Lala Kent hit Tom Sandoval with a serious accusation during an explosive fight on Vanderpump Rules.
In the newest episode, which aired on Tuesday, March 5, Lala, 33, attempted to find closure with Sandoval, 41, at the end of their cast trip to Lake Tahoe.
“Can I ask you a question? When you could look me in my eyes and say, ‘You need to be real. You need to be honest with your life.’ All of those things knowing that you were doing what you guys were doing. How could you look at me and say that?” Lala asked Sandoval about how he hid his affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss from his costars. “I genuinely want to know.”
Lala took aim at Sandoval’s past claims that she didn’t share enough of her life with the cameras
“You said it to me often. Then you even went on to do an article the day you guys got caught. It was mind-blowing. It was such a mindf—k,” she said before elaborating in a confessional. “Sandoval was in this publication saying that I have douchey energy and I just need to be real. And I just thought, ‘How poetic that this would come out on this day? And how rich coming from you.'”
Sandoval, meanwhile, defended his comments about Lala’s relationship with now-ex-fiancé Randall Emmett. (Lala and Randall, 52, took their romance public in 2018 after his split from wife Ambyr Childers. Rumors previously swirled, however, that Lala and Randall’s relationship began before his divorce was finalized.)
“Lala, your entire life was a mystery and off-limits for years and years and we respected that,” Sandoval fired back. “It feels like things are only allowed to be talked about if you are OK with them.”
While talking to the cameras, Sandoval admitted he didn’t see Lala’s side of the story, adding, “Look, I did lie about the seven-month relationship. Lala lied for a few years of a six-year relationship. We both lied. We are both liars. I think in this instance we both just call this a wash.”
Sandoval remained on the offense about his belief that Lala failed to show enough during her few years on Vanderpump Rules. In response, Lala walked off before returning to hurl insults at Sandoval.
“You are insane. I felt bad for you for five f—king seconds and now you are proving to me that you are terrifying,” she told Sandoval. “It is all you have on me. You will not allow me to evolve. But yet this happened four months ago and I am allowing you to evolve.”
Lala questioned whether she “overestimated” the work Sandoval was doing on himself since his personal life made headlines. (In March 2023, news broke about Sandoval and Ariana Madix calling it quits due to his infidelity. Sandoval found himself on the outs with most of his costars — except Tom Schwartz — while filming season 11 of Vanderpump Rules.)
Tuesday’s heated argument took a surprising turn when Lala revealed why she started to feel bad for Rachel, 29.
“You know what triggered me was when she said [during the final part of the season 10 reunion], ‘If I don’t fall in line with Sandoval then I have nobody.’ You isolate. You groom. You lie,” Lala told Sandoval. “I do not want to know you. You are scary.”
Sandoval, whose relationship with Rachel fizzled out, was furious about Lala’s accusations, saying, “Lala, you don’t know me. Don’t sit there and accuse me of grooming. You do not know me.”
Scheana Shay and her husband, Brock Davies, ultimately stepped in and pushed Sandoval to apologize. Sandoval told Lala he could understand why his actions came off as “hypocritical” after he hid a seven-month affair from his cast members.
“I don’t think I understood you properly,” he said before pulling Lala into a hug. “I am sorry. I don’t want to be this way around you. I really appreciate you. It means a lot to me. It changed a lot of what I think about you. It is a lot. I am still processing even these days. I am processing everything. It is a lot for everybody.”
Despite exiting the series, Rachel has since sounded off on her brief romance with Sandoval.
“It took me a while to accept, but I learned about love addiction and it’s a real thing. It’s where you confuse intensity for intimacy,” she explained on the “ReWives” podcast in August 2023 after completing a 90-day stay in a mental health facility. “And those chemical changes in the brain are the same chemical changes that happen when you take drugs. So it is addictive, and it explains why I couldn’t stop seeing this person, but it also doesn’t excuse the fact that it happened. But now I know better.”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
