Reality TV gold. James Kennedy returned to the Vanderpump Rules set and gave a sneak peek of the clever scene title that was inspired by Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair.
The U.K. native, 31, posted a clip via his Instagram Story on Monday, March 6, of himself on set and while getting ready to film an interview, the episode’s clapboard appeared in front of his face and the scene was labeled, “#Scandoval.”
On Friday, March 3, Us Weekly confirmed that Sandoval, 31, and longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix called it quits after she discovered that he was cheating on her with Leviss, 28. A source exclusively told Us that Madix, 37, and Sandoval were experiencing issues for some time before the twosome ultimately called it quits.
“They were having problems for a while,” the insider shared, adding that things “only came to a breaking point” the day before their split was announced.
Kennedy, for his part, dated Leviss for five years and even proposed to her in May 2021 with the help of Sandoval. The pair called off their engagement seven months later.
Shortly after news of Sandoval and Madix’s split, Kennedy shared a screenshot of an article about the breakup via his Instagram in a now-deleted post. “Hope you all feel as sick as I do. This explains everything,” he wrote at the time.
After his original post, Kennedy took to his Instagram Story to encourage fans to “bring the tomatoes and the cabbage” to the Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras concert that evening.
Following the news of his affair, the Missouri native asked that his friends, family and businesses be spared from the scrutiny.
“Hey, I fully understand [and] deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation … Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently, and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing,” he wrote via Instagram on Saturday, March 4.
While Leviss hasn’t acknowledged the controversy yet, this isn’t the first time that she has been the center of drama amongst the Bravo personalities. Following Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney’s 2022 divorce, the California native and Schwartz, 40, made out while attending Scheana Shay and Brock Davies‘ August wedding.
The drama is currently playing out on season 10 of the reality series. Ahead of the premiere, Schwartz exclusively told Us he did not have any regrets about hooking up with Leviss.
“In the moment, there was momentary passion in the air. I kind of disappeared into that kiss, I’ll be honest. It was kind of a transformative moment,” he gushed in February. “In terms of any long-term romance with me and Raquel, I don’t know how much chemistry is there.”
