Tom Sandoval Booed Continuously at ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Panel at BravoCon; First Season 11 Trailer Released
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Earlier on Friday, Bravo announced from BravoCon that Season 11 of “Vanderpump Rules” will premiere in January. That raises a big question: After a 10th season that concluded in June, during which the show became a ratings smash, a pop culture sensation and an eventual Emmy nominee — all because of the cheating scandal within the show that captured the nation’s fickle attention — where will the Bravo series go after the #Scandoval?
One place it seemingly won’t be going, at least as far as the BravoCon audience was concerned, is redemption for cast member Tom Sandoval, who last year had an affair with his former castmate Rachel Leviss — thereby blowing up his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix. Every time he spoke from when he was first introduced, Sandoval received loud boos, even as moderator Karamo Brown tried to tell the crowd to stop. When an audience questioner asked everyone to “give Sandoval some fucking grace,” saying that he’s a “human,” she herself was booed.
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Madix was on a separate part of the stage from Sandoval, and she maintained a chilly distance from him throughout the panel. As a contestant on this season of “Dancing With the Stars,” Madix said, “It feels amazing, except for the aches,” and added that she’ll be rehearsing in Las Vegas tonight from 11 pm to 3 am.
Bravo also released the first teaser for Season 11.
🚨BREAKING from #BravoCon🚨 Here is your FIRST LOOK at the new season of #PumpRules arriving in January! pic.twitter.com/cD7Id6Qt27
— Bravo (@BravoTV) November 3, 2023
In contrast to Sandoval, Madix did receive grace from the audience, sharing that filming Season 11 taught her, “I can do hard things — and I did it.” After fellow cast member James Kennedy said that the season was difficult, he added that he thinks to himself, “if Ariana can do it, I can do it.” And then Madix said she’s inspired by Britney Spears: “If Britney can do it, I can do it.”
Brown asked each cast member to describe the upcoming season in one word, and several of them said “sad.” For his part, Sandoval called it a “roller coaster.”
Later, Andy Cohen asked the first “audience” question about how Sandoval and Kennedy have gotten so “fucking ripped.” Kennedy said he’s been going to the gym; Sandoval said he stopped drinking six months ago. He said when he gets home, he works out instead of “smoking and drinking.”
The two men then had a pushup contest, though this reporter became so freaked out by the display she wasn’t sure who won.
Pushup contest! Help. pic.twitter.com/hgmNHun8V3
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) November 3, 2023
“Vanderpump Rules” is not only riding high going into Season 11, but has also spawned the spinoff “Vanderpump Valley,” starring ex-“Rules” cast members Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. Doute was fired in June 2020, after Faith Stowers, a Black castmate who appeared on the show for a few seasons, revealed that Doute and cast member Stassi Schroeder had reported her in 2018 for a crime she’d had nothing to do with. Later that year, Taylor’s and Cartwright’s contracts also weren’t renewed after, along with other accounts of toxic behavior, Taylor, who’d had a fling with Stowers while he was with Cartwright, had also accused Stowers of a crime in a tweet. During the #Scandoval, however, the three of them returned to Bravo’s air as pundits; now they’ve landed their own show. “Vanderpump Valley” is expected to premiere on Bravo next year, following “Vanderpump Rules.”
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