‘Vanderpump Rules’ Stars Stassi and Katie Knew Tom Sandoval Was Trash
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Stassi Schroeder may have been let go from Vanderpump Rules back in 2020, but she isn’t holding back from giving her opinions on Scandoval, the drama surrounding her former cast members, and her own past moments on camera. At the final show on her Straight Up With Stassi Live — The Mommy Dearest Tour at Los Angeles’ Theatre at Ace Hotel on June 24, Stassi brought out her best friend and VPR star Katie Maloney and the two of them opened up about their thoughts, opinions, and histories on the Bravo reality series.
When Katie joined her on stage, Stassi asked if she thought her longtime nickname “Tequila Katie,” which Katie’s friends called her when she would get drunk and angry, was born out of misogyny, and how she feels about viewers reevaluating gender roles on the series in light of Scandoval.
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“I think about misogyny a lot,” Katie said. “I could honestly write a dissertation about misogyny at this point.” She explained that as much as she has tried to “embrace Tequila Katie,” because she can be a good time, she knows the alter-ego exhibits toxic traits. “But I feel like the misogyny that is behind that [nickname] is the one that gaslights,” she went on. “I feel like society doesn’t like women that do stand up for themselves.”
Stassi agreed, chiming in that the women on Vanderpump Rules have historically been on the receiving end of this kind of double standard.
“No one likes when the girls stand up for themselves [on the show], except now they like it,” Stassi said, alluding to how after the news broke that Tom Sandoval had been engaging in a monthslong affair with Raquel Leviss behind his girlfriend Ariana Madix’s back, people do want to see Madix and other women who have been wronged on the series stand up for themselves. According to Stassi, whenever she, Katie, Lala Kent, Kristen Doute, or anyone was “being a strong-ass woman,” they were all judged and labeled.
“I feel like there was definitely a different lens put on it,” Katie agreed. “And now that people are seeing it through a different light they are seeing, no, that wasn’t the case, these were women that actually were really advocating for themselves.”
The podcast host then asked her friend if she’s thankful for Scandoval for shining a light on that.
“In some ways, yes,” Katie said. “Because if it had to happen this way, then yeah, thank fucking god. Thank fucking god for that worm with a mustache.”
When it came to discussing the Season 10 reunion, Stassi reflected that even though the cast would typically talk about how much they dreaded filming the reunion every year, she “felt so left out” not being at this most recent reunion taping.
“We’ve always said the reunion is the worst day of the year. After the reunion’s over we’re like, 364 days until we have to do this again,” Stassi said. “But this time around, I’ve never wanted to be at a reunion more.”
Katie said she originally was not looking forward to going to the Season 10 reunion. During filming, she had a falling-out with Scheana Shay because she encouraged Raquel to hook up with Tom Scwhartz, despite the fact that Katie asked her not to. She also had contentious moments with both Schwartz and Raquel for making out at Scheana’s wedding in Mexico and not respecting her boundaries or feelings. But Katie’s traumas ended up taking a back seat once the cast members found out about Scandoval and turned their complete attention to Sandoval and Raquel. Katie said she enjoyed herself at the reunion but felt like there were a lot of points about her own issues that she didn’t have the chance to discuss.
“I was tormented all year long for no fucking reason. No reason,” Katie said. “Rachel and Tom Schwartz making out for no reason, I was tormented for no reason because Sandoval and Rachel were having sex in Mexico as well. That’s sick. That’s sick. That’s sick, y’all.”
Katie said she wishes she and Scheana had more time on stage to talk through their problems, even though they’re in a better place now, but Scheana had limited time to film because of the restraining order Raquel filed against her.
As far as Raquel, who Stassi and Katie kept calling “Rachel” because that’s her legal name,” the two friends said her lack of emotion on stage during the reunion was bizarre juxtaposed to the emotions she displayed when she was watching parts of the taping by herself in a trailer due to the temporary restraining order she filed against Scheana.
“The giddiness was psychotic,” both Stassi and Katie said.
Stassi said she knows people were disappointed by what was being teased as a “big reveal” in the third reunion episode, but that in her opinion Raquel’s standalone interview was actually significant if viewers pay close enough attention.
“I think the bombshell was that the way that that interview was conducted, how she acted, the things that she said, the fear in her eyes over losing Sandoval for telling the truth,” Stassi said.
“The bombshell was that we saw just how fucking horrible and controlling he is. To be honest, I was like, ‘Holy shit, it’s so much worse than I thought, look at her.’ She’s the problem too but it was wild to see just how much of a hold he has.”
When asked what she thought of Raquel’s comments about wanting to be in a throuple with Sandoval and Ariana if it meant she and Sandoval could be together, Katie said, “I kind of think that’s what someone with psychosis would think.”
Her biggest takeaway, though, was Sandoval’s remark about Ariana leaving her T-shirt on when they slept together after he already was in a full-fledged affair with Raquel.
“We walked away when we went to dinner with our friends, we were like, can you believe that’s what that scumbag said?” Katie said.
Stassi added that she thought he made it so much worse when he addressed the comments with TMZ, saying that he meant their sex was boring.
“He sucks. He really fucking sucks. We’ve always known,” Stassi said about Sandoval. Katie agreed, saying, “We’ve always had his number.”
Stassi wanted to know how Katie felt about filming the upcoming season of Vanderpump Rules if she was in a position where she had to share camera time with Sandoval or Raquel. The reality star clarified that she never said she wouldn’t film with them, but she doesn’t understand how the logistics would work considering she’s not going to invite them over to her apartment to hang out.
“I’m not gonna be like, ‘Hey Rachel, I know the last time I spoke to you in the back alley of SUR I said I was so fucking done with you, that was the last thing I ever said to you,’ so I don’t know how we bridge that gap,” Katie said. “And Sandoval also was telling my mom to shut the fuck up, so it’s not really up to me how we would bridge that gap, but I never said I wouldn’t film with them.”
According to Katie, her ex-husband and Tom Sandoval’s longtime friend and business partner, Tom Schwartz, got off “way too easy” at the reunion. She also discussed her former relationship with Schwartz when Stassi went back in time and talked about some of the fights she got into with Katie on her past birthdays, since the live show took place on Stassi’s birthday. After they rehashed a fight they got into during Stassi’s birthday trip to Mexico in Season Two, Stassi apologized to Katie for being in the wrong. She said she yelled at Katie because she thought Katie was “just choosing to be an angry bitch” but watching it back 10 years later, “boy was I fucking wrong.”
In the episode, Stassi gets upset because Katie and Schwartz get into an explosive fight. Schwartz pours a drink on top of Katie’s head and the next day she’s visibly upset about his behavior.
“It’s kind of like everyone’s finally seeing that I wasn’t just being an angry bitch,” Katie said. She added, “I also remember that it was the night before that Tom dumped a drink over my head, so you gave me a talking to on the balcony and you were like, ‘Pull it together, you’re not going to fight,’ and it was, like, all on me to not cause a scene. I was like, ‘OK.’”
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