The Sunday Read: ‘How Tom Sandoval Became the Most Hated Man in America’

even if you don't watch reality TV. you've probably heard about something. called Scandal somebody Scandal I think. yes I believe it's called Scandal it's. the so-called Scandal that's rocking. reality TV. Scandal gift from God you love all that. Stu we love it we love it Scandal refers. to a revelation so explosive it.

generated its own nickname and turned. Vander bump rules a show on Bravo. currently in its 11th season into a. household name last. year suddenly an affair a thing that's. happened on many reality shows without. much consequence became a top headline. on CNN and the New York Times Tom sandal. cheating on his longtime girlfriend. Ariana Maddox with her best friend. Rachel Levis gaining the moniker Scandal. # Scandal racking up more than 100 46.

million views on Tik Tok alone at a. point when most other shows would be on. life support Vander pump rules became. the most watched cable series among 18. to 49y olds it was also nominated for an. Emmy an honor that has never been. granted to any of Bravo's housewife. shows what's more this entire series of. events was incited by one figure a man. whose infidelity led to one of the most. compelling seasons in the history of. reality TV who who turned himself into.

the ultimate villain and seemingly. ruined his life in the process Tom. [Music]. sandal do you want. anything for you to die my name is Irena. Alexander and I'm a contributing writer. for the New York Times magazine based in. Los. Angeles I've always watched a lot of. both scripted and reality TV but if. you're a person like me who's interested. in studying people and analyzing their. motivations it's often more fun to do.

that with real unpredictable people. rather than characters conceived by. Hollywood. writers and so for this week's Sunday. read I wrote a piece for the magazine. about Tom sandal a reality TV star who's. been on Vander pump rules for the past. 10 plus. years I wanted to understand what it was. like to have his name become synonymous. with arguably one of the best seasons of. reality TV ever made and simultaneously. have maybe the worst year he's ever had. personally I don't know how it happened.

it just it. happened we became really good friends. like I was seeking something that I. wasn't getting here and that's selfish. that's really selfish selfish is the. nicest word you could. use what's interesting about Vander pump. rules is that it started out as a show. about waiters and bartenders who lived. in crappy apartments in. Hollywood they worked at sir restaurant. an acronym for sexy unique restaurant.

which technically means that its full. name is Sexy unique restaurant. restaurant a business owned by Lisa. Vanderpump a former Real. Housewife most of them wanted to be. models and actors or quote unquote ma as. they like to say on the show over time. as the show gained success they became. reality TV stars instead and Vander pump. rules became a sort of meta reality show. about reality. stars when the series began in 2013 Tom.

was relatively well-liked he was a. regular guy from the Midwest who loved. his friends and hoped to make it as an. actor but then over the course of the. series he changed you could say he got. swallowed up by the Hollywood Fame. machine which tends to play all kinds of. tricks on your ego and. self-perception so when news broke last. spring that he'd been having an affair. with another cast member behind the. backs of the show's producers and his. co-star and partner of 9 years Ariana. Maddox it seemed both shocking and.

not a lot of people have debated why the. Scandal became national. news part of it was that it came to. light when the 10th season of the show. was midway through airing that turned it. into a murder mystery of sorts with. viewers hunting for clues of the affair. in earlier episodes and presenting their. elaborate theories on social media all. right so I'm thinking that the affair. started on this cast trip cuz notice how. Rachel literally posts a picture with. sand of all first happy Sunday you guys. we're going to talk Vander pump rules we.

have a lot of details to get through so. I'm going to speed this up to two times. speed back story Tom sand is a. narcissistic abuser after the Scandal. Ariana got so much National sympathy as. a result of being cheated on that she's. had the best year of her career she was. invited to the White House. Correspondence Dinner competed on. Dancing With the Stars and landed brand. advertisements with durol batteries lace. chips and Bick razors as well as a. starring role in Chicago on Broadway. this. winter for Tom the vitriol was Swift it.

didn't come just from fans online who. posted mean messages or from famous. people like Amy Schumer who called him a. narcissist he's basically the Donald. Trump of ex-boyfriends won't go away. won't say he's sorry so you would that. guy that we just saw we don't like him. his close friends distanced themselves. his own brother asked them to delete. photos of them together on social media. a bar he co-owns banned him from coming. in over the summer because his presence. became bad for. business as I reported in this piece no.

