Tom Schwartz, Tom Sandoval, and Ariana Madix. Todd Williamson/Bravo; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Ariana Madix has been thriving in the aftermath of Scandoval — but not every Vanderpump Rules cast member is pleased with how she’s changed.
During the Tuesday, February 13, installment of Vanderpump Rules: After Show, Tom Schwartz, Tom Sandoval and other cast members weighed in on how Madix, 38, has adapted to her recent success.
Schwartz, 41, started off by addressing the tense interaction between him and Madix after he suggested a group trip with the cast — including Sandoval, 41.
“[A public stoning is] kind of what happened. She started going in on me and belittling me. And I think, honestly, it was one of her lower moments,” he said during the joint interview with Sandoval. “First of all, you’re not my queen. I was annoyed that she took it upon herself to speak on behalf of the other girls who I hadn’t even really addressed it with yet.”
While Schwartz understood why there was a rift between him and Madix, he still wasn’t thrilled with the way she spoke to him.
“I became synonymous with the affair or whatever. I was a culprit. Whatever. And all the rage she had at Tom, she took it out on me in that moment, which I still think is absurd,” Schwartz continued. “Something about that moment just really rubbed me the wrong way.”
Katie Maloney, Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Lisa Vanderpump, James Kennedy, Lala Kent, Tom Schwartz, and Scheana Shay. Gizelle Hernandez/Bravo
Sandoval and Madix split in March 2023 due to his affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, and Schwartz also faced backlash as the drama unfolded. Schwartz was accused of knowing about Sandoval’s infidelity, which Leviss has since confirmed. Schwartz also raised eyebrows for supporting Sandoval throughout the scandal.
Madix received an outpouring of public support following her breakup, which Schwartz believes affected her behavior.
“I think I played it cool for the most part, but I did have to ego check her there,” he noted in a separate after show clip. “I have great reverence for what you went through and it sucks you got humiliated. But at that point, I had seen her becoming a little egotistical. I had seen glimmers of it starting to go to her head.”
Ariana Madix and Tom Schwartz maintained a bond throughout the years, but things took an unexpected turn in the aftermath of Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ cheating scandal. When season 10 of Vanderpump Rules started to air in February 2023, the topic on everyone’s mind was Schwartz’s hookup with Leviss amid his divorce from Katie […]
Madix and Katie Maloney, however, claimed in their own joint interview that Schwartz’s comments were something Sandoval would say. Sandoval did, in fact, allege that Madix always exhibited what he considered to be a superiority complex.
“I just want to point out that — this does not excuse what the f—k I did. The s—t I did was so messed up. On a separate note, that is what I dealt with a lot behind closed doors. This is what drove the wedge between [us]. My intelligence and her intelligence, her point of view and my point of view were never equal,” Sandoval claimed. “And you know that when we were around each other, she kept it at bay more. But behind closed doors, it was like that. That’s more of the real Ariana.”
Schwartz chimed in by calling Madix a “diva,” adding, “For a short period of time, she might not even have been aware of it, but I think it went to her head.”
Ariana Madix and Tom Schwartz on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ Casey Durkin/Bravo
Costars James Kennedy, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay later discussed how Madix has changed in the past year in a separate after show segment. Kennedy, 32, praised her “confidence,” while Shay, 38, admitted she noticed a shift in her friendship with Madix.
“I don’t hear from her as much. I’ll say that. She returns less and less texts,” Shay said. “I know she’s more and more busy, but I’ve seen a change in that she never asks how anyone else is doing.”
While some things never change, the cast of Vanderpump Rules is used to a shake-up … and a touch-up. Vanderpump Rules was introduced to Bravo viewers during a special episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in January 2013. Season 1 starred Lisa Vanderpump, who was a Beverly Hills Housewife at the time, Stassi […]
According to Kent, 33, Madix never made an effort to reach out. “That’s how she was before,” she added. “There’s three people in the group that even before this have rarely asked me about me. That is Sandoval, Ariana and Katie.”
Madix, however, stood by her decision to create opportunities for herself following the public scandal.
“I don’t understand how working jobs translates to my ego or my personality. Like, getting up and going to work? Don’t most people get up and go to work? I don’t know what that means. I don’t think I am any cooler than I was before all this,” she told the cameras. “No s—t, I’m not the queen of anything.”
Madix added: “[Schwartz] saying s—t like that is exactly why I’m not friends with him. And if anyone’s going to be able to speak to who I am as a person, it is not going to be someone I haven’t spoken to since the reunion in mid-March [2023].”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.