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Stassi Schroeder admitted that “Scandoval” has seemed fake at times during a recent stop on her Straight Up With Stassi podcast tour, “Mommy Dearest.”
Just as producer James Markham shut down reports claiming the Vanderpump Rules scandal, which saw Tom Sandoval cheating on now-ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix with their friend and castmate, Raquel Leviss, was fabricated, Stassi explained why there was so much footage surrounding the affair despite producers having “zero idea” it was going on.
In a clip shared by Bravo and Cocktails on Instagram on April 30, Stassi first reacted to Raquel’s honesty surrounding the sleepover she had with Sandoval when Ariana was out of town attending her grandmother’s funeral.
“I think what I wanna talk about the most is, like, the whole Raquel … telling on herself, like telling on herself. Like, I was watching that and I’m like ‘God, this seems fake,’” she admitted.
According to Stassi, she felt the show clip alluded to producers being tipped off about the affair. However, knowing what she knows about the rumors surrounding Sandoval and Ariana’s supposed “open relationship” and how production works, she understands that there were no fabrications at play.
“I understand why people are writing that. Like, ‘This seems fake.’ I get it. It’s not. I know that it’s not,” she insisted. “I know the people on it. I remember back during the summer when people were saying, ‘Oh we think that they’re in an open relationship.’ And I had to remind myself of like, ‘That’s why there’s all this footage of people talking about it.’ It seems like, ‘Oh, how convenient.’ But no, the reason why they were talking about it is because they thought they were in an open relationship, which they were not.”
While former Pump Rules cast member Kristen Doute returned to the show on the heels of “Scandoval,” Stassi said last month on the #NoFilter With Zack Peter podcast that she has no interest in going back.
“I don’t want to get back to that place where I used to not trust people. I’d like to stay in my lane of trusting people,” she explained.
However, that doesn’t mean Stassi’s not open to starring in a different series.
“I think I have to [return to television] at some point,” she shared. “It’s just like, in my soul. I don’t know what that would look like just yet, but like, I mean, I can’t see the rest of my life happening and just like never going back on reality TV in some way.”
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.