EGN NEWS DESK
Slightly greater than a yr since TMZ reported that the “Vanderpump Rules” stars Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval had damaged up as a result of he had been having an affair with one other co-star, Rachel Leviss, it stays the defining story within the better world of actuality TV.
The quick model of the story goes: Sandoval was performing a present along with his band, he misplaced his telephone, and somebody handed it to Madix for safekeeping. She went by means of the telephone and located a display screen recording of a FaceTime between Sandoval and Leviss that confirmed the affair. The lengthy model … properly, let’s mirror on the state of the Scandoval, one yr later, with the assistance of a “Vanderpump” government producer, Alex Baskin.
A Uniquely Disastrous Affair
Since the start of the present, dishonest has been a part of the panorama — arguably, an important a part of the drama. But not one of the indiscretions between different castmates made it to the headlines of CNN, The New York Times and Time journal or obtained a devoted title and hashtag like #Scandoval.
So what made this affair completely different?
Baskin sees the scandal as a couple of various factors “swirled collectively to make it one thing that had a far better influence than the quite a few dishonest scandals that had come earlier than it on the present.”
First, it was a long-term affair, which means that Sandoval had been residing a little bit of a double life. That’s considerably extra intriguing for viewers and extra devastating for real-life individuals than a one-off kiss or one-night stand.
The magnitude of the scandal additionally set it aside, since producers resumed taking pictures, regardless of Season 10 filming having wrapped.
“It felt like this had a significance such that we should always cowl it in actual time if we might,” Baskin stated. So they borrowed the digicam groups from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and obtained again to filming.
“It’s actually chilling to look at since you have been seeing within the second the group come to phrases with what had simply occurred,” Baskin famous.
Additionally, Baskin famous that Season 10 was nonetheless airing when the information broke, so “it turned then a collection of Easter eggs that the viewers was recognizing within the present itself.”
Of course, the scene of Ken Todd, Lisa Vanderpump’s husband, staggering into the kitchen to say, “I can’t consider Tom had Raquel over whereas Ariana is away, within the Jacuzzi as properly, and she or he stayed all evening,” instantly involves thoughts.
(And simply in case you have been questioning, Ken was confused however not that confused: Raquel and Rachel are the identical individual — on the present, she glided by Raquel however has since switched again to her given title, Rachel.)
The Fallout: Leviss left the present after the tip of Season 10 taking pictures, and in February she filed a revenge-porn lawsuit in opposition to Madix and Sandoval, in relation to the distribution of the FaceTime footage that exposed the affair. Lawyers for Madix and Sandoval have requested a courtroom to toss the declare. Season 11 kicked off in January with the most-watched season premiere in Bravo’s historical past.
‘A Point of Demarcation’
Though manufacturing of Season 11 resumed as normal, the present exists in a time interval of its personal making, B.S. or A.S. — earlier than or after Scandoval.
As the season opened, Madix refused to talk to Sandoval in any respect, although they have been nonetheless sharing their Valley Village dwelling. With every episode we now have seen Madix and Sandoval tolerating one another increasingly socially.
Of late, “Vanderpump Rules” has returned to a few of its regular, ensemble-oriented shenanigans that made the present so beloved within the first place. There was Lala Kent’s sperm donor party, James Kennedy’s weeping breakdown over his canine Hippie (formally referred to as Graham), whom he considers a fur child, and naturally the race between the exes Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney thus far a 25-year-old singer.
“It nonetheless was essential for us to serve all the opposite story elsewhere as a result of we wished everybody else to nonetheless be alive and as essential to point out as they have been earlier than,” Baskin stated. “Also, tonally, I feel that watching a collection of episodes of Scandoval would develop actually carrying to the viewers.”
It’s Not About the Pasta: There remains to be a Scandoval-related dialog in nearly each scene.
“Vanderpump Rules,” “The Valley,” “Vanderpump Villa” — oh my!
To nobody’s shock, the elevated publicity has led to a big enlargement of the Vanderpump universe.
Bravo is at present airing the primary season of “The Valley,” which stars the previous “Vanderpump” solid members Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute as they attempt to “grownup.”
Then there’s “Vanderpump Villa,” airing on Hulu, which follows the workers of Vanderpump’s French chateau.
More Pumptinis, please: Lisa Vanderpump is nowhere near slowing down her restaurant empire — “Vanderpump à Paris” in Vegas remains to be up and operating, and she or he and her husband, Ken, simply opened “Wolf by Vanderpump” in Lake Tahoe.
So what’s subsequent?
One of the most important and most blatant outcomes from Scandoval has been Madix’s success outdoors of the present. She made it to third place together with her accomplice Pasha Pashkov on the most recent season of “Dancing with the Stars” and lately completed up her run as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” on Broadway.
Will the present veer away from Los Angeles and comply with Madix on the street?
“I feel that the present has all the time grown and expanded, based on no matter is absolutely taking place with the group, so I do anticipate that we might cowl all of that, however nonetheless the central focus is the core friendships throughout the group,” Baskin stated.
A Scheana Shay-less Summer: “Vanderpump” would take a break from filming this summer season, TMZ reported, although the present often movies by means of June and July. Madix is the one solid member who’s booked and busy throughout that point, with a brand new internet hosting gig on “Love Island U.S.A.”
