The Free Ann Maddox campaign continues as Tom Sandoval caught wind of his assistant’s attempt to leave him for Ariana Madix.
In a sneak peek of next week’s episode, Ann showed up for her shift with Sandoval, 41, but used that time to apply for a job with Ariana, 38. Sandoval quickly realized something strange was going on and overheard Ann speaking with Ariana about moving over to her team.
“Ariana already got all of our friends. Now she has to take my assistant?” Sandoval said in a confessional. “She can have anybody she wants work for her.”
Sandoval subsequently had an offscreen conversation with Ann, which led to some tears.
“I talked to Ann today. She had her suit on and she brought her resume. I was like, ‘Look, in the future, maybe,'” Ariana told Katie Maloney about her conversation with Ann. “But I feel like right now, he potentially could be very petty and very vindictive.”
Ariana claimed that Sandoval wasn’t thrilled about Ann’s plans, adding, “So then I’m getting ready to leave and she’s in the kitchen crying because Tom is coming down on her because he was upstairs eavesdropping [on our conversation].”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules has offered glimpses into Sandoval and Ann’s dynamic. Despite being close to Ariana and Sandoval, Ann remained Sandoval’s assistant in the aftermath of his cheating scandal with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss. (Ariana and Sandoval called it quits in March 2023 after nearly a decade of dating due to his infidelity.)
Ann recently discussed why she tried to get employed by Ariana.
“I just love her. She’s just like the most fun to talk to. She’s like [a] feminist. She’s with it. She has the same ethics and morals as me. She’s like someone I look up to in the queer community as a queer woman myself,” Ann explained on the Wednesday, March 27, episode of her “We Signed an NDA” podcast. “She’s all about therapy and getting better. And I’m all about that, too.”
She continued: “Also we just have the best time when we hang out. Lots of giggles and lots of laughs. She has the same sense of humor. She was my work friend. I look forward to hanging out. You know when you have your work wife or the person that you’re like, ‘Oh my God, like this is who I would want to eat lunch with.'”
After the Tuesday, March 26, episode hinted at Ann’s plans to leave Sandoval, he weighed in on the drama. (Ann has since parted ways with Sandoval — but she doesn’t currently work for Ariana.)
“Ann was great in a lot of ways. Everybody has got their strong suits. She was good in certain ways,” he said on the Thursday, March 28, episode of his “Everybody Loves Tom” podcast. “What really hurt me the most about her — the whole situation — was that we got through all the hard stuff. This is on the tail end of the worst of it because obviously months prior, it was a lot harder to be my assistant. I was going through a lot. But we were through that. We were through that storm pretty much.”
Sandoval questioned Ann’s attempt to secure a new job before quitting her current one.
“I would never fire her in a public place and yell at her and tell her, ‘You’re fired or whatever.’ I would never do that,” he added. “In the same respect, I would hope that she would quietly be like, ‘Hey, I don’t think I want to work.’ Come to me versus doing that on national television. In front of cameras.”
Sandoval called Ann’s approach “very humiliating,” saying, “Ann never missed an audition — not one. I always let her off for every single audition. Anytime she would come over here [she could] self tape. Ann was great in so many ways and I wish her the best.”
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
