While Scheana Shay’s Vanderpump Rules allegiances raised eyebrows after she posed for a photo with Tom Sandoval, her costar Ariana Madix is clearing the air.
“@Scheana is an amazing friend who took a photo with a fan for their birthday. There’s been so many mean comments towards her for it and she was just doing something nice,” Ariana, 38, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Friday, July 21. “We always try to stop for photos and when the whole cast is present, it’s common for the whole cast to be in the photo regardless of what is going on between any of us at the time.”
A photo of Scheana, 38, and Tom, 41, surfaced earlier this month after several members of the Vanderpump Rules cast — including Tom Schwartz, James Kennedy and Scheana’s husband, Brock Davies — posed with a Bravo fan during their cast trip to Lake Tahoe. The “Good as Gold” singer was quickly criticized for spending time with Sandoval following his affair with Raquel Leviss. (Scheana proclaimed during the Pump Rules season 10 reunion that she was over her friendship with Raquel, 28, following her secret relationship with Ariana’s then-boyfriend of 9 years.)
“I don’t know why I feel the need to defend taking a photo with my hand like this [in a fist] in the back of someone,” Scheana later said via her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, July 19. “It, like, still blows that people, like, don’t realize we’re filming a show. And it was that girl’s birthday. What are we going to be like, ‘No! Absolutely not.’ Like, no, ‘Happy birthday. Let’s take a f—king picture.’ It’s called adulting.”
Brock, 33, similarly chimed in on Friday to clarify the evening’s events, noting via his Instagram Stories that they were “caught in a moment with a fan.”
“It’s hard not to reflect on the duality of public life. Love and support on one side, and hurtful comments on the other — particularly about my wife. It stings, it’s personal,” Brock, who married Scheana in August 2022, noted in his social media statement. “Remember this — Vanderpump Rules is about real people, real friendships and real emotions spanning over 15 years. This isn’t just entertainment, it’s a part of our lives you’ve come to appreciate.”
Brock further clapped back at the “unkind” messages that had been hurled at Scheana for seemingly choosing to hang out with Sandoval instead of BFF Ariana.
“We’re not just here for the photo ops. We’re here living our lives, sharing our journey,” the Australia native added. “It’s high time we promote respect and empathy, not just for the ‘characters’ you see on screen, but for the real people behind them. Let’s make this community as real as the friendships you tune in for. Let’s make it better.”
The group’s friendship fractured in March after news broke that Ariana and Sandoval called it quits amid his affair with Raquel, which started during Scheana and Brock’s wedding weekend.
The cast began filming Vanderpump Rules season 11 earlier this month, with Ariana opting not to film with either Sandoval or Raquel. (Raquel reportedly left a mental health treatment facility in July, but has not confirmed if she will return for the new episodes.)
“I have nothing to say to either of them,” Ariana told The New York Times in a May interview when asked about the possibility of reuniting with her ex-boyfriend and Raquel on camera. “Our show is very real and follows a real group of friends, and neither of them are in the group of friends, so, good luck.”
Brock and Scheana, however, are leaving the door open for a potential reconciliation with the TomTom cofounder.
“Of course [I miss my friendship with Sandoval]. It is just very annoying that he did this, unfortunately. I am not just going to forgive him and I don’t think anyone in the group is just going to forgive and move on,” Brock confessed during the Friday episode of his wife’s “Scheananigans” podcast. “We want to have those conversations and hopefully they happen this summer and see how it goes.”
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He continued: “Honestly I miss [Scheana’s friendship with Sandoval] together. That is why it is such a weird thing. I miss the friendship. Do I condone his actions? Hell to the no. So we have to figure out what that middle ground is on the way back to becoming friends again.”