one seemed to be able to fully explain. why the so-called Scandal broke. Vanderpump's cult status barrier and. turned it into a national phenomenon but. I wasn't all that interested in that. question anyway I wanted to know more. about the guy at the center of the storm. there really hadn't been a show before. in which we put regular people on. television from much of their 20s and. 30s and then got to see how they far as. a result what were the consequences of. that for him and for us as.

viewers a lot of people assume that. reality TV is fake but for Tom sandal. there's virtually no separation between. his existence on screen and off living. on a reality show has fundamentally. changed the way he thinks about his life. which he often talks about not in years. and months like the rest of us but in. seasons and. episodes as I spent time with Tom for. the story sometimes he'd pause mids. sentence and stare into space face like.

a doll whose batteries have died until. whatever noise interfering ambulance or. helicopter roaring by had passed and. then he'd continue as if nothing had. happened even when he wasn't being. filmed there was something really. fascinating to me about someone who. spent the majority of his adult life. living on a reality show and as a result. had lost touch with actual. reality I think one of the most. revealing moments was when Tom and I. drove from his home in LA's Valley. Village to TomTom a bar he's part owner.

of in West. Hollywood it was the only part of our. time together when we weren't supervised. by a publicist and he was even more. forthcoming and. unguarded he told me how difficult this. year has been how betrayed he's felt by. his friends and how he'd been struggling. with. depression at the same time he said he. was really honored to be on Vanderpump. Rules he said this incredible thing. which was the Scandal made the show so. big it's kind of cool and crazy even.

though it's negative and at my. expense in other words even though he. recognizes the ways it's been damaging. to him personally he ultimately sees the. experience of being on the show as a net. positive and he's excited to keep. going so here's my article how Tom. sandal became the most hated man in. America read by Julia. whan our audio producer today is Adrien.

Hurst the original music you'll hear was. written and performed by Aaron. [Music]. Esposito Valley Village is a Los Angeles. neighborhood just across the freeway. from Studio City near the southern edge. of the area locally referred to with. both affection and derision as the. valley there at the end of a quiet leafy. Street of ranch style homes stands what. real estate agents have come to describe. as a modern Farmhouse which its current.

occupant the reality TV star Tom sandal. has outfitted with landscaping lights. that rotate in a spectrum of colors. mimicking the dance floor of a. nightclub the home is both his private. residence and an occasional TV set for. the Bravo reality show Vander pump. rules after a series of events that came. to be known as Scandal Paparazzi had. been camped outside but by the new year. it was just one one or two guys and now.

they have mostly gone. too Scandal is the nickname for. Sandoval's affair with another cast. member which he had behind the backs of. the show's producers and his girlfriend. of 9 years this wouldn't be interesting. or noteworthy except that in 2023 after. being on the air for 10 seasons. Vanderpump was nominated for an Emmy for. Outstanding unstructured reality program. an honor that has never been bestowed on.

any of the Network's Housewives shows it. also became by a key metric the most. watched cable Series in The Advertiser. beloved demographic of 18 to 49y olds. and brought in over 12.2 million viewers. this happened last spring when. Hollywood's TV writers went on strike. and cable TV was declared dead and our. culture had already become so fractured. that it was rare for anything let alone. an episode of Television to be become a. national event and yet you probably.

heard about Scandal even if you couldn't. care less about who these people are. exactly the story has continued. offscreen after the season aired Raquel. Levis with whom sand ofal had the affair. entered a mental health facility in. Arizona and started going by a different. name Ariana Maddox Sandoval's now. ex-girlfriend garnered so much National. sympathy that she has had the most. prosperous year of her career in.

addition to being invited to the White. House correspondence dinner and to. compete on Dancing With the Stars she. landed ads with duracel batteries Bick. razors Uber Eats and Lays chips as well. as a starring role in Chicago on. Broadway this winter Sandoval meanwhile. became the most reviled man in America. and the butt of a million jokes Jennifer. Lawrence made fun of his skin Amy. Schumer called him a narcissist one of. the host po of the view called him the.

