After a decade on air, Vanderpump Rules had its most talked-about season yet. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spin off became an Emmy nominated phenomenon due to Scandoval. But with 10 seasons of drama involving extremely messy and overlapping relationships, it’s easy for new viewers to feel lost. We’ve got you covered with a Pumped-up history lesson.
Scheana Shay Started The Show
In later seasons, Scheana Shay seems like more of a side character. But her affair with Eddie Cibrian, Brandi Glanville’s then-husband, was the catalyst for Vanderpump Rules’ existence in the first place. RHOBH viewers will remember how a tense Brandi and Scheana sit-down morphed into a Pump Rules backdoor pilot.
Season 1 followed Scheana clashing with the others at SUR due to her mistress reputation. Her main rival was Stassi Schroeder, the queen bee of an incredibly close, toxic, and dramatic clique.
While the show was built around Scheana, it was Stassi and her boyfriend, Jax Taylor, who quickly became the main characters. The larger-than-life Jax also assumed the antagonist role through Season 8.
What Made VPR So Special (At First)
In all the bars with all the fame hungry servers in all of Los Angeles, producers found a gold mine in Lisa Vanderpump‘s Sexy Unique Restaurant. The show had a built-in cast thanks to Stassi’s BFFs, Katie Maloney and Kristen Doute, dating Jax’s best friends, Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval, respectively. The group was messy, desperate for fame, and constantly partied hard. That history with each other, as opposed to a cast put together solely to film a show, worked wonders.
The show continues to be promotion for Lisa’s restaurants, but in the beginning, every cast member actually worked at SUR or Villa Blanca (except Schwartz, who couldn’t handle one bartending shift, but later got rewarded with TomTom). Romantic relationships between co-workers were already a tangled mess. In the pilot, SUR manager Peter Madrigal revealed he previously dated both Stassi and Katie.
When Ariana Madix joined in Season 2, she already knew everyone from bartending at Villa Blanca, and was friends with Scheana and Sandoval. In Season 1, she appears briefly as a backup dancer for Scheana’s music showcase.
But since Season 3, most additions are either obvious producer plants or people who dated cast members to get on the show, like James Kennedy. This added to the more staged feel. It’s highly unlikely that later additions like Brittany Cartwright ever actually worked at SUR. And while the initial cast was openly fame-hungry, Brittany pretended she never watched VPR.
The Cast Shake-Up, Or Why We Need To Talk About Faith
A full VPR history needs to include the ugliest chapter. Between Seasons 8 & 9, multiple cast members were fired for racism. Amid the BLM protests of Summer 2020, an old Stassi podcast appearance resurfaced, where she bragged about working with Kristen to call the police on Faith Stowers, with accusations that Faith stole from the cast. Kristen even tweeted a picture of another Black woman who looked nothing like Faith claiming it was “proof.”
Faith took all the heat for sleeping Jax when he was with Brittany. Unlike Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, she never got a chance to share her side of the affair. Instead, she was quickly pushed off the show. Meanwhile, the cast created a narrative that it was worse than other affairs because she was friends with Brittany, despite zero evidence they were even acquaintances.
Brittany and Jax were fired months after Stassi and Kristen, though Jax will always insist they left the show of their own accord. The consequences didn’t last, and now Brittany, Jax, and Kristen have their own show. Stassi even made a whole new career over getting “cancelled.” Meanwhile, Faith’s effort to sue for defamation had fans label her as an opportunist, as if that doesn’t describe every VPR past and present cast member.
Tom Sandoval’s Romantic History
For nine years, Sandoval and Ariana appeared to be the show’s only stable couple. But their romance had a messy start, overlapping with the end of his six-year relationship with Kristen.
Sandoval seemed to use the success of his partnership with Ariana to justify that (at the very least, emotional) affair. Kristen didn’t help herself by admitting she hooked up with Jax. A few years later, Kristen and Ariana somehow became good friends, though this wasn’t shown to viewers until Season 7.
Sandoval spent years acting holier-than-thou, but he was never that different from lothario pals Schwartz and Jax. A cut Season 1 storyline would’ve followed Sandoval’s flirtations with another SURver, Tina McDowelle. There’s also the Miami Girl saga of Season 3. For the majority of Sandoval and Ariana’s relationship, they avoided cheating rumors, but after Scandoval, more of his past indiscretions were unearthed.
The short answer is, yes, Sandoval has always been like this. As for what these women see in him? We have no idea.
The TomTom Dynamic
The Toms’ friendship is too toxic and strange to be a fun bromance. What is Sandoval’s power over Schwartz? Why did Schwartz torpedo his marriage for his buddy? Why did he agree to cover for Scandoval with an ill-advised Rachel showmance?
The truth is, even Pump Rules scholars are baffled. What we do know is that the Toms, along with Jax, have known each other longer than any other cast members. Schwartz also defended and covered for Jax since season 1, but Sandoval’s influence is beyond. At this point, we have to assume he has some serious dirt on Schwartz.
Or his loyalty is because he’s as bad as Sandoval. Both Toms are horrible partners, habitual liars, undeniably misogynistic, and refuse to grow up, even in their forties. They leech off the women in their lives financially, while also blaming women for everything. Schwartz couldn’t hold a job, making Katie pay for everything while constantly cheating on her, undermining her self-esteem, and pouring beer on her head.
The Randall Scandal
Amidst Scandoval, a Hulu documentary came out to expose Lala Kent‘s former man. The relationship began in Season 5, but was shrouded in secrecy because the producer/director was still legally married.
Eventually, Randall Emmett appeared on VPR. But he gained the most exposure from a social media feud with 50 Cent. No matter what, Lala went hard defending her man, their relationship, and his movies.
Once Randall was caught cheating, her tune quickly changed. Turns out, his secrets were darker than just infidelity. Accusations made against him include sexual harassment, racism, employee mistreatment, fraud, and exploiting Bruce Willis. To stop Lala from leaving, he allegedly tackled her to the ground. His ex-wife Ambyr Childers also claims he is under investigation for child pornography.
Katie’s Pre-Show Trauma
In 2009, when she first started working at SUR, Katie fell through a skylight and landed 25 feet down. She broke her collarbone and jaw, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Though she has a slight scar, Katie never even mentioned the accident until Season 6.
With all the jokes about “Tequila Katie” getting too drunk and rage-texting, no one ever seems to consider that her anger issues might actually stem from a TBI.
So…What’s Everyone’s Connection To Each Other Again?
Honestly, it’s hard to put into words. In the wake of Scandoval, many people tried to make explainer charts, but most left out important details. The one above is the most thorough we’ve seen, but there’s surely some connections missing still.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK NEWCOMERS NEED TO KNOW? AND IF YOU’RE A VANDERPUMP RULES NEWBIE, WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE?