Scandoval: 9 reasons why we’re all Vanderpumpers now

by not a poo-poo head

I live for a good pop culture moment. An event that consumes media and fascinates the public. I love stories that evolve and latch their claws into the hearts and minds of celebrities, tabloids, podcasters, Twitter trolls, and fans. In 2017 we had Fyre Festival. More recently, we witnessed the far less catastrophic, but still enjoyable, Mr. Big vs. Peloton debacle in which Peloton’s real-life stock plummeted after the fictional character from Sex and the City’s And Just Like That died after using one.

There is always drama in the Bravoverse: affairs, robberies, financial fraud, people going to prison. But the drama usually involves a single cast member. The information comes out, and fans salivate at the demise of the celeb in question. In March, a scandal erupted, enveloping the entire cast of the reality tv show Vanderpump Rules (VPR). In the simplest terms possible, the scandal involved a cast member cheating on his girlfriend of nearly a decade with her best friend, another cast member. The situation became known as “Scandoval” after the man at the center of the affair, the cheating narcissist, better known as Worm with a Mustache, Tom Sandoval.

Anyone who has watched one episode of VPR, or at least stood in the next room pretending not to listen, knows VPR is replete with a morally corrupt cast of liars and serial cheaters. So why did this scandal have such an impact and continue to captivate audiences months later? 

1. Over a decade in the making:

Vanderpump Rules has blessed our screens since 2013. There was a sizeable cheating scandal in season 2, but we had only known the hedonistic cast for a few years. Our obsession was nascent. Now in season 10, we are more concerned about the cast’s lives than our own family. 

A decade of filming has created an intricate web of relationships within the cast. They have all dated and hated each other. The current drama is informed and amplified by the past ten years making the whole debacle as dense and ready for analysis as a Robert Caro book. 

The series started with a few couples now involved in today’s drama. Kristen Doute and Tom Sandoval, and Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz. In season 2, we found out Tom Sandoval cheated on Kristen with a girl in Vegas and cheated with his new co-worker Ariana Madix. Fast forward eight years, Sandoval and Madix have been together nine years and published a book together. Katie and Schwartz were together for 12 years, married for six, and recently divorced. In season 2, the series introduced James Kennedy and later Raquel Leviss. At the beginning of season 9, the two got engaged, then Leviss broke things off later that year. 

During the summer of 2022, while filming season 10, Raquel and Schwartz kissed at another castmate’s wedding. The news quickly circulated. Recently divorced Katie was irate, but VPR fans were abuzz, happy that the series plagued by monogamy would finally be heating up. Fans expected this to be the center of season 10’s drama, which premiered in February 2023. 

Audiences soon learned the Schwartz/Raquel kiss was a mere speck on the tip of a very offensive mustache. A few episodes into airing season 10, Madix found a sexual video of Leviss on Sandoval’s phone, and everything imploded. Leviss confessed to Madix that she had been having an affair with Sandoval for the past seven months (July 2022).

2. Level of Sociopathic Deceipt:

Since season 1 of VPR, fans have witnessed endless cheating. So what makes this instance of cheating so monumental?

It is the sociopathic level of deceit. Sandoval and Madix had been dating for nearly a decade. They own a $2 million house together, and Leviss was best friends with the couple. Since Leviss joined the cast of VPR, Madix took Leviss under her wing and defended her against the more pugilistic members of the group. One episode before the finale, Madix had an in-depth conversation with Leviss about the intimate details of her relationship and her continued commitment to Sandoval. Leviss offered kind words, masking the fact she was in love with the perfectly manicured worm. 