Donald Trump of. ex-boyfriends and sandal has just been. here in the valley trying to process it. all I feel like I got more hate than. Danny Masterson he told me and he's a. convicted. rapist when I arrived at his house late. last year sandavol who is 41 had just. finished working out he wore a black. muscle shirt and a wide headband his. assistant miles was at the dining room. table sorting through deval's utility.

bills on two laptops he basically does. anything I don't personally have to do. sandal explained we were also joined by. Riley who is on Sandoval's new publicity. team which has a background in crisis PR. I assumed Riley would be an impediment. but my fears were put to rest when she. didn't Flinch at the Danny Masterson. comment Riley is 23 has watched. Vanderpump since she was in Middle. School and seemed as interested in. Sandoval's life as I was when sandal. described how despite their gnarly.

nationally televised split he and Maddox. have continued living together. sequestered in separate parts of the. five-bedroom home and communicating via. assistance Riley was curious to hear. more so all of her stuff is still here. Riley asked sandal wasn't sure but he. thought Maddox might have finally rented. a place she took the dog and the cat and. I know she wouldn't do that if she was. staying somewhere temporary he said. Sandoval wanted to buy out her share of.

the home but interest rates are so crazy. right now he was considering getting a. roommate to help with the mortgage at. least he thought Maddox was finally open. to the idea it took her a while to not. be spiteful about the house he said a. month after we met Maddox sued sandavol. in Los Angeles County to force him to. sell the home and divide the. proceeds my tape recorder wasn't on yet. and Sandoval wanted to make sure I was. getting everything. do you want to like record.

this of course I wanted to record this I. couldn't remember interviewing a public. figure as eager to speak into a. recording device but then again sand. ofal is not a typical celebrity nor is. Vanderpump which is currently airing its. 11th season your typical show early. reality series like big brother and. Survivor rotated casts in every season. shows that didn't like the hills never. last did this long even its closest.

point of comparison Bravo's Real. Housewives franchise is more of a weekly. cage match in which bloodied Fighters. are retired once they're no longer. useful and sandavol the Midwest bred son. of a firefighter and a marketing. executive is not a. Kardashian what I mean is that although. reality programming has been a dominant. part of American culture for over two. decades we've never actually put a. regular person on reality TV to live out.

much of their adult life and gotten to. see what happens to them as a. result contrary to a popular. misconception Vanderpump is not about. Lisa Vanderpump a former Bravo housewife. it started as a show about waiters and. bartenders who lived in crappy. apartments around Hollywood and for the. most part wanted to be actors that dream. didn't work out but they became reality. TV stars instead for a while this ruined.

the show it became less honest the cast. still worked shifts at a restaurant but. actually they drove nice cars and bought. $2 million houses once the show stopped. pretending that nothing had changed it. turned out that a reality show about. reality stars was not any less. interesting on the last seasonal loan. there was Scandal in which sandavol a. reality star approaching middle age. proceeded to start a cover band open a. bar and and sleep with Levis a former.

beauty queen a couple that had been on. the show since the first season finally. decided to divorce leading the wife to. realize that she may never have kids and. a woman who once bragged that her. private jet lifestyle was financed by. Randall EMT the direct to video film. producer left him and became a bread. winner as she fought for custody of. their. daughter Alex Basin an executive. producer of Vanderpump developed it as a. spin-off of Real Housewives of Beverly. Hills which featured Vanderpump as the.

owner of several mediocre restaurants. Basin noticed that sir which stands for. sexy unique restaurant indeed had a sexy. unique atmosphere in 2011 he sent a. screenshot of sir's website with. Vanderpump on a throne surrounded by her. good-looking staff to Andy Cohen who was. then Bravo's vice president for original. programming the network provided a small. budget for Baskin to explore the the. idea what Baskin found was an incestuous.

friend group in which everyone was. either living or sleeping with one. another it was everything you look for. in a TV show Baskin told me it just hit. me in the. face at the time Prestige TV was on the. rise and writer rooms across Hollywood. became overly preoccupied with chasing. critical approval rather than audiences. and revenue in this context Vanderpump. was an appealing. alternative yes it looked and acted like.

reality TV but at its core it was more. like the great scripted shows of the. 1990s in that it was about a group of. friends living life dating one another. giving up the hopes of their 20s for the. Realties of their 30s it relied on time-. tested screenwriting tenants good. unexpected stories about original. characters going through relatable. cycles of jealousy regret insecurity and. longing the show was also a brilliant.

premise commercially speaking the TV. business shephered crowds to the real. world business and vice versa you could. watch sandal and his friends on TV then. drop by and have him make you a pumptini. the show's main draw was the cheating. scandals of which there were three by. the end of the second season as the show. took place more outside the restaurant. it went through an identity crisis in 20. 20 it was further debilitated by the.

pandemic and the departure of four. members of the cast due to past racist. incidents and resurfaced social media. posts by season 9 there were rumors that. Vanderpump was on the brink of. cancellation we were hobbling Basin told. me the very next season Scandal dropped. into Bravo's lap the show's producers. treated it like a news story late on the. evening of March 1st 2020 23 when. principal filming for the 10th season.

