It's not about the pasta, but it is about the broken bond of brotherhood.
In part one of Vanderpump Rules' three-part reunion on May 24, Tom Sandoval came face-to-face with his Bravo co-stars for the first time since news of his seven-month-long affair with Raquel Leviss was exposed. As expected, it wasn't good as gold as the group rallied around his ex Ariana Madix, who showed up ready for revenge in a stunning red gown.
While the majority of the cast were ready to call Sandoval out for his actions, it was James Kennedy—who was engaged to Leviss until their breakup in December 2021—who appeared the most angry with the TomTom co-owner.
For the Brit, Sandoval's infidelity felt like a massive betrayal as he viewed him as an older brother. (Never forget that Sandoval spent $10,000 to help Kennedy stage his elaborate proposal to Leviss.) So, when Sandoval began to cry in the beginning of the reunion, Kennedy wasn't buying it.
"Pull yourself together man, you're not at the Oscars," Kennedy said. "You're not at an audition. Be a man, pull yourself together. F--king crocodile tears, p--sy."
Kennedy quieted down for a moment after being lightly chided by host Andy Cohen, but the "See You Next Tuesday" DJ can't help but to interrupt when Sandoval is asked why he didn't come clean to Madix about his affair. "Or your friends?" Kennedy added. "Do you know who I am, Tom?"
When Madix points out that Sandoval and Kennedy were like brothers, her ex-boyfriend pushed back, claiming he only talks to Kennedy once a month.
When Madix points out that Sandoval and Kennedy were like brothers, her ex-boyfriend pushed back, claiming he only talks to Kennedy once a month.
"You're been a big bro, dude," Kennedy said, to which Sandoval responded, "That's what you called me, yes."
Angry over Sandoval diminishing their relationship, "It just goes to show how much of a friend you never were," Kennedy said to him. "You've always been an opportunist."
But the drama reached a new level when Sandoval accused Kennedy of sleeping with their respective ex-girlfriend and former cast member Kristen Doute just to get on the show, which caused Kennedy to get up from his seat.
"When I was 21 years old," Kennedy, now 31, yelled at Sandoval. "You're 42 years old." (He's not actually.)
At that point, Andy got involved, holding James back and dropping his notes as the two men continue to argue. ("My cards," an exasperated Cohen said in a small moment of levity, with Madix then apologizing for the snafu when he attempted to reorganize them.)
"I've stood up for you when no one else would," Sandoval claimed. "I went up against everybody for you." But Kennedy refused to back down, retorting, "F--k you, I don't want you to stick up for me. You're a p--sy ass bitch."
While Kennedy initially takes his seat, things quickly re-escalate when Sandoval warned, "Get in my face again and I will f--k you up, motherf--ker."
Cue Kennedy, being held back by Cohen yet again, yelling, "Look at me bro, I'm way more ripped than you!"
The tension was so high that even Lisa Vanderpump was forced to get to her feet to step in front of Sandoval. As Cohen tried to calm down Kennedy, the DJ warned, "I will beat his ass!" to which the Watch What Happens Live! host calmly responded, "No, you won't. Stay in the f--king chair. That's all you have to do."
Then, naturally, Kennedy asked to use the restroom, only to fire off one last insult at his former friend: "You're a worm with a moustache!"
Anyone else need to take a deep breath?
Check out even more bombshells from Vanderpump Rules' reunion:
Part two kicked off with a screaming match between Tom Sandoval, Lala Kent and James Kennedy, with Lisa Vanderpump coming to Sandoval's defense.
"Lala, sometimes you've been pretty aggressive," the Sur owner chastised, to which Kent fired back to her former boss, "You guys, stop!" Vanderpump, surprised, replied, "I got to stop?"
Kennedy agreed with Kent. "You're sticking up for Tom too much," he told Vanderpump, before storming off set and yelling, "I'm not going to listen to this s--t."
After cooling down, Kennedy returned to set and apologized to Vanderpump and host Andy Cohen. "I'm so sorry Lisa, I love you," he said. "Andy, I'm so sorry, mate."
Cohen's response? "Just stay in your f--king chair, honestly."
Cohen set aside time to grill Kent about her scandal-plagued ex-fiancé Randall Emmett and inquired why their 2-year-old daughter Ocean did not appear during season 10.
