The Big Picture
- Scheana Shay struggles with her friendship with Tom Sandoval after his affair with Raquel Leviss, acknowledging that while he did a terrible thing, he was never a bad friend to her.
- The cheating scandal, known as #Scandoval, had a major impact on the dynamics of the Vanderpump Rules group, leading to a tense reunion and a change in how the cast members interacted.
- Shay faced criticism for still spending time with Sandoval, but she defended herself, stating that forgiveness wasn’t given and that they were all there for Lisa, referring to Lisa Vanderpump.
Most of the Vanderpump Rules stars, most especially Ariana Madix, have turned their backs on Tom Sandoval after his record-breaking affair with Raquel Leviss. Though we really can’t assume how things have been going among the reality stars, we can safely say things were never the same after the bombshell revelation. Given the situation, Scheana Shay revealed complex emotions about Sandoval as a friend who was always “in [her] corner” and Sandoval as someone who cheated on Madix.
On the Scheananigans podcast‘s recent episode, where Kelly Osbourne joined the Vanderpump Rules star to talk about motherhood, cancel culture, and the highs and lows of her career, Shay also revealed she couldn’t cut ties with Sandoval for a specific reason, and that being their over 15 years of friendship.
“I never thought he was a bad guy,” Schay said. “He was one of my best friends for almost 15 years. He was the only person who had my back on this show, who fought for me whenever something was unfair, and he was the person there in my corner.”
Sandoval May Have Done a Terrible Thing, But He Was Never a Bad Friend to Shay
Shay shared that cutting ties with Sandoval was not an easy decision, especially looking back at their long years of friendship. “I have personally really struggled with all this because I’m like, ‘Yes, you did a really bad thing. But you weren’t a bad friend to me,” the reality star and singer said in the podcast. “But then what you have done has affected me, so it’s just changed the entire dynamic of our group.”
Though the cheating incident, dubbed #Scandoval, generated massive viewership — which soon after resulted in the show receiving its first-ever Emmy nominations — things were definitely not the same anymore with the cast members, with the explosive reunion changing things for the worst.
Of course, some of the viewers were not pleased that Shay was still spending time with her longtime friend. But she wasn’t the only one slammed for it. Shay and another Vanderpump Rules star, Tom Schwartz, had their integrity questioned when they were seen hanging out with Sandoval in Lake Tahoe, as reported by the Daily Mail back in July. Then, on Shay’s Instagram story, some fans pointed out hearing Sandoval’s voice in the background, which only fueled the fire. But Shay quickly defended herself over a fan account tweet implying that all had been forgiven already, to which the star responded: “Who said all is forgiven? We are all here for Lisa.”
Just last month, Shay and The 27s released a diss track, seemingly directing attention to Sandoval and Leviss’ affair. The track, titled “Apples,” carries some lyrics that appear to have been related to the friendship she lost ever since the #Scandoval was revealed.