‘Vanderpump Rules’ Producers Reveal Why They Had a ‘Real Concern’ Raquel Leviss Would Skip the Reunion
Skipping the Vanderpump Rules Season 10 reunion seemed like a logical move for Raquel Leviss when she became the center of one of the most explosive scandals in reality TV history.
But Leviss faced the cameras and her former friends after it was revealed she and Tom Sandoval cheated on his longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix – someone who Leviss considered to be a best friend. And while Vanderpump Rules previews tease that Leviss faces the music at the reunion, producers weren’t confident she would show up. In fact, they had serious doubts up until the last minute.
Why didn’t ‘Vanderpump Rules’ producers think Raquel Leviss wouldn’t show up for the reunion?
There are obvious reasons why Leviss wouldn’t show up. With the exception of Sandoval (and maybe Tom Schwartz), she lost every single friend on the cast. Plus, she was globally vilified. Vanderpump Rules executive producer Alex Baskin said Leviss also stopped communicating with them.
“We didn’t know until probably about a week before that she was actually going to do the reunion, and then we still had contingency plans in case,” Baskin explained to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The final episode, the one we got up and running once the whole Scandoval situation broke out, she filmed with Tom [Sandoval]. After they shot together, I think there was real concern on her part about going forward,” Baskin added. “She wasn’t speaking to us at that point; we were talking to her representatives. But there was a point in time in which we didn’t have contact, so we didn’t know whether she would show to the reunion or not.”
Why did Raquel Leviss agree to film for the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ reunion?
Producers had a confirmation only a week prior to the reunion that Leviss would show up. “But we still didn’t know. We were prepared for any and all eventualities,” Baskin said.
Baskin added, “We shot the one-on-one interviews with the principals involved in the situation: Tom and Ariana and Raquel. We shot Tom’s and Ariana’s interviews the night before, and we held filming Raquel’s for the day of the reunion, in case there was any concern that Raquel might shoot the one-on-one and then not appear at the reunion.”
“But by that point, she was pretty dead-set on going to the reunion and dealing with what she needed to; looking Ariana in the eyes and standing up and taking accountability for what she had done,” Baskin added.
Which ‘Vanderpump Rules’ reunion rumors are not true?
Bravo teased that the Vanderpump Rules part 3 reunion would not only be explosive but would change everything. Fans speculated for months about the plot twist, ranging from Leviss announcing her pregnancy to a reveal that she and Sandoval hooked up while she was still with James Kennedy.
Baskin squashed a few rumors, adding that he’s received messages that he will be “crucified” if the reveal is a letdown.
“What I would say is, by any reunion standpoint, it is a super-explosive event and it is a big twist,” he teased. “Raquel is not pregnant. There’s no story that involves aliens or dragons! But what I had said was that it’s a twist at the end of reunion that, if we were in production, the cast would have responded to. And it’s one of the many reasons that we wanted to take a moment between the reunion airing and going back into production.”
Part 3 of Vanderpump Rules Season 10 reunion is on Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