In addition to this foundational fucked-upness (for those unfamiliar with the scandal):

• Raquel’s legal name is Rachel. Everyone pointed this out as another instance of her lying. She is now scathingly referred to as Rachel. 
• Sandoval dressed up as Leviss for Halloween. This was four months into the affair. 
• Madix’s dog Charlotte was dying, Leviss consoled her, then fucked Sandoval the following evening. 
• When Madix went to her grandma’s funeral, Sandoval and Leviss had sex in Madix and Sandoval’s shared home. 
• Sandoval took Leviss to St. Louis to see his family for Christmas while he was still with Madix.
• Sandoval was going to fertilize Madix’s eggs that summer. 
• While on camera, Leviss bought a lightning bolt necklace to match Sandoval’s. She bought it to symbolize their love for each other. Again, this was on camera…
• Leviss was making out with Sandoval’s best friend, Schwartz, while she was having sex with Sandoval during their mutual friend’s wedding. Madix and Schwartz’s ex Katie, were both in attendance (well, Katie was lurking at the hotel, uninvited from the wedding…). 

This is just a sprinkling of things revealed in the weeks following the affair’s exposure. 

3. Ariana is not a dirtbag:

One podcaster affirmed that watching VPR, while titillating, left them feeling like they contracted an STD each time they watched. I get that. You feel you are becoming diseased by the sewer-level morality of the cast. Following season 8, many original cast members were fired for racist comments. This was after nearly a decade of horrific behavior toward each other. 

I think the public can agree that Madix is perhaps the only one with a conscience. Madix is intelligent, articulate, and progressive. She read castmates who said anything ignorant, including Sandoval, who complained about being a cis-white man. 

4. The Reality of Reality TV

One of the reasons Scandoval was able to achieve the feverish following it did is because reality tv stars are at the center. Unlike A-list actors, these individuals make a living exposing their lives. So traumatic or not, they are here to dish. 

Just hours after the scandal broke, the cast took to Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, basically every media outlet, to verbally destroy Sandoval and Leviss and give fans details on what they knew of the situation (the producers had to actually stop the cast from speaking out to ensure people still tuned into season 10. As if anyone would not watch this historic season. 

The beauty of reality tv is that we can watch all the drama unfold. Producers could pick up filming to ensure they caught the riveting days following the affair breaking. 

Scandoval broke after just a few episodes airing, so audiences could finish watching with knowledge of the affair. We gleefully dissected every interaction between Sandoval and Leviss and bemoaned each time Madix defended and comforted Leviss. 

5. A layer cake of information: 

In the hours following news of the affair, information was coming out fast and frequently. In addition to re-assessing the decade’s worth of footage, updates on the current situation were dropping every minute. This never-ending news cycle made the scandal all the more insatiable. I was hungry for even the most minor details, and tabloids and fans delivered. Where and when did Ariana find out? Was the guy Raquel was spotted making out with at Coachella 2022 Sandoval? Did Sandoval and Raquel sleep together while Raquel was staying in the couple’s guest room? Was Miami Girl treated unjustly?! Answers to these questions were being investigated and exposed round the clock. 

And information kept coming, preserving the frenetic engagement. Leviss filed cease and desists against castmates who loudly chastised her. She filed a restraining order against Schena Shay, another castmate. Leviss accused Shay of punching her in the face after discovering the affair. Sandoval and his beyond-ridiculous cover band covered Stacey’s Mom two months after the affair broke. Instead of singing, “Stacey, you are not the girl for me,” he said, “Raquel, you are not the girl for me.”

The last part of the reunion just aired, and we are still discussing the aftermath. Did Sandoval break up with Raquel after hearing that she confirmed gruesome details of their affair with producers? How hot is Ariana’s new man? Leviss checked herself into a mental health facility over 70 days ago, and fans are speculating what her diagnosis will be upon her reentry into society. 

6. Response from fans:

The response from fans has been ravenous, keeping the scandal atop the headlines. Every pop culture podcast has had something to say, some airing special emergency episodes. I usually don’t tune in to the Comments by Celebs podcast because the hosts are too polite about celebrities, but they can break down a D-list scandal like no one else. Their Scandoval episodes are more considered and thorough than my master’s thesis.