"He sent a legal letter saying that she was not allowed to be on camera," Kent revealed, "you can't use pictures, no video, no nothing."
Cohen then brought up the explosive 2022 L.A. Times article that accused Emmett of running a casting couch and other illegal activities, all of which he has vehemently denied. When asked if she was surprised by the exposé, Kent replied, "Yes and no," adding she now has 20/20 vision when it comes to red flags in their relationship.
Recounting how Kent auditioned to be in one of the producer's films shortly after they met in 2015, Cohen inquired, "Do you feel like you had to sleep with him in exchange for getting a part?" She replied, "I actually did not."
When the cast took a break for lunch, Sandoval headed straight for Leviss' trailer to rehash everything that went down so far after sharing a hug.
"They're making you and me out to be pathological liars," he told his lover, to which she replied, "I see that, even though we know that we're not and we haven't lied about anything besides this affair."
Leviss, who had been watching the drama unfold on a TV monitor 100 yards away, revealed her biggest issue with the conversation surrounding his and ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix's relationship.
"I don't love the way it's coming across about your guys' intimacy," she admitted. "Just watching what you guys taped just now, it looks like you guys had this solid relationship."
The TomTom co-owner did admit they should have come clean about their affair much earlier. "It's rough," he continued. "Ariana is going to unleash on you. I'm glad you came though."
Leviss replied, "It just sucks because my entire character is in question now. I have gone through a transitional phase in my life this summer. I think the pendulum did swing a little too far the other way and this is my wake up call."
Sandoval told her sweetly, "I believe in you."
After Sandoval and Leviss' heart-to-heart, he was officially done discussing the drama on camera and lost it on the crew.
"OK, I'm done filming. I'm done," he declared. "Can we have, like, a for real break where we're not being filmed?"
A producer stepped in to calm him down and explained, "Cameras are up when anyone's together the whole time. You can have time if you need time to yourself."
Which he still wasn't having. "No, man, I'm gonna f--king flip and get the hell out of here," Sandoval exploded. "I need a break from filming! Stop filming me! I want to talk to her, like, I don't want a camera in my f--king goddamn face."
He continued, "I don't feel relaxed, she doesn't either. We have to watch what we f--king say, I don't want that. I'm in a very delicate position."
Ally Lewber joined boyfriend James Kennedy and talk quickly turned to his temper while he's drinking.
"Even though I am drinking again, it is a lot different from how it used to be for me," the DJ, who was previously sober, insisted. "I will never go back to that boy I was two and a half years before I did quit drinking."
Sandoval scoffed "OK, James" before revealing a never-before-heard story about Kennedy allegedly partying too hard on the job.
"We had this ongoing job in Atlantic City," he shared. "And the last time that we were there, you were belligerently drunk with no shirt on. Security came to me and said your friend is going to get kicked off the premises. The manager told me later that you had smacked the waitress on the ass and that they had to have her sign a form saying that she wasn't going to file a suit."
Kennedy's response? "You two just have to show up to get drunk," he snapped at Sandoval and Tom Schwartz. "That's all you have to do to get paid, show up and get drunk."
After Leviss filed a temporary restraining order against Scheana Shay, Cohen asked the cast if they believed Leviss' allegation that Shay punched her.
Vanderpump chimed in, "I think she might have slapped her," while Katie Maloney defended her friend, "Look at her fingernails, she can't make a fist."
Though Sandoval initially hesitated to weigh in, he eventually shared, "I'm between a rock and a hard place. The thing is, I don't want to upset my relationship with Scheana, but I want to tell the truth."
Sandoval claimed he heard Shay say, "'I just punched that bitch in the face and threw her phone in the street,'" but Madix vehemently denied that happened, adding, "She said 'I pushed her,' she never said punched."
The restraining order discussion ended with Cohen making a shocking announcement. "Scheana, I do have something for you. This is from Raquel," he shared. "She's not allowed to give it to you in person. She gave it to me to give you."
Cut to Cohen's one-on-one sit-down with Leviss where she addressed taking legal action against her former BFF. "I completely regret filing the restraining order and I've been taking every measure to get it dropped," the former beauty queen said. "I spoke with my lawyer and he was able to file a request to dismiss the court hearing altogether and this is the paperwork showing that for Scheana."
