Scandoval is hardly the first affair to rock the cast of Vanderpump Rules — and Scheana Shay is attempting to explain why she and her costars missed the signs.
“I’m sure a lot of you caught last week where Sandoval slapped Raquel’s ass behind mine and Ariana [Madix]’s back. … Oh, my God, it’s so cringe, like, how did we not see it? It was in front of our face. It was behind our back. It was right there,” the 37-year-old “Scheananigans” podcast host said on the Friday, April 21, episode of her Dear Media show. “But in this friend group that is obviously incestual at times, this friend group has so much love, and when we’re drinking or whatever, everyone is just extra lovey-dovey and cuddly.”
Scheana noted that while people “like Lala [Kent] and Katie [Maloney] have seen that as very odd — and I’m sure a lot of people from the outside see it as very odd,” she has “never” questioned the closeness of the friend group.
“Ariana never has,” she continued. “That’s why they were able to get away with this for so long in front of our faces.”
Season 10 of the Bravo hit was initially filmed from July 2022 to September 2022 — and Sandoval, 40, has since admitted that he first kissed Raquel, 28, in early August 2022.
“There have been so many scenes … from Sandoval’s slapping Raquel’s ass behind our backs after the welcome party to her sitting down in between the Toms at SUR and Sandoval has this weird smile on his face and Lisa’s like, ‘Why are you smiling?’ as he’s telling her that Katie called her a whore and then they have this weird moment after,” Scheana continued. “There’s so many things that are still happening in the next few episodes that you guys haven’t even seen yet and it’s insane.”
Us Weekly confirmed on March 3 that Ariana, 37, had learned two days prior that her longtime partner had been having a months-long affair with Raquel. Sandoval, who started dating the Something About Her co-owner in 2014, claimed he ended things with Ariana weeks before she discovered he had cheated.
“I actually did break up with her on Valentine’s Day,” he said on the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast on April 11, claiming Ariana was “in denial” about the split. “She’s like, ‘I’m, like, not letting you leave me. You’re gonna have to force me out of this relationship. … If you break up with me, you will effectively be ending my life.’ … We were broken up. She knew we were broken up. We didn’t tell anybody, but she knew.”
Sandoval also accused Ariana of ignoring the signs of his connection with Raquel.
“I was seeing Raquel as often as I could. I know that sounds horrible,” he said. “And FaceTiming her all the time. And Ariana didn’t even notice because that’s just how separate our lives were. I had to actually tell her, ‘How have you not noticed how distant I’ve been lately?'”
During the same interview, he noted that he and Raquel are on a “break.” The SURver has since checked into mental health treatment while he continues to share snaps from his own venture into nature via Instagram Stories. Ariana, meanwhile, was seen packing on the PDA with personal trainer Daniel Wai during the first weekend of Coachella.
“She is allowed to date whoever she wants and was having an amazing time at Coachella with Daniel,” an insider told Us. “She’s definitely open to seeing where things go with Daniel, but at the same time, Ariana isn’t totally ready to jump into a serious relationship.”
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