Sadly, not everyone has been able to deliver well-researched and thoughtful material on the debacle. Howey Mandel attempted to interview Sandoval without watching or researching the show, and fans and media destroyed him. The New York Times published an article about Madix, and actor Liev Schreiber dared to comment if this constituted real news. Bravo specialist Danny Pelligrino sassed back, and Schreiber quickly apologized for offending. 

Actual celebrities (not reality stars) have commented on the scandal. Kaley Cuoco lauded Madix’s first IG pic post-Scandoval, and Amy Schumer explained her vagina shriveled up when Sandoval chastised Madix for wearing a t-shirt during sex. Rob Lowe posted a pic of the two Toms to promote his new Netflix show Unstable. Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers awarded Ariana the Girl, You Can Do Betta Hon at the annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards. Jennifer Lawrence discussed her discomfort watching the cast verbally incinerate Leviss at the reunion. Bryan Cranston and John Hamm did re-enactments of the final episode and reunion on Watch What Happens Live. Cranston’s monologue from Madix’s final speech to Sandoval in the finale was riveting. A pro golfer that my partner follows even commented on the affair. Hello, straight white men caring about Scandoval! 

7. Articles in actual news sources:

Page Six and TMZ were all over Scandoval, but esteemed/non-tabloid sources covering the ordeal underscored the heights of the affair. The New York Times wrote a piece on Madix’s financial success after the affair (the piece Liev Schreiber egregiously commented on). Glamour put Madix on the cover in a wife beater and jeans, sitting stoically with only her title story advertised. An impactful cover usually reserved for politicians and royalty. The Cut wrote several pieces on Madix. When citing celebs at Coachella, they featured an image of Madix alongside Kendall Jenner and Leonardo DiCaprio—excellent company for a reality star. 

8. Capitalism:

The only thing thirstier for Madix than fans is capitalism. Companies have looked to profit from the public’s rabid interest in the affair. You know an event is big when companies realize they can make money by aligning themselves with it. Aside from the more altruistic Madix, who directed people to support her by donating to charities of her choice, companies began to feature Madix and the VPR cast in their ads:

• Hayu:  The UK streaming network knew what the people were looking for, advertising their platform as a way to catch up on all the VPR drama 
• Duracell: The battery company created an ad featuring Madix swapping out the old (Ft. white nail polish as an ode to Sandoval’s vile nails) for something more long-lasting—12-year batteries — much better than ten years, Madix exclaims!
• Uber: featured Madix and castmates Schena Shay and Lala Kent singing Good As Gold (a song produced by Shay)  and making jabs at Sandoval and Madix’s liberation.
• Madix sealed deals with a hot dog chain, Bloomingdales, a razor company, and more! 
• Cast merch: While Madix asked people to donate to charities on her behalf, other cast members were quick to capitalize. After Leviss sent her cease and desists to cast members, Lala Kent demanded via a live that things be sent to her lawyer Darrell, not her directly. Within hours, Kent released sweatshirts that read, “Send it to Darrell.”
• Béis: Paps photographed Leviss leaving Sandoval and Madix’s shared home with a Béis weekend bag. Being shady af, the brand issued an official statement affirming they did not gift Leviss the bag. Béis stated, “We provide the bag, not the baggage.” The company then gifted Madix its entire range. Lol. 

Capitalism has not worked in everyone’s favor….

• People have been slamming Sandoval and Schwartz’s bar, Schwartz and Sandy’s. There were so many 1 star reviews trolling Sandoval added to Yelp, Yelp had to shut down comments temporarily. Sandoval looked to capitalism to help him rescue his bar. Before publicly apologizing to Madix, Sandoval pleaded with people not to punish him by boycotting Schwartz and Sandy’s, citing the innocent souls that worked there. 

9. Bringing the world and households together: 

Despite having smarmy snakes at the center, Scandoval has brought the world together. People have banded together to support Ariana in one of the least polarizing events of our time. The ordeal has spanned the globe and even our more reluctant partner’s minds. When my husband succinctly broke down the affair and all the players, it confirmed my beliefs that he was the one. We are all sorry for Madix’s trauma but so happy to see her conquer the world without that worm.