After receiving the docs from Cohen, Shay broke down in tears.
"Having this for the last few weeks—first of all, the betrayal," she wept. "Two of my best friends, that is heartbreaking in itself. But then to throw all of this on top of it when I did nothing but take care of her. I gave her a home to live in when she didn't have anywhere to go. I was the sister to her that she didn't have growing up. I did everything for her, and for her to do this to me, it has taken such a toll on me."
During Leviss' solo interview, she shared her timeline of the affair, which she confirmed began last August. "He made me feel heard and seen," she told Cohen, "and those were feelings that I haven't really felt maybe ever."
Leviss admitted she was probably a little naive in hoping her and Sandoval's romance would work out after betraying Madix. However, today, she noted, "I'm very ashamed of it."
But when Madix eventually found out about the affair in March, Leviss explained, "We were going to tell her, we just wanted to get our stories straight, basically, because he felt like it would hurt her if she knew how long this has been going on."
But when Madix eventually confronted her about the secret relationship, Leviss came clean about everything. "I told her the truth and she said thank you for telling me," she recounted to Cohen, "because Tom would have never told me the truth."
Before Leviss was brought out to join the rest of the cast (minus Shay), Tom Schwartz pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket and popped something in his mouth as cameras rolled.
"What the f--k is that?" Sandoval asked his BFF, before he confirmed, "Xanax. Just a quarter, I'm stressed."
Sandoval encouraged his business partner, "You know you can tell people it's none of your business? I'm taking my medication."
Schwartz then offered the bottle to Madix, who declined.
In the final scene of part two, Cohen announced, "Raquel is here and ready to join us," as Leviss nervously walked to the stage.
When asked by a producer if she was ready, she answered, "I mean, no, but just got to confront it."
"Ariana, I know you have not seen Raquel since you found out about the affair," Cohen said. "How are you feeling about this?"
For her part, Madix said was feeling "not great" about Leviss' entrance.
Madix kept her head down as Leviss took her seat, avoiding any eye contact. Fans will have to tune in to part three to see their actual exchange.
During a sit-down with host Andy Cohen, Ariana Madix revealed how Raquel Leviss contacted her after she found out about the former beauty queen's affair with Tom Sandoval.
"She texted me," she said. "It took her 48 whole hours to text me."
A screenshot of the convo showed Madix texted "You are DEAD TO ME," to which Leviss replied, "Ariana, I don't know what to say right now besides I really f--ked up and I am so so so sorry."
Madix ended the correspondence with "Shut the f--k up you f--king RAT" before blocking her ex-BFF.
According to Sandoval, his romance with Madix wasn't the TV magic fans often saw.
"Ariana and I kept our relationship pretty private for many years," the TomTom owner explained. "We had issues. I felt like I was her gay BFF. We put on a front when we were filming and I even talked to our showrunner. For us to be having these issues and keeping it from people, I just didn't think it was fair to the rest of the cast."
Cut to a never-before-seen flashback from September 2022 in which Sandoval tells a producer, "I feel guilty, people put themselves out there, man. It's not fair. I feel like it's important for us to, like, talk about this s--t and not pretend like it's all amazing."
Madix's response to his comments? "I feel like I always showed everything, from my point of view," she said during the reunion. "He's framing it now as something else. Because he has to, he's desperate."
Sandoval teared up addressing Ariana about his betrayal. "I'm sorry for doing the one thing I said I wouldn't do, and I did it in the worst way possible," he told his ex. "I love you and I apologize."
Naturally, that wasn't received well. "He has victim-blamed me 100 percent of the way so I don't believe anything that just came out of his mouth," Madix coldly responded. "I think he's f--king full of s--t and he can f--k off."
Noticeably absent from the group was Leviss, who was watching the entire reunion film from her trailer over 100 yards away from the set. As Andy explained, the 28-year-old was "not legally allowed to be in the same room as Scheana Shay due to the restraining order that she filed" after their alleged altercation.
Though Leviss didn't comment on any of the bombshell revelations as she watched the drama unfold on a TV monitor, she did deliver many eye rolls and animated reactions to her co-stars' digs.