was wrapped and episodes were already. airing Sandoval was performing a new. single with his band when his phone fell. out of his pocket Maddox opened it to. discover an intimate recording of Levis. the next morning Maddox notified the. show's Talent producer who called the. showrunner who called Basin who called. Bravo which scrambled to approve budgets. on March 3rd Crews were pulled off. another Bravo set and Cameron were back. up to capture the Fallout as the cast.

processed the affair the resulting. footage which aired in May is an. incredible episode of Television Maddox. with damp hair and puffy Cried Out eyes. says I loved you when you had nothing. and that girl is searching for an. identity in men and I would have. followed you. anywhere producers did not put cameras. down even as sandavol screamed at them. to stop filming him him during the. subsequent reunion special which was so.

brutal that Amy Schumer compared it to. the end of Schindler's. List no one not sandal or Baskin or even. the executives at Bravo are quite sure. why the season resonated the way it did. maybe it was that Scandal had awakened. something in everyone who had ever. cheated or been cheated on resulting in. Endless memes and diet tribes on social. media or that the affair landed in the. news while the season was airing turning.

it into an interactive murder mystery of. sorts with viewers searching for clues. in earlier. episodes now it is easy to be cynical. about these things isn't it plausible. that when faced with the shows on. certain future producers got together. with the cast and cooked up a cheating. scandal this is a popular conspiracy. theory but Baskin told me that the. covert Affair and continuing Fallout was. too elaborate to manufact facture I mean.

Raquel left the state he said when I. asked sandal he insisted that if he was. going to script a fake story line it. wouldn't have been one that destroyed. his life I would have never participated. in that he said willingly I said you. would have never participated in that. willingly since you did technically. continue to film the show right. willingly he said hell. no. [Music].

at Sanda Fall's house he made a cup of. tea and Riley and I were listening to. what the past year of his life has been. like the thing with Levis started with. what sounded like a midlife crisis you. know when you just feel like you don't. know what's cool anymore he said and. your past your Prime and a little bit of. a joke Riley nodded he started to feel. as though his best years were behind him.

he wanted to feel alive again he and. Maddox had Grown Apart he planned to. tell her about the affair after the. season aired he didn't want it to play. out on the show when he shouted at. producers to stop filming him he. couldn't remember another time in the. show's history that he'd done so unless. he was getting in the shower or. something I just wanted to not feel. watched he said I wanted to take a. breath after he finished filming he went. on tour with his band Tom sand ofal and. the most extras he had to his bank.

accounts were overdrawn and he needed. the money crowds of people came out to. hate on him they showed up wearing. t-shirts that said cheater and worm with. a mustache a name one of his castmates. coined everywhere he went people called. him a loser or screamed team Ariana at. him when he returned home there were. groups of strangers with cameras at his. house who seemed to be making fun of him. on the show sand ofal had complained.

about always being the one to replenish. batteries and other domestic supplies. now as Maddox filmed her various. commercial spots at the home it had. become ad copy for duracel I buy my own. batteries now and Bick razors I'm just. starting a whole new unclogged chapter. in my life in June a friend sent him a. photo of Sweet Lady Jane a popular. Bakery in Los Angeles selling cakes with. Sandoval is a liar written in.

frosting Sandoval's friends distanced. themselves his brother asked him to. delete photos of them together on. Instagram sandavol says he was asked to. stop going in to Schwarz and syand a. lounge in the Franklin Village. neighborhood that he co-owns the show's. fans tanked the bars Yelp reviews and. were harassing the staff somehow people. got Sandoval's cell number his phone. started ringing at all hours with. blocked numbers with women pretending in. to be Levis and Men asking how they.

could find her he started to feel as if. he were in uncut gems the nerve jolting. safty Brothers movie in which the. protagonist is isolated and On The Run. he got down like really down his mind. went to some Dark Places friends. suggested that he get on Wellbutrin in. April he quit drinking hence the tea he. was now sipping he did it for levice. when she entered that facility in Ariz. he assumed they would be together once.

she got out but then Levis stopped. talking to him and hasn't returned his. calls since June she never even gave me. any closure he said it was really hard. it still messes with me he even tried. reaching out through her publist but got. no. response when Vanderpump started filming. season 11 in June sand ofal was off. doing Special Forces the reality show on. Fox that puts celebrities through pseudo. military training I'm here because I. want to get punished Sandoval says on.

the show before he's dunked in frigid. Waters and dragged across a field on the. former Nickelodeon star JoJo sewa's back. when Sandoval didn't win the competition. he felt robbed he thought producers made. it look as though he got eliminated. before sewa who voluntarily withdrew. they said she lasted longer than me he. said but she most definitely did not he. was convinced that producers didn't want. him to win. who did they want to win Riley asked.

incredulous in the fall he thought. things might finally be turning he. started his own podcast and titled it. everybody loves Tom an early guest was. Dr Drew who dug into Sandoval's. childhood trauma and declared him not a. narcissist at least as far as the dsm5. is concerned the actor Jerry oconnell. came on and apologized for having. t-shirts made that said Team Ariana but. the following month at bravocon the. annual Las Vegas Convention for the.

network super fans Sandoval arrived on. stage to booze from the 8,000 member. audience I asked sandavol why he thought. the Scandal got so big I'm not a pop. culture historian really he said but I. witnessed the OJ Simpson thing and. George Floyd and all these big things. which is really weird to compare this to. that I think but do you think in a weird. way it's a little bit the same I looked. over at Riley who was typing furiously.

on her phone I think I knew what he. meant he was trying to express the. Oddity of becoming the symbolic center. of a nationwide discussion and a major. news story what he communicated instead. was something more honest which is just. how much the experience had made him. lose. perspective I did what I did because I. was in an unhappy place in my life he. said I got caught up in my emotions and. fully fell in love like for real he.

sighed and drained his teacup then he. got up put on some upbeat music and went. upstairs to get ready for a night. out sometimes he says too much Riley. said and the following day forgets what. he says then she went upstairs to have a. quick word with. him the next day I was supposed to. attend the taping of one of Sandoval's. confessional interviews for the show I. was about to get in my car when I. received a text from his publicist.

Riley's boss he'd rather you don't. attend today it read heun not feeling. the best the next morning I got a call. from Basin and the day after that a. Bravo publicist rang me late on a Friday. some of what Sandoval had said had. gotten back to Bravo and everyone was. concerned what was it that he said about. OJ Simpson and George Floyd exactly. maybe sandal wasn't ready for this the. Bravo publicist asked if I really needed.

to see sandal again could the network. facilitate an interview with one of the. show's other stars Bravo said it would. get back to me about next steps while I. waited I thought more about sandal when. you're lost sometimes it's helpful to go. back to the beginning Sandoval arrived. in Los Angeles in 2004 with the hopes of. becoming an actor when he was growing up. in St Louis it was all he wanted to be I. loved to pretend he told me and Riley I. loved it more than Sports at 15 he.

started modeling he briefly lived in. Miami that swampy Hub of male modeling. where he was photographed by Bruce Weber. for one of his Infamous abomi and Fitch. campaigns in Los Angeles he worked as a. pool boy at the mandrea hotel and as a. cater waiter while booking ad campaigns. for Rock and Republic Ed Hardy and Von. Dutch the early a brands that are. apparently coming back now on a Von. Dutch I love that brand Riley said I had.

a versatile look sand ofal explained. because I could do this like Daddy. doesn't love me emo look and I could do. a more slicked back. look he signed up for Vander pump rules. because he thought people should see. what it's like being an LA maor a model. actor like driving down the 405 he said. changing clothes comp cards and head. shot splayed all over my back seat when. the show became known instead for his.

girlfriend sleeping with his friend JX. Taylor sandal didn't mind when I punched. Jax he said that sent it into the. stratosphere Riley remembered watching. that episode with her middle school. friends we were like this show is epic. she said dude it was sand ofal said it. was so cool Riley. said a decade later sandavol who had a. boyish innocence about him and those. early seasons has morphed into a unique.

Los Angeles species he's late to. everything his publicist never seems to. be able to reach him and his face has. that taut Sheen that celebrities get. from anti-aging protocols he talks about. his life not in years but in seasons and. episodes sometimes he pauses mids. sentence and stares into the middle. distance like a doll whose windup key. has jammed until whatever ambulance. helicopter or other sound interfering. entity has passed and then he continues.

as if nothing happened even when there. are no mics or cameras on him the. ceiling lights in his home are taped. over with sheets of paper to diffuse. light and make it optimal for filming he. used to remove them during the off seon. but now he doesn't bother we leave them. up there because otherwise they'll just. do it again he. said sandal can't always tell if he's. living for himself or the show show or. both sometimes he really has to talk to.

