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Tom Sandoval looked back on the “emotional” and “grueling” taping of the Vanderpump Rules season 11 reunion during the latest episode of his podcast.
While also sharing how the editing of his pool party may have alluded to mistruths about ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix, 38, reacting to claims of his potential redemption arc, and explaining his former assistant Ann Maddox‘s job description, Sandoval, 41, shared his thoughts on the upcoming special.
“It was very emotional. Guys, this reunion’s gonna be like, the end of it is going to be very, I don’t want to say anything, but it’s gonna be … It was grueling,” Sandoval admitted on the March 22 episode of Everybody Loves Tom. “They sat Ariana and I right next to each other. I had to, like, look at [Andy Cohen], and just past Andy’s head is Ariana so we were, like, having to look at each other … It was intense, a very different ending to the reunion than ever.”
Tom Schwartz, 40, spoke of the taping on the podcast as well, describing it as cathartic and saying there were “good laughs and some light-hearted moments” before noting that Sandoval was on the “chopping block.”
Then, after Schwartz admitted to crying twice, Sandoval said he “lost count” of how many times he cried.
Looking back at his pool party, which Ariana dubbed the “sexy singles party,” Sandoval said producers “messed with the edit” to suggest Ariana was present.
“I was like, watching it and I’m like, ‘Are they gonna make it look like Ariana’s upstairs while I’m having this party?’ She was long gone before people came over here. Long gone,” he confirmed. “Did you notice when she left, nobody was in the shot? Nobody had gotten in here yet. [And] it wasn’t like the sexy singles party.”
As for his potential redemption arc, Schwartz said it was more about reinstilling Sandoval with humanity.
“Exactly,” Sandoval replied. “It’s like, ‘Oh, he’s not Negan from The Walking Dead. He’s an actual person.’ People treat me like, they show me in cuts. You’ll see, somebody will post a clip of me giving a look or doing this, and villainizing me, essentially, and then people will rip into the comments and like, it’s like, ‘No. I’m a person. I’m a human being who makes mistakes, who has emotions, who does nice things, and laughs and whatever, and lives a life.’”
“It’s not this redemption of me, like, ‘Let’s show Tom saving these ducklings and kitten from a fire,’” he added.
Also on the podcast, on the topic of Ann and what her job requirements were, Sandoval clarified that his former employee wasn’t required to do his laundry, but she was in charge of party setup and cleanup.
“Ann does not do my laundry at all. She never touches dirty laundry ever and one of the main jobs she does is she tidies up and cleans up, helps set up for parties, helps clean up after parties,” he revealed. “And if not, I hire a maid to come in so it’s never an issue. But of course, there’s going to be a mess, and of course, it takes time to clean up.”
Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of Vanderpump Rules season 11, which airs at 8/7c on Bravo. Feel free to comment and chat below as the episode airs!
