All The Drama Surrounding The Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Reunion

Tom Sandoval's affair with Raquel Leviss — leading to the end of his years-long relationship with beloved "Vanderpump Rules" fixture Ariana Madix — has been a reality television scandal like few others. Ever since the news broke in early March, each new day has brought more revelations, more speculation, and more drama, as fans try to figure out A) what happened, and B) how it's all going to play out on the show. It's a scandal that has played out on Instagram Stories and TMZ, across Notes App apologies and "Watch What Happens Live" appearances, making the story feel like a scavenger hunt.

Luckily for Bravo, everything went public mere weeks before the cast was due to film the Season 10 reunion. It quickly became clear that the reunion would be the place for the cast to confront one another, to see each other face-to-face for the first time since the so-called "Scandoval" broke wide open. Fans, naturally, became hooked on each new tidbit of drama, surprising even the cast with just how public everything had become. "Production is actively wanting [the leaks] to stop," Lala Kent revealed on her "Give Them Lala" podcast (via YouTube). "I'll tell you who I think the leaks are: some of my friends love to surround themselves with whoever they f***ing find on the streets!"

The much-anticipated episode has yet to receive a confirmed air date. In the meantime, read on for the drama surrounding the "Vanderpump Rules" Season 10 reunion.

In the days following their affair going public, both Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss issued public apologies on Instagram. Perhaps because fans of "Vanderpump Rules" were leaving negative reviews on Schwartz & Sandy's Yelp page, Sandoval was first out the gate, taking to social media to ask his followers to please leave his businesses alone. "Im [sic] so sorry that my partners, Greg, Brett, and Schwartz and our employees have to suffer for my actions," he wrote on Instagram, adding that he would be stepping back from his business obligations. "Sorry for everything," he concluded.

Fans were quick to point out that his apology contained no mention of Ariana Madix, his partner of almost a decade. A second apology followed a few days later, though at that point it may have been too little, too late. "Most of all, I want to apologize to Ariana," the "Touch in Public" singer wrote on Instagram. "I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made reckless decisions that hurt somebody I love."

For her part, Leviss also issued two separate Instagram apologies. "There is no excuse, I am not a victim and must own my actions," the apology read (via Instagram). Interestingly, the second mea culpa hinted that she and Sandoval might be planning to stay together. "My feelings for Tom have always been sincere," she said. "I care for Tom and don't want to predict what lies ahead. Right now I need to heal."

Fans weren't the only ones scandalized by #Scandoval. The affair sent shockwaves through the entire SUR-centric friend group, which still includes people who are no longer on the show. Kristen Doute was one of the first "VPR" alums to take to social media, documenting that she rushed to be by Ariana Madix's side. "I [heart] Ariana," she captioned an Instagram video of herself embracing and kissing Tom Sandoval's now-ex-girlfriend.

Days after the affair news broke, Page Six reported that Doute was in talks to film for the show she was fired from in 2020. "As someone who's dated Tom and built a strong friendship with Ariana over the years, she has a singular perspective on the situation that producers are interested in," a source revealed. Sure enough, Bravo confirmed on Twitter that Doute was back in front of the "Pump Rules" cameras, a controversial decision sure to make waves at the Season 10 reunion.

Former castmates Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright later appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" (via YouTube) to dish. Taylor was once best friends with Sandoval, but the two had grown apart, making the "VPR" villain seem eager to throw his old friend under the bus. He also answered one of the biggest questions swirling about the affair: Tom Schwartz knew. "I talk to Schwartz every day," Taylor revealed. "So I know for a fact — a hundred percent fact — on my child, he told me he knew."

On March 20, 2023 — after "Vanderpump Rules" had resumed filming for several weeks in order to capture the fallout of Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' affair — Bravo dropped a mid-season trailer foreshadowing all the drama still to come. "I was the OG homewrecking wh*** of the group," Scheana Shay jokes to Leviss. "Then came Lala ... and now here you are," she adds, likely referring to Leviss' flirtation with Tom Schwartz. In addition to some portentous shots of Sandoval and Leviss in a pool together, there's a silly-looking effect that turns Katie Maloney into a green-skinned monster while she spits: "I want to light them both on f***ing fire."

Most significantly, the trailer previews a post-affair conversation between Ariana Madix and Sandoval. After he asks her from the kitchen if she wants anything, she replies coolly: "For you to die." The catchphrase instantly joined the pantheon of legendary Bravo quotes, singled out by fans on Twitter and Reddit. "I was like she's a stronger b**** than me because I'd be rage crying while talking to him," one Redditor wrote. Fans also fixated on a quick, silent shot of Madix screaming what appears to be the word "Raquel."  One fan wrote on Twitter: "the scene in the mid season trailer showing Ariana screaming gave me chills."

