Tom Sandoval wasn’t too surprised that he didn’t get a warm welcome from ex Ariana Madix — or the audience — during the Vanderpump Rules panel at this year’s BravoCon.
Sandoval, 40, and BFF Tom Schwartz caught up with Us Weekly following the cast’s panel on Friday, November 3, as the three-day convention kicked off in Las Vegas. “It kind of went how I expected it to go,” Sandoval exclusively told Us, joking that “it feels great” to be booed by a full crowd of people.
Fans booed multiple times throughout the panel in response to Sandoval’s comments about his split from Ariana, 38, after nine years of dating. The pair called it quits in March after Ariana learned of Sandoval’s affair with costar Raquel Leviss, and the cheating scandal — dubbed “Scandoval” — caused a frenzy in the Bravo universe. Sandoval and his ex met face-to-face on Friday to discuss their show’s upcoming 11th season.
“I mean, she looked good,” Sandoval told Us, as Schwartz added, “She’s killing it on Dancing With the Stars.”
A teaser for season 11 debuted at BravoCon on Friday — and featured a tense clip of Ariana confronting her ex about their breakup. “Ruin my life, my home and then f—king attempt to kill my f—king dog. My lawyer will be dealing with you,” she angrily told Sandoval in the clip.
While Sandoval and Ariana still have a rocky road ahead of them on the upcoming season, which premieres in January 2024, Schwartz, 41, told Us that things have been going great for him and ex-wife Katie Maloney following their divorce — even though she dissed the floral blazer he wore during Friday’s panel.
“Katie burned me,” he joked. “I don’t look like a couch.”
Shedding light on where the exes stand post-split, Schwartz continued, “We were [in] a rough patch for a long time, you’ll see some of it this season, but right now, I feel like we’re great, cordial, happy to see each other, but very clear about the boundaries.”
The former spouses began dating in 2011 after former costar Kristen Doute set them up. Over the years, fans saw their relationship grow on Pump Rules and watched them tie the knot during season 5 in 2016. They renewed their vows in 2019 before ending their marriage in February 2022. Katie, 36, officially filed for divorce one month later, and they finalized the details that October.
Schwartz went on to clarify that he and Katie have no plans on rekindling their romance. “You heard it here first, and we are never getting back together,” he told Us to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
During Friday’s cast panel, Schwartz described the drama in store on Pump Rules season 11 as “Shakespearean,” while Lisa Vanderpump dubbed it as “tumultuous.” Scheana Shay, for her part, called filming the series’ new episodes “f —king hard,” and her husband, Brock Davies, agreed by calling it “tough.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
