Vanderpump Rules has been generating all kinds of drama in front of the camera on Bravo for more than a decade now, with new episodes of Season 10 airing now. The new season premiered in the 2023 TV schedule back in February, more than a full year after the Season 9 finale aired back in early 2022. While there are still a number of episodes left for fans to watch, the cast already came together for the reunion special, with some bonus complications courtesy of the restraining order that Raquel Leviss filed against Scheana Shay.
For the full scope of the potential complications, let’s start at the beginning. Raquel Leviss filed a restraining order against Scheana Shay after an alleged physical confrontation that left her with a black eye and cut face, according to a report from TMZ, after the news broke of Leviss’ affair with fellow Vanderpump Rules cast member Tom Sandoval.
While Leviss recently broke her silence on the cheating scandal without making those interested wait until the reunion, there was the question of how the cast could come together in light of a restraining order requiring distance between two of them. For his part, Sandoval broke his silence days earlier and then finally apologized to longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix, but the restraining order requires the separation between Leviss and Shay.
So, according to the TMZ report, the reunion’s production team will separate Raquel Leviss and Scheana Shay by keping Shay in her trailer and watching a live feed of what’s happening with the rest of the cast. The tables then turn and Leviss will head to her trailer when Shay joins her co-stars to guarantee the legally-required separation. Although Bravo didn’t comment on exactly how it will work, the network’s Twitter account posted two versions of the seating chart:
Dropping the #PumpRules Reunion seating charts here… and yes, both are happening. pic.twitter.com/U4mApLg269March 23, 2023
The seating chart has gotten a lot of attention from fans on Twitter (and my personal favorite is the official account from dating website OkCupid posting “To be a fly on the wall today”), and it seems safe to say that viewers will be getting both sides of the story in the reunion. A representative for Scheana Shay also went on the record about how she intended to handle the situation. Neama Rahmani, Shay’s attorney, told Page Six in a statement:
Scheana will be present at today’s filming in person. Scheana intends to follow the law, but she wants to be part of the reunion. If Rachel attends, Scheana and ‘Vanderpump Rules’ will make sure that Scheana remains 100 yards away to comply with the restraining order.
The attorney went on to say that the restraining order “will just lapse” if Raquel Leviss doesn’t pursue the means to keep it in effect, and Shay “intends to call witnesses and present evidence to disprove her false accusations” if Leviss does pursue it. Shay has denied Leviss’ allegations all along, dismissing the case to Page Six as “a fabrication by a known liar and a cheat who has betrayed everyone close to her.”
All things considered, finding a way to include both women in the reunion sounds like it was quite complicated to figure out, but I can already imagine how high the anticipation will be for the reunion and the promise of hearing Leviss and Shay both dishing on the events of Season 10. For now, you can find new episodes of Vanderpump Rules on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo, and revisit every episode that has aired so far streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