Sure, all eyes were on Sandoval in the hot seat, but the true star was the outspoken, foul-mouthed James Kennedy, who delivered some epic one-liners while confronting his former pal.
When Cohen deemed the DJ as the "No. 1 guy" in the group following Sandoval's fall from grace, Kennedy quipped, "It's not hard to compete when I'm working with [Tom] Schwartz and a clown." Later, he labeled the Toms as "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle little d--k."
After Sandoval delivered his teary apology to Madix, Kennedy called him out too. "Pull yourself together, you're not at the Academy Awards," he said before mocking his crying. "F--king crocodile tears. P--sy."
And we'll never—we mean never—forget this legendary roasting of Sandoval: "You're a clown. And you know what? Your band sucks d--k. You're a nothing, you're a nobody. You're a loser and your bar is going down the drain, you backstabbing hoe."
Lala Kent gave her scathing take on Sandoval's cheating by comparing him to her scandal-plagued ex Randall Emmett.
Give it 10 years, he is Randall Emmett," she said. "He is absolutely terrifying, I couldn't get Randall to stay home, and then when s--t hit the fan, I couldn't get him the f--k out of the house. That is the f--king narcissist. Everyone needs to be warned about this person. Like this is a dangerous human being."
Though Madix seemed to agree, Lisa Vanderpump called Kent's comparisons "ridiculous." But Kent didn't care.
"I didn't ask for anyone else's opinion," Kent sharply replied to her former boss. "He was sleeping next to her, this was his life partner. If he could do that to her, there's something wrong with this person."
Possibly the most heated moment during part one was Kennedy and Sandoval's near-physical fight. Though Sandoval claimed the two weren't close prior to Scandoval, the DJ mourned the loss of their friendship.
"You've been a big bro, dude," Kennedy said. "It just goes to show how much a friend you never were. You've always been an opportunist."
But after the Schwartz & Sandy's co-owner replied, "You f--ked Kristen [Doute] to get on the show," an enraged Kennedy rushed toward Sandoval, forcing Cohen to physically separate them to prevent a fight (and drop his cue cards in the process).
Once Kennedy was back in his seat, Sandoval fired back, "Get in my face again I will f--k you up, motherf--ker," causing Kennedy to once again get up and reply, "I will f--k you up so quickly."
After Cohen restrained Kennedy for a second time, he reprimanded the 31-year-old saying, "Stay in the f--king chair."
Kennedy then left set to cool down, but not without a parting message to Sandoval: "Pussy bitch. You're a worm with a mustache!"
As the entire cast vilified Sandoval and Leviss for their months-long affair, Cohen brought up a good point that didn't sit too well with some of the castmembers.
"This is a group of cheaters," the Watch What Happens Live host interjected. "James, you slept with Kristen while she and Sandoval were still together. Ariana, you cheated with Sandoval while Tom was with Kristen. Schwartz, you made out with literally everyone when you were married to Katie. James and Lala, you guys had sex with each other despite already being in relationships with other people. No one in this group has clean hands except for Katie and LVP."
And, you know what, he's not wrong.
At the beginning of season 10, Schwartz revealed a female friend of his, Jo Wenberg, had moved into his apartment following his divorce from Katie Maloney. While Schwartz declared they were never boyfriend and girlfriend, he did finally admit their relationship wasn't just platonic.
"It did evolve into a situationship or a friends with benefits thing with clearly defined boundaries," he shared, causing his ex-wife to cringe. "We were both coming out of long-term relationships and for a minute there we were each other's happy place."
Maloney's thoughts? "Jo is a creep."
After Schwartz revealed his hookup, Cohen asked if he, Wenberg, Sandoval and Leviss ever went on double dates. But when he said no, he immediately got called out.
"The four of you went to Big Bear together!" Maloney yelled, to which he replied, "It was not a double date."
Madix chimed in, "What was it, a f--k fest?"
When Schwartz responded, "I was going snowboarding with Tom Sandoval," Madix clapped back, "And why wasn't I invited then if there were other girls invited?"
Kennedy claimed his ex-fiancée Leviss "hates snowboarding," adding, "She came to f--king f--k Tom."
Kent added, "To suck Sandoval's d--k."
Part two of the Vanderpump Rules reunion airs Wednesday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)