Vanderpump Rules season 11 episode 9 finally delved into some new drama, making it clear that the cast has been lying to each other for longer than any of them have realized. With Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval’s cohabitation beginning to wane on both of them, the pair’s drama has been something the rest of the group is hoping to leave behind. While Scheana Shay and Lala Kent have been struggling to keep Tom and Ariana separated, Katie Maloney has been firmly on Ariana’s side, even shunning her ex-husband Tom Schwartz when needed, even though the group has been fracturing.
Although Lala and Scheana have been on Team Ariana throughout her and Tom’s split, things have been getting murkier as they’ve both tried to let Tom back into their lives to an extent. Scheana, who’s tried to explain that she’s being kinder to Tom to keep the peace, has felt hurt by Ariana throughout Vanderpump Rules season 11. Lala, who’s never really had much of a relationship with Tom, has been doing her best to let go of the anger she feels surrounding the situation. Both women’s behavior has been confusing to Ariana, and their choices are getting even stranger.
Although Ariana and Tom haven’t been speaking after the fallout of Scandoval destroyed their relationship, the exes have been communicating through Tom’s assistant, Ann. While Tom has been doing what he’s able to on his own, his reliance on his assistant has been apparent. While talking to Ann on a FaceTime call about some of the details of their time in the house, Ariana asked Ann if she knew anyone who needed an assistant job. Ann asked if she could be in the running to become Ariana’s assistant, and while the DWTS finalist seemed tentative, she agreed to consider Ann.
At an innocuous meetup, Lala and Schwartz were discussing the state of their friend group when a bombshell was revealed about him and Scheana in the past. When trying to share that he felt everybody in their friend group had lied to each other to some degree, Schwartz explained he’d even kissed Scheana at one point. Lala, shocked by this information, pressed Schwartz for details. He explained they’d made out once in Las Vegas over a decade ago, while he and Katie were still dating. Schwartz said it wasn’t a big deal, but he and Scheana had kept it quiet.
Although Lala took a day to figure out what she wanted to do about the situation, she decided she needed to tell Katie about Schwartz & Scheana’s secret. Even though Lala and Scheana have been the closest pair in the group for some time, Lala explained it didn’t sit right with her not to tell Katie about the tryst. She explained what had happened to Katie, who was floored. Though she wasn’t upset in the way she would’ve been if she and Tom were still married, Katie explained that the fact that both of them had hidden it was incredibly hurtful.
At James Kennedy’s DJ gig, which was attended by nearly everyone in the friend group including Schwartz’s quasi-girlfriend Jo Wenberg, Scheana announced to everyone that she would be drinking. Though she doesn’t drink often, Scheana felt excited about the prospect of letting loose at the event. She went a bit hard on Jo, who had come to the event wearing a hat and hiding her hair. Ultimately, Jo left the event in tears, explaining that Scheana, Lala, Katie, and others in the group had made her feel unwelcome and bullied her on social media prior to Vanderpump Rules season 11.
Lala and Katie sat Ariana down to explain the situation surrounding Scheana and Schwartz. While Ariana was surprised, she wasn’t sure she believed anything Schwartz was saying about the trip. Ariana explained she remembered the Las Vegas trip they were talking about, and she hadn’t seen Schwartz and Scheana making out. Though she was confused about why Schwartz would lie, she felt like it didn’t make sense to her in the timeline of the trip, and wondered if Scheana could provide clarity. All three women were concerned about getting down to the truth but weren’t completely certain where to start.
Katie decided to break the ice and sat Scheana down to ask her about what had happened over a decade ago in Las Vegas. Surprised, Scheana tried to deny the accusations that she and Schwartz had made out that trip. When Katie pressed her on it, Scheana essentially said that she hadn’t shared that something had happened with Katie because she wanted her to end up with Schwartz. Katie tried to explain to Scheana that it wasn’t her responsibility to protect their relationship, but not coming forward had done just the opposite, making things harder. Scheana didn’t understand the issue.
After Tom invited Lala over for some breathwork meditation, she decided last minute to see what it was about. The pair spoke in Tom and Ariana’s backyard, and Lala explained her feelings to Tom about the issues they’ve faced in the past. While Lala and Tom haven’t always had a strong relationship, Lala explained that their issues stemmed much further back than what had happened during the peak of Scandoval. Tom apologized, but the two didn’t appear to be in any different of a place than they were before the meeting.
After nearly a year, Ariana and Katie hosted a tasting for their sandwich shop Something About Her. The duo had done a similar tasting the year prior, but have been having issues opening their shop because of the permits in Los Angeles County. While the cast was familiar with the offerings, they discussed what had been going on in the group with a bit of levity that seemed to help them be more open to each other. While the tasting itself was a bit more gentle, the cast met up at SUR afterward to have drinks, where things got dramatic.
At SUR, it was revealed to Schwartz that Katie knew Scheana had made out with Tom in the past. The group scrambled, and while Scheana was upset about the whole situation, her husband Brock Davies tried to step in and make it clear that it wasn’t like Katie was innocent, either. Without Scheana’s permission, Brock revealed that he and Scheana believed Katie had hooked up with Schwartz’s close friend and former Vanderpump Rules cast member Max Boyens just nights prior. Word about the hookup traveled around the group, and when Scheana realized what Brock had done, she got angry.
Scheana shared that she felt Brock had revealed something more gossipy that she wanted to keep quiet, but he didn’t understand the issue. It came out at the table that Scheana had been tracking Katie and Max’s locations and assumed something had happened when he was at Katie’s apartment overnight. Katie explained that hooking up with someone her ex-husband is friends with when he’s ignored every request she’s made about him hooking up with her friends was different than Scheana making out with Katie’s boyfriend at the time. The Vanderpump Rules cast left SUR in shambles, all angry and hurt.