Throughout this season of Vanderpump Rules, Ariana Madix was, as she puts it, “the final boss” in her ex Tom Sandoval’s “video game of redemption.” Alas, when Sandoval approached Madix at a cast event in San Francisco during the season-11 finale, it was game over: She walked off, refusing to talk to him. “Whatever it is Tom is trying to get from me, it’s not for me,” Madix says. “It’s for him.”
The idea of redemption — earning it, granting it — has been central to this season of Vanderpump Rules, which followed the fallout of “Scandoval,” the seismic cheating scandal that exposed Sandoval’s secret monthslong affair with their former friend and co-star Rachel Leviss. With the Bravo series’ stars and fans divided over how to move on from the affair, Sandoval’s search for redemption pushed the cast members’ IRL relationships to the edge.
The last time the cast of Vanderpump Rules had convened, things were very different. Scandoval had just happened, and — with the exception of accomplice Tom Schwartz and matriarch Lisa Vanderpump, also an executive producer and business partner with “the Toms” — the cast was united against Sandoval and Leviss. It was both cathartic and brutal.
When this season started, the key question was, How could an ensemble show in which the cast members are supposed to be friends, socializing and taking trips together, possibly work now? At the time, most of the cast, especially Madix, insisted that there was no way that Sandoval could ever be forgiven. (In turn, he was also upset with them for trashing him on podcasts and profiting off Scandoval with merchandise, songs, and brand deals.)
In the opening episodes, Sandoval had hardly anyone to film with. (Many of his scenes were shot with his own employees, Vanderpump, or serial tag-along ex–cast member Billie Lee.) During filming, some fans reacted angrily when pictures of the cast on a trip to Lake Tahoe appeared online. Despite the hashtag #ForLisa — an indication the cast had reunited to celebrate yet another anticipated opening of one of Vanderpump’s mid-tier restaurants — cast member Scheana Shay was inundated with angry comments accusing her of betraying Madix, who later intervened to ask fans to stop sending her abuse.
Meanwhile, Sandoval went on a “journey”: He sobered up and started taking ice baths. He took a (brief) break from writhing around half-naked onstage with his cover band and went on a (non-) apology tour instead. He did “scream therapy” and became versed in the language of “accountability” and “healing.” And eventually some of the cast members began to ask, Should he be forgiven?
Despite where the season started, it seemed that Sandoval was more successful at appealing to, even winning over, his fellow cast members than Madix. This might reflect the reality that some of his relationships were closer pre-Scandoval. It’s also possible that some of the cast might have decided to soften their approach after fan backlash to the brutality of the last reunion or after Leviss’s bombshell podcast episodes with Bravolebrity turned Bravo enemy Bethenny Frankel, in which she spoke about her treatment in a mental-health facility. (Or because perhaps someone behind the scenes nudged them for filming’s sake.)
Whatever the reason(s), misogyny certainly plays a role here, too. Vanderpump Rules has a long history of portraying women as “crazy,” while men get away with similar (or worse) behavior. Madix called out this double standard on the finale cast trip to San Francisco when she pointed out how often the men on the show lose their tempers, yet she was the one described as “rage-filled” and “scary” throughout the season. Madix was often blamed for the exes’ (admittedly ridiculous) living situation despite Sandoval playing an as-big role in the delayed agreement to sell the home. She has also been blamed for a lack of transparency about the pair’s relationship during their time on the show when that cuts both ways as well.
Maybe then it was jealousy. In the aftermath of Scandoval, brand deals rolled in for Madix, and her merch sold out. She wrote a New York Times best-selling cocktail book. She secured a spot on Dancing With the Stars (news that, hilariously, made Shay burst into tears because she wanted it for herself). And she broke Broadway records in her starring role as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Watching this unfold, the cast has described Madix as being “on top of the world” despite the fact that she was obviously still shattered by Sandoval’s betrayal. Listening to so many of them equate brand deals with happiness and healing has been a fascinating (and dark) glimpse into the reality-TV-star psyche.
As Madix’s career transcended the show, some of the cast members have seemed uneasy about how her refusal to film with Sandoval might be affecting “the group” (often a euphemism for “the show”). Fellow cast member Lala Kent was among the first to question why Madix was still sharing a home with her ex but refusing to speak to him in group settings. These concerns about the show aren’t entirely unfounded. Bravo fans want reality stars to be “real” but also hate it when they can’t move on from things from one season to the next. The latest season of The Real Housewives of Potomac, for example, was borderline unwatchable because several of the cast members refused to speak to one another. This led to high-profile firings, including original cast member Robyn Dixon.
In last week’s Vanderpump Rules season finale, the fourth wall was broken like never before when Madix refused Sandoval’s attempt to film a scene together. “If you don’t want to film with your ex,” Sandoval said, “then don’t be on this show!” Kent fumed that Madix “now thinks she is Beyoncé.” During last night’s reunion, she claimed that some of the cast would talk about Madix behind her back off-camera, then refuse to challenge her on the show. “It’s no secret that Ariana is the fan favorite,” Kent told Andy Cohen. “You don’t fuck around with that.”
The difficult thing here is that these “friendships” are also monetized work relationships. When they’re not being paid to share their lives on a show, the cast members are running businesses, hosting podcasts, or filming commercials together. “For Ariana to walk out this way is such a slap in the face,” Kent said in a confessional interview when Madix exited the finale taping. “This is what we do.” (Since filming wrapped, she has continued to call out Madix on her podcast.) Even if they know Madix is the better person, some of the cast clearly think that, this season, Sandoval has been the better co-worker.
In April, during an appearance at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Madix revealed that she anticipated a redemption arc for Sandoval. “I knew going into that they were going to do everything they could to even the playing field,” she said, noting the fan support she received. But did it go to plan? “They’re trying really hard to give someone a redemption season,” she said. “And he’s just not participating in it!” This reminded me of something the show’s executive producer Alex Baskin told me last year about redemption, which was that while viewers naturally hope for growth, reality stars don’t always “seize” the opportunity when it arrives.
While Sandoval’s apology tour might have worked on most of the cast members, with whom he has real-life relationships, the fans have been far less forgiving. As host Andy Cohen put it during Tuesday night’s reunion opener, Sandoval has often taken “two steps forward, ten steps back” — most excruciatingly when, in a New York Times interview, he compared the backlash he received to George Floyd being murdered by police officers. When a distraught Madix walked out during the finale episode and right into Kent’s ire, Sandoval was heard on a hot mic once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. “I love it,” he gleefully told Schwartz. “It’s good for me!”
Ahead of the reunion, Bravo announced that Vanderpump Rules will take a break over summer rather than resuming filming straight away. Days later, Madix was confirmed for a second stint on Broadway — alongside her latest gig as host of Love Island USA. (And yes, Something About Her, Madix’s long-awaited sandwich shop with co-star Katie Maloney, is finally slated to open its doors this month, too.) “I’m not here to be a cog in the machine of Tom Sandoval’s redemption arc,” she said in the finale, making a poetic exit after refusing to give producers (and, I’m sure, some fans) the scene they wanted. “You guys can do that without me.” Next season, they might have to.