The trailer was released before the reunion was filmed, meaning there is still even more drama to come.

The Scandoval drama reached new heights when TMZ caught Raquel Leviss sitting outside a Los Angeles nail salon, dressed down in a black hoodie and appearing to wear no makeup. They bombarded her with questions likely to be asked at the reunion, and though she declined to answer certain things, she did spill some tea, smiling awkwardly the whole time. 

Perhaps most surprisingly, she showed off a cut on her eyebrow, claiming: "Scheana knows what happened that night. Um, I'm not gonna go into it too much, but I do have a permanent scar on my eyebrow. Um, so. Yeah." Leviss also teased that she would be explaining the timeline of her relationship with Sandoval at the reunion. "It started off as a friendship and it turned into something more," she confessed. "But I'm sure we'll go into detail about all of that tomorrow at the reunion."

While appearing on Jeff Lewis Live (via YouTube), Lala Kent accused her co-star of arranging the whole interview. "She set that TMZ interview up," Kent said, laughing. "That's the same nail salon that Scheana's best friend works at and Ariana goes to ... they were like, 'There's not even a chair out there.' Like, 'No one has ever waited outside.' And her nail appointment was done." She added that Leviss' bare-faced appearance was "the PR plan" making the whole thing seem more impromptu than it was.

This time around, the "Vanderpump Rules" reunion will take a different form than fans are used to. After the taping had been completed, Bravo mogul Andy Cohen hopped on his Sirius XM radio show, "Radio Andy," to explain the format that fans should expect. First, though, he insisted that he hadn't been over-hyping the rest of the season still to come. Cohen is no longer a producer of the show, merely the reunion host, so he reiterated that fans should believe him when he says the remaining episodes of the season are like nothing else. "Jaw-dropping," he said (via YouTube). "That's the word that I would use. Jaw. Dropping."

Revealing that he had "concerns," Cohen said they began the taping by filming one-on-one interviews with Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, and Raquel Leviss. Cohen wanted to hear their stories straight from them, without the rest of the cast jumping in. Then the whole group joined the taping. "It was a real reckoning," Cohen recalled.

To ensure that fans can see every "aggressive" and "confrontational" moment, Cohen teased that NBC streaming service Peacock will be releasing what he called "extended versions" of the reunion episodes. "I think you're going to get extras on Peacock," he said. "And let me tell you, there is a lot of reckoning to get ... You're going to get what you're looking for."

After the reunion taped, TMZ reported that tensions between the cast got so high that things nearly got physical. "It was like a nuclear bomb went off in the studio," an insider told the outlet, describing reunion host Andy Cohen as having to get in between two cast members to prevent a fight. Lala Kent confirmed that security had to step in, revealing on Amazon Live's TikTok account: "I'm not gonna say who it was. I will say Andy got involved. He could hardly control it, so security got involved."

Jax Taylor confirmed the near-brawl but stopped just short of spoiling which cast members almost came to blows. While speaking with Extra, he said: "I don't know what I'm allowed to say ... I have a feeling it's the two boys ... In fact, I know that because I talked to him." Presumably, Taylor was suggesting that Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz were the ones who almost fought. However, after a fan reposted the rumor on Instagram, Schwartz's ex-wife Katie Maloney commented simply, "Lol."

SUR manager (and one-time Raquel Leviss make-out partner) Peter Madrigal has his own suspicions as to who had to be stopped from physically fighting at the reunion. "I personally think James [Kennedy] was involved," he told Hollywood Life. "Because think about it — he's affected by this thing too. He was used, just like I was used." It seems that we'll just have to wait and see.

After the reunion, a videographer published by Page Six found Ariana Madix at a shopping plaza in Los Angeles, looking chic in a black jacket embroidered with NASA patches. The interviewer asked what she thought about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss getting dinner after filming. "I don't know what they do," she replied. "At this point, I don't care about anything that either of them does."

Instead, Madix said she has turned her attention to the next steps in her life, namely a focus on her acting career. Madix will have a role in the upcoming Lifetime film "Buying Back My Daughter," about a sex trafficking situation. "[I'm] very excited," Madix said. "I leave tomorrow. I'm playing a police officer. Like a detective kind of situation." Though she's primarily known as a reality star, Madix has dabbled in acting before. She's had roles on shows like "Anger Management," "Paradise City," and "The Other Two," where she played herself.

Madix's friends and co-stars continue to support her, even after the reunion taping. On Instagram, Scheana Shay shared a snap of herself hanging out with her friend, captioned simply: "Ride or die."