his best friend and co-star Tom Schwarz. but he knows he shouldn't via text so he. will call producers and ask how quickly. they could have cameras on him to film. it he feels terrible when he has to. bring up something that he knows could. be damaging to his castmates but that is. part of the job the worst thing sandal. says you can hear while filming is the. dreaded hey can I talk to you for a. minute that's when you know you're about. to be called out for something Basin.

calls this hyper reality in real life. you might go to a dinner party and then. go home and gossip about your friends on. a reality show you're encouraged to say. those things in the moment sand ofal is. so well trained at narrating his. innermost thoughts out loud that he. sometimes has to remind himself not to. do it outside of filming you lose track. of what a normal conversation would be. like with people that aren't on the show. he said. said despite the year he had he told me.

that he was really honored to be on. Vanderpump the Scandal has made the show. so big it's kind of cool and crazy he. said even though it's negative and at my. [Music]. expense unlike actors reality show. participants are not protected by the. Screen Actors bu at least not for. unscripted work meaning they're not.

entitled to residuals or union pay. minimums when sandal joined Vanderpump. each cast member made $10,000 for the. entire first season today the original. cast makes closer to $35,000 per episode. as the genre has grown participants can. make almost as much from other revenue. streams like books podcasts and brand. Partnerships some of which can pay. upward of $250,000. because of this what's good for.

Vanderpump is generally good for. sandavol monetarily speaking even if it. can also make his life more. difficult opportunities often grow. directly out of plot lines when sand. ofal and Maddox were bartenders in love. they published a book with a co-author. called Fancy AF cocktails and were hired. to mix drinks in sponsored videos for. Brands like. Alka-Seltzer since their breakup their. fate have diverged she's the Betrayed. woman courageously rebuilding her life.

while he is the villain endlessly. atoning for his sins in December Maddox. released a new book single AF cocktails. and scheduled events with Live Nation an. evening for bad to promote. it playing all of this up rils the fans. and keeps the machine. turning when Maddox said at Bravo con. that she still hadn't gotten a. meaningful apology from Sand ofal and. the audience erupted in Applause it.

reminded me of professional wrestling. you know when the face and the heel talk. smack to each other to drive crowds wild. it felt like that except that I'm pretty. sure that sand ofal is not pretending. pro wrestling has always been staged and. the audience knew it but didn't care but. Vanderpump is sort of the opposite while. fans on some level expect reality TV to. be fake and think of sand ofal is just. another TV character it's all very real.

to him leaving him trapped inside these. story lines. indefinitely Tom sandavol is Tom. Sandoval in Tom Sandoval's life Baskin. told me adding someone might say he is. putting on a performance but he is the. performance his entire existence becomes. about processing and talking about what. happened appearing on Special Forces was. part of sand of all's attempt at a. Redemption narrative when we drove to. West Hollywood that first night his.

Mercedes wound its way through Laurel. Canyon and emerged on Sunset Boulevard. not far from the huge billboard that. showed him Commando crawling across a. rope suspended high above the ground. these are the perverse economics of. being a reality TV star if it weren't. for Scandal sandavol said I could have. probably gotten on that show but I. wouldn't have been on the. Billboards contestants on special forces. were reportedly paid several.

$1,000 but for the most part Sandoval. hasn't been able to capitalize on. Scandal as much as he would like there. are minimal brands that want to be. associated with someone who's thought of. as a cheater Sandoval's manager Ryan. Revel told me this winter Sandoval was. hoping to do a residency at Chippendales. in Las Vegas but talks stalled sand ofal. was disappointed I'm in really good. shape right now he said adding it's. frustrating because you know everybody.

cashed in everybody won on this the cast. The execs the network everybody made so. much money but I try to put it on myself. to make the best opportunity out of it. that I. can we pulled up to TomTom a bar and. restaurant that sandavol has invested in. and that is part of the Vander pump. Universe along with sir Schwarz and. sandies Jax's Studio City and something. about her a forthcoming sandwich shop. that Maddox is opening with another cast. member for the fans this landscape is.

like a Disney World populated by their. favorite characters when I stopped by. Sir in August the food was terrible but. there was a line of people out the door. and around the block no matter what part. of the restaurant you sat in you had a. view of cameras filming the cast which. seemed to be the point at TomTom sand. ofal gave me an insiders tour there's. the men's room women's room he said this. table is really cool but you got to. watch your knees he took me out back by.

the trash cans where he says madic. ripped his chain and split his lip the. night she found out about the affair she. beat my ass he said through a. representative Maddox declined to. comment on the incident she has denied. tearing his necklace off in the past. with the show not in production the. place was quiet except for a couple. drinking wine in the corner and two. eager looking women one of whom. eventually. approached sorry to bother you she said.

