James Kennedy and Scheana Shay also reveal how Scandoval affected them on the season premiere — as Schwartz calls it “a radioactive cherry on top of my s–t sundae of a year.”
It’s been nearly a full year since Scandoval broke and Vanderpump Rules fans are getting an inside look into how the fallout affected those in Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix’s inner circle.
While Sandoval himself didn’t appear on Tuesday’s Season 11 premiere, he was still the talk of the town as all his friends revealed how his affair with Rachel Leviss really blew things up for them in the months after it became public knowledge.
Aside from Madix, nobody seemed more affected than Tom Schwartz.
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In the new hour, he was seen meeting up with James Kennedy — wearing a Schwartz & Sandy’s hat for what was apparently the first time since his partner’s affair caused their business to take a major hit.
“I was worried I might get a boo!” Schwartz said of wearing the hat, before calling out Sandoval for campaigning “so hard” to put his name on the building. “When you do that, you have to hold yourself to a higher standard,” he added.
“Our beautiful bar became like the scene of the crime,” Sandoval continued in a confessional. “Reservations are down, a bunch of the staff has quit, they felt like zoo animals in there. People were harassing servers, coming in there with a vengeance. It was toxic.”
He went on to tell James that he had “a lot of resentment for Tom Sandoval,” who he claimed had apologized for putting Schwartz “in a f–ked up position” and “essentially used [him] as a shield for my affair.”
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According to Schwartz, he also told Tom, “After the f–king hell you put me through, after what you did to your friends, what you did to Ariana, you better f–king spend the rest of your life with Raquel” — adding that since the affair broke, part of him “felt a little bit banished” from the rest of the group, “like a pariah.”
Continuing to “bitch a little” in his confessional, Schwartz said the last year “almost broke me” — citing his divorce from Katie Maloney, his brother’s “serious health issues” and “so many bar woes,” before saying Scandoval “was kind of like a radioactive cherry on top of my s–t sundae of a year.”
He then thanked Kennedy for “extending me some empathy and remembering that I’m not Tom Sandoval.”
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James, meanwhile, opened up about how his feelings were “hurt” in the wake of Sandoval’s affair while speaking with girlfriend Ally Lewber earlier in the episode. He was disappointed Tom had an affair with his ex, while also shutting him out from the rest of the group. Kennedy also slammed Tom’s performances with his band, calling them “god-awful” and adding, “good god, man, get a hold of yourself.”
When asked if he thought they could be friends again, he said, “I haven’t heard one f–king word from that man. It’s outrageous. I think he went cuckoo.”
Scheana Shay and Brock Davies had also heard nothing but radio silence from Tom, even after reaching out to him about the death of a mutual friend. According to Shay, she tried to send him another message but it never delivered — meaning he had blocked her.
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“Then I looked on Instagram, blocked me, blocked [her Scheananigans podcast], my sister, blocked Summer Moon,” she said, referring to her daughter. “I get it, you’re mad at me, you block me. You hate the podcast, block Scheananigans. But you’re gonna go and block Summer Moon? I don’t know how you can block that adorable face!”
Shay also said the Scandoval fallout made her own OCD and anxiety worse, adding that her brain was “going crazy” as she thought if Tom could cheat on Ariana, her husband could do the same. “It’s been a f–king roller coaster, I’ll say that,” said Scheana.
With Tom arriving back in town after wrapping Special Forces at the end of the episode, we’ll see how his relationships with his costars evolve throughout the season.
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays on Bravo.
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