Bravo’s long-running show, Vanderpump Rules, is back with more spicy episodes, making fans question, “Is Vanderpump Rules scripted?”
The long-running Bravo reality series Vanderpump Rules sparked a renewed surge of interest since the cast member, Tom Sandoval, cheated on his longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix, with her former bestie, Raquel Leviss.
After seasons 10 ep 13 aired, the entire storyline revolved around the beginning of the infamous scandal, aka “Scandoval”. Thus, fans expressed their disappointment claiming that the storyline felt scripted and “forced upon” them.
Following the release, one fan praised Lisa, “Sorry. Can’t help think this is scripted. It’s too obvious. Lisa Vanderpump is a genious.”
Further, while the Sandoval drama was highlighted, viewers believed that producers deliberately edited the episode to match the cheating scandal timeline.
Im sure im not alone but im thinking #Scandoval was all staged. My theory – Ari and Tom told producers they were breaking up (reasons of their own). Producers swap Toms