Credit: Todd Williamson /Bravo, Faye`s Vision/Cover Images/INSTARimages
Scheana Shay is speaking out amid swirling criticism regarding certain Vanderpump Rules cast members’ current relationships with Tom Sandoval.
After the cast, including Ariana Madix, Lala Kent, James Kennedy, Ally Lewber, Brock Davies, and Katie Maloney, was featured in a series of photos taken at a Los Angeles beach, one of which saw Lala hugging Sandoval as cameras rolled for season 11, fans of the show targeted Lala as a “fraud” and questioned the authenticity of the series’ storylines.
#PumpRules filmed yesterday at the beach. Lala spotted being friendly with Ariana and Sandoval 🥰 pic.twitter.com/MlspepISHM
— Queens of Bravo (@queensofbravo) August 11, 2023
After Queens of Bravo shared the photos on Twitter, their followers spoke out.
“Really starting to wonder how much any of this was ‘real’ vs [Ariana and Sandoval] were more business partners [and] on the outs and did have an open relationship and Rachel got caught in the middle of Bravo [and] their produced story for [money and] to keep the show alive,” one person wrote, giving a nod to “Scandoval,” which saw Sandoval cheating on Ariana with their longtime friend and co-star, Raquel Leviss.
“They really went from ‘I hate you’ to BFFs again … after all the fuss they made,” another agreed, adding that they hope Raquel will return to Pump Rules once she gets back to a healthy place mentally.
“It’s all fake. The re-takes, producer instigated drama, old stories re-played for the camera, lines fed,” a third person complained.
Others targeted Lala specifically, recalling how disgusted she was over Sandoval’s affair with Raquel just months ago.
“This is why I’m constantly battling whether I like Lala or not. She called him DANGEROUS like [her ex-fiancé, Randall Emmett], how can she be hugging him [right now]?” someone asked.
“Lala is a fraudricka!” another replied.
As Pump Rules fans will recall, Lala made the claims against Sandoval during an April episode of her podcast, Give Them Lala, after bringing up Sandoval’s “disgusting,” “piece of sh-t” behavior at the reunion.
“He was throwing daggers at all of us, trying to bring up a lot of different sh-t and I said to everyone, ‘I want you to watch what he’s doing right now, he is the same as my ex alright, his ship is sinking, he’s going to try his hardest to get everyone else’s to sink first. This is a dangerous person,’” she shared.
Others pointed out that “the mistress gets all the hate and the man gets a pass” as they wondered why the cast has seemingly made nice with Sandoval while remaining estranged from Raquel.
But amid the backlash, as seen in screenshots shared by Queens of Bravo on Instagram, Scheana spoke out, defending the group and encouraging viewers to watch what happened between them once the series begins airing.
“All these people saying they aren’t gonna watch the season from the photos that have been coming out… like come on! How about you WATCH the damn show and see HOW all these photos happened!” she wrote in one comment. “NO one knows what’s actually happening in this group right now other than US! Nothing is fake in this group and people are definitely paying for their actions.”
While many have felt that the cast moved on from “Scandoval” too fast, giving a nod to how angry they were at the reunion, Scheana pointed out that they filmed the special just “weeks” after Sandoval’s relationship with Raquel was exposed.
“How did you expect them to act when it was so fresh?” she wondered.
In another message, after confirming Ariana was present for the cast’s recent beach day, Scheana told a fan not to “be confused.”
“Watch the season and make your judgments then. One photo does not define everything we have filmed, I promise you that,” she stated.
Vanderpump Rules season 11 is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.