Season 11 has been documenting the fall-out from “Scandoval,” with cameras picking up roughly three months after the scandal broke. The season began with Ariana Madix alone in her home, while Tom Sandoval was away in New Zealand, filming Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. As soon as he returned to their shared home, the perspective took a shift. With a shockingly rapid pace, the Sandoval redemption tour took over, with production working overtime to make him seem sympathetic despite his unrepentant anger towards the people he owes apologies to. Sandoval’s behavior now poses a significant problem on Vanderpump Rules in Season 11. Tom’s rage towards Ariana and the boundaries she has kept in place since their relationship ended, has been receiving less and less criticism within the group as the season progresses. Instead, one by one, it appears the cast are each accepting that in order for production to move forward, Sandoval will need to be accommodated.
It is very difficult to keep the premise alive that Vanderpump Rules follows a group of friends navigating their lives in L.A. if no one in the group wants to socialize with each other. Ariana and Sandoval have yet to be in each other’s presence without conflict. Katie has reason to keep her ex-husband Tom Schwartz at arm’s length after the fall-out from their very public divorce featured last season. Lala Kent and Scheana Shay initially showed Ariana support in her new boundaries. However, as the season has progressed and producers have struggled to find innovative ways to reintegrate Sandoval into filming with Ariana still being present, the cast has gradually been shifting their positions. There is, however, one person working overtime to prove he has not really earned redemption yet, and that is Sandoval himself. Sandoval is comfortable placing blame on Ariana and his friends for his situation, rather than critiquing his own choices that put him there and learning to change his behavior.
Tom Sandoval’s Apology Tour Gets Off to a Rough Start on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Season 11
In the second episode, Schwartz tries to have Tom take some accountability for not helping their bar navigate the fall-out from “Scandoval.” Sandoval breezed past the opportunity to apologize, and instead launched into telling Schwartz about how difficult the fall-out from the scandal has been for him personally and financially. He angrily blamed his financial troubles on Ariana, saying that she hadn’t been paying the bills. Could Ariana make both their lives easier and simply agree to pay what Sandoval claims to be owed without lawyers involved? Sure. But Sandoval’s angry use of his financial struggles as a justification for his “need” to tour with his band shows what little thought he had put into his living situation before cheating on the co-owner of his home. To say nothing of the thoughtlessness towards Ariana’s emotional well-being, or the effect his actions would have on his image as a business owner. Sandoval’s resistance to accepting responsibility for the trouble that he has caused in the group has dragged out the process as he struggles to make an apology tour this season.
Similarly, on the cast trip to Lake Tahoe, DJ James Kennedy confronted Sandoval about having a relationship with his ex-fiancé, Rachel “Raquel” Leviss. Sandoval attempted to justify the affair because he “needed” to end the relationship with Ariana. But he also confusingly claims that he couldn’t end the relationship in a way that wouldn’t be “catastrophic.” James rightly points out that he could have simply ended the relationship rather than choosing to deceive and betray not only Ariana, but others in the group, like himself. Sandoval then used the life he had built with Ariana as an excuse for not leaving the relationship. Sandoval’s refusal to admit that he should have treated Ariana with respect in this scenario by ending their relationship before moving onto another one is symptomatic of his struggle to make progress in his apology tour for much of the first half of the season. In a confessional, Scheana’s husband, Brock Davies, calls out Sandoval’s habit of placing blame on others: “If I’m looking at Tom right now, and we have a percentage of “accountability” and then “blame,” he’s probably like a ten percent accountability and a solid ninety percent blaming everybody else for his issues.”
Throughout the season so far, Sandoval eventually makes headway with Schwartz, Lala, Scheana, and James when it comes to apologizing to them personally and trying to make amends. But the lesson on contrition never really seems to apply when it comes to Ariana. When Sandoval went in to TomTom to speak with owner Lisa Vanderpump, who is also executive producer on the series, she helpfully suggested in conversation that the “gentlemanly” thing to do in his situation would be to move out, give Ariana her space, and sell the house. Sandoval became visibly angry at the suggestion, and made it clear this was not his intention.
When Lisa told him to stop being so angry, Sandoval yelled about her “attacking him.” Lisa lost her usually demure composure and shouted back at Sandoval that she was trying to help him. Rather than accept Lisa’s advice, Sandoval continued shouting, mentioning his suicidal thoughts during the wake of the scandal. In the following discussion, Lisa and Sandoval frame his ability to return to the group as a way back to feeling better. His mental health should be a priority, but he is constantly placing the blame for his situation on everyone else but himself, which makes the way to forgiveness exceptionally more difficult.
Tom’s Anger Towards Ariana Is a Problem for the Bravo Series
Lala hosted a water tasting party at James’ house, which Sandoval and Ariana both attended. The group seemed comfortable enough, knowing that while Ariana prefers not to see her ex, she would not allow his presence to prevent her from attending. When she noticed Sandoval listening to her conversation about her recent struggles with her dog Mya, Ariana referred to him as an “attempted dog murderer.” This escalated into an argument about Sandoval invading the one safe space that Ariana has in their shared home that he “wrecked.”
Rather than calmly explaining his position, or respecting the boundary Ariana has set of not speaking to her directly, Sandoval attempted to change the topic and shift blame by yelling at Ariana to “put on [her] big girl panties.” This was in reference to his desire for her to respond to, and presumably accept, his offer to buy her out of their shared house. Production has an obvious incentive for the phase of forgiveness towards Tom to kick in sooner rather than later. It is clear that Ariana is being put in the position to either smile through her pain and play the role of sympathetic victim, or allow the drama with Sandoval to continue when she does not comply. Production should instead prioritize Tom’s need to change his behavior and to control his own anger.
Lala’s water tasting event was followed by a beach day that Ariana and Sandoval both attended. Sandoval took a jab at Ariana by saying that Mya’s recent vet bill is the only bill she has paid. Ariana had referenced the fact that she had paid the adoption and vet fees for Mya, which meant she was the sole owner of her dog. Sandoval claimed that by this logic he should get to own the house, since he had taken over paying the bills after the relationship ended. Ariana then got angry with her friends for constantly inviting Sandoval to attend their group functions, when he continued to insist on speaking negatively about her.
James did a confessional about Ariana needing to release her anger for her own peace. Brock defended Sandoval by saying that he had his “tail between his legs.” Even though he had just finished attacking Ariana’s character in front of everyone. Lala did a confessional about Ariana needing to choose inner peace instead of holding on to her anger. Rather than discussing Tom’s provocation, and his anger towards Ariana, the cast shifts blame to her instead. This comes across as a result of the production’s need to rehabilitate Tom’s image to be more sympathetic. This rehabilitation would be significantly easier if Tom could actually behave in a sympathetic way towards his ex, rather than erupting in constant angry fits.
Tom Sandoval Seems Manipulative Rather Than Remorseful
Earlier in the season, Ariana told Schwartz that there won’t be a situation where he bridges some kind of gap that allows Sandoval to come back into the group while she is around. However, it seems like the producers have a very different plan, considering the way the season has trended so far. When at James’ pool party, Scheana hinted to Ariana that she might want to be friends with Sandoval again. Ariana reaffirmed her boundary: “This is a scary f—ing person, that I don’t trust any word that comes out of his mouth, because it’s constantly changing, and it all, to me, feels like manipulation.” When Lisa told Sandoval that she had been speaking to Rachel, she also mentioned that Rachel had told her she did not want to return to film this season because she was not comfortable lying to people. Rachel had also commented that Sandoval had once told her that “life is lying.” Sandoval immediately yelled an angry denial at Lisa, claiming to have never made the statement.
Ariana and Rachel may no longer see eye to eye on many things. However, the last two women who have been in a relationship with Sandoval have gone on to say that he lives a constructed life in front of the camerasand have commented on his ability to manipulate people. Viewers have seen Sandoval “act” throughout the seasons, where he has been actively lying to cover up an inconvenient truth. Scenes like the one where he set up a meditation session with the group in Lake Tahoe, and the instructor asked Scheana to imagine this would be the last time she saw Sandoval, seem conveniently structured to make the “redemption” agenda a priority. Sandoval has said several times this season that he feels no matter what he says, it will be taken in a negative light. He consistently uses this as an excuse to not even attempt to behave decently towards his ex-girlfriend or his friends, playing tit-for-tat with them and shifting blame instead.
Viewers can see how resistant Sandoval is even to his once best-friend Schwartz’s good advice to be humble and not bring up the distant past when people want apologies for recent events. It seems from these kinds of encounters on the show that Sandoval lacks the capacity to truly admit that he was in the wrong, without pointing out the wrongdoing of others as well. He can say the words “I know I made a mistake,” but he seems incapable of accepting the consequences for one.
New episodes of Vanderpump Rules air Tuesdays on Bravo and are released on Peacock on Wednesdays in the U.S.