“Vanderpump Rules” star Tom Sandoval is back in the news for secretly recording an intimate FaceTime of his mistress, Raquel Leviss. He and Raquel’s affair broke up Sandoval’s longtime relationship with Ariana Madix, a revelation that fans quickly dubbed “Scandoval” earlier this year. These lurid headlines are no accident: They are Sandoval’s bread and butter.
After spending two decades boozing and sleeping around — not exactly a model for how to spend your twenties and thirties — Sandoval is trapped by a life built on public spats and humiliations. While he has parleyed his bartending into opening a couple of restaurants in Los Angeles, he is only a draw at those places so long as he’s in the news. And he can only make a splash when a new “shocking revelation” surfaces. If he were to clean up his act, get sober, and get his relationships in order, his money would dry up too. He is trapped.
Doomed from the Start
If you go back to season one of “Vanderpump Rules,” back when the cast all actually worked at Sexy Unique Restaurant (SUR), the dramatic irony of the show is clear. The audience quickly realizes these bright-eyed servers and bartenders have ambitions that far outstrip their talent. Katie Maloney wants her own record label, yet never works toward it. Scheana Shay is trying to be the next Britney Spears with her single “What I like,” aka “Freak B-tch,” but her producer’s feedback is less concerned with the finer points of