but I just wanted to say this place is. awesome we sat at a table and we're soon. joined by Kyle Chan a jeweler who. appears on the show and is one of the. few people who didn't drop sand ofal as. a friend when I asked what it was like. being around him last year Chan compared. it to watching Game of Thrones in which. a character named Theon Greyjoy becomes. psychologically broken after being. tortured and castrated sand all likes to. say that as a reality star he has to. live through each event in his life.

three times first when he's living it. second when he's taping confessionals. months later and third when it airs and. he has to answer to the fans in the real. world he would be able to heal and move. on but that's difficult to do on reality. show time after season 11 SS Chan said. you just have to relive it one more time. and then you'll be free. a couple of weeks before I met with. sandal I visited the offices of.

evolution media in a converted shipping. Warehouse near the Hollywood Burbank. Airport Bravo which is owned by NBC. Universal distributes Vanderpump via its. cable channel and the streaming service. peacock but evolution is the production. company on the ground for Vanderpump as. well as others like Real Housewives of. Orange County and botched as Baskin. showed me around random objects caught. my eye a can of gasoline bottles of Tums.

and sunblock a blown up diagram of the. female reproductive system a top a file. cabinet and a few moving boxes labeled. the office used to be bustling in. the Years leading up to and during the. pandemic streaming was at its peak and. evolution was considering leasing a. third building to keep up with demand. for new content but the market had. changed and people were working remotely. now now we just don't need the space. Baskin said Bravo is one of the few.

cable networks that still bring in a. loyal and affluent audience but even. unscripted programming has not been. immune to the contraction currently. plaguing the TV industry in 2007 when. the writer Guild went on strike networks. rushed to Greenlight unscripted shows to. plug holes in programming leading to a. reality TV boom in. 2023 despite predictions otherwise. the boom never came networks and. streamers which already had a stockpile.

of programming held on to their cash and. with media companies consolidating into. entities like Warner Brothers Discovery. there were simply fewer buyers in the. marketplace Basin estimated that when. all is said and done the unscripted. business would be roughly 2/3 of what it. was over the years various Network. Executives have consistently asked Basin. for their own version of Vander pump. Basin would love to find it but it. doesn't necessarily exist he told me not.

that others haven't tried there was ease. what happens at the ABY about the bar a. few doors down from TomTom and MTV's. Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club about the. staff at her Venture in mikinos each. lasted exactly one season this spring. Hulu will Premiere Vander pump Villa yet. another attempt to mimic the formula and. Bravo will introd ruce the valley a. Vander pump spin-off featuring some of. the cast members who Departed the show.

in. 2020 Baskin told me that in some ways he. wished Scandal never happened the. national attention made it much harder. to film the show production always had a. few onlookers but during season 11. Paparazzi and fans were everywhere while. the show was filming in Lake Tahoe. someone snapped a photo of the cast that. whipped fans into such a frenzy that it. became a plotline on the show producers. used to be strict about not breaking the.

fourth wall but now they have no choice. but to let the outside world into the. frame it used to be that the real story. was not that there are people watching a. TV show Basin told me but part of Tom. Sandoval's real experience in life right. now is that he's not just facing an. ex-girlfriend or a friend group upset. with him he's facing the entire. nation as filming for the new season got. underway Bravo had a problem the cast.

had turned on sandal Maddox refused to. interact with him all together in July. Basin and the network brought the cast. into Evolution's offices for what he. called a come to Jesus moment but he was. no longer talking to 20-some waiters we. can still squeeze a great season out of. it he said but going forward I don't. know Levis was the only primary cast. member who didn't return for season 11. her team inquired about a pay increase.

and floated the possibility of Lev's. getting a development deal with Bravo. through a representative Levis. emphasized that mental health. protections were her primary concern. then in August after spending 90 days in. the Arizona facility and changing her. name from Raquel back to her birth name. Rachel Levis appeared on Bethany. frankl's podcast Frankle is a former. Real Housewife of New York last summer. she declared what she called the reality. Reckoning accusing Bravo and other.

networks of profiting off a harmful. environment created by their shows. without properly compensating Their. Stars she invited others to join her and. teamed up with two prominent attorneys. Mark gagos and Brian fredman no actual. lawsuits have been filed but NBC. Universal subsequently issued updated. guidelines for its production companies. including additional psychological. support for cast members part of. frankl's Arsenal was a three-part.

interview with Levis who described how. she felt exploited by sandavol and Bravo. for Ratings without seeing a single. penny Basin told me that Levis was paid. $9,000 per episode for 18 episodes and. that news of the affair came out after. the season wrapped are we supposed to. give her retroactive payment for having. a clandestine Affair for 8 months he. asked Frankle would basically argue yes. as sag members went on strike in July.

joining the writers she called for. reality stars to unionize so they too. can collect residuals and benefit after. the fact from a successful season but. while everyone I talked to agreed that. regulations would be a good thing no one. was sure how it would work exactly part. of the appeal of reality TV is that it's. relatively cheap to make as low as. $250,000 per episode versus $2 million. for scripted TV the draw for all parties.

involved is that its stars are often. plucked from relative. obscurity it's probably good for the. business to have some protections Revel. sand ofal manager told me will it happen. I don't know but no one is walking. offet I didn't see sandal for about 2. weeks then on a Monday in December I. drove to a sound stage in b Bank where. he was taping his next confessional. interview for the show Riley wasn't here.

this time instead we were joined by a. bravoo publicist and Erica forat a. senior NBC Universal executive my clue. that this wasn't typical was when forat. introduced herself to sand ofal you once. made me a wonderful mocktail at Schwarz. and sandies she said sandal was in a. small dressing room applying dabs of. makeup to his forehead in front of him. were three three caffeinated beverages a. Red Bull an iced coffee and a Dr Pepper.

he sipped each intermittently sandal. said he was feeling depressed he said. the same thing the last time I saw him. when I asked if the Depression was show. related he had said somewhat Show rated. just life business stuff it's. hard sand ofal began to perform loud. vocal exercises he applied Pomade to his. hair combing it back with his fingers. and changed into a light blue women's. suit from Zara which he said he. preferred to the stores men's wear the.

suit looked good but the sleeves barely. reached his wrists as he emerged from. the dressing room there was something. about the suit's feminine cut combined. with sand deval's physique and slightly. hunched posture that reminded me of. Heath Ledger's Joker in the scene at the. hospital where he wears a nurse's. uniform it's hard to tell how sand ofal. feels about filming the show sometimes. he s Ed down on it it has its fun. moments but for the most part it sucks.

I've been buzzed through most of it. other times he told me he would do it. for as long as he possibly could there. was a point last year when he considered. quitting but he was glad he didn't he. wasn't at all envious of Levis who. walked away from the cameras albeit not. very far as she has started her own. podcast Rachel goes Rogue so far the. primary theme has been. Scandal sandal figured she would be back. in a season or two what else is she. going to.

do the evolution set where confessionals. are taped is designed to look like. another room in sir there are deep. purple curtains a mirrored dresser and. lots of gold and velvet production for. the new season wrapped in September but. interviews are taped for months. afterward to get the cast's reactions to. what occurred the showrunner began by. asking sand ofal about a tasting led by. a water Sali that everyone attended in. August had sandavol ever heard of a.

water tasting I have never even remotely. heard of a water tasting before in my. life sand ofal said he tried again I. have never heard of or been to a water. tasting but here we. are sand ofal hoped his luck would turn. this season it's probably why he agreed. to speak with me in the first place when. I last talked to him he was feeling. optimistic he'd been meditating and was. about to go back on tour with his band. plus he was single now which could be a.

whole new storyline for him on the show. it's the first time I've ever been. single as a celebrity he told me I'm not. saying I'm a favorite celebrity but. still just having some notoriety and. being single it's a cool muscle to. flex though he had come to Los Angeles. to be an actor he was proud of what he. became instead did he become the next. Brad Pit no but he didn't want to be. that any more anyway it turned out. reality TV is where the real Stakes are.

actors were just pretending playing. roles I had no respect for reality TV. before sand ofal told me and now I don't. have very much respect for actors I'm. like you all try doing. this of course he knew it wasn't going. to last forever but if he kept at it and. rehabilitated His Image there could be. life beyond his first show there were. brand deals s to be had as well as. reality spin-offs and competition shows.

though if he was going to do another. reality series he would like it to be. something more feel-good our show can be. toxic to film he said and very stressful. despite this he was as committed to it. as ever and hoped it would continue for. a while as long as people are interested. he told me and we're being honest in our. feels that's what he was doing now. sitting in front of the camera in a. powder blue suit and sunless tanner. being honest in his feels I watched him.

on a monitor as he peered into the lens. with one eyebrow slightly raised then. the camera rolled and his face lit up. with a big genuine. [Music]. smile.