home, Says Offer Was ‘Trash’
View Story
In a confessional, Ariana said the whole situation was “kind of wild,” since Kent was “ready to murder” anyone who stayed remotely in contact with Randall after they split. “I just feel like, if the shoe were on the other foot and I was reaching out to Randall’s mistress, I don’t think Lala would be very happy with that,” she added.
Scheana also had an issue with Kent’s move, reminding them all about what Rachel put her through as well. “I feel like if the only thing Raquel did wrong was fall in love with her best friend Sandoval, that one day maybe we could have still been friends,” said Shay, “but the bitch put a temporary restraining order on me and that has changed everything.”
In the end, Ariana said she worried Rachel would view the message as a “foot in the door,” before adding, “and there’s no foot to be had.” Lala reiterated that she was in Madix’s corner and didn’t want to do anything to upset her, before they hugged it out.
The very last shot of the episode: Sandoval returning to his shared Valley Village home with Ariana.
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays on Bravo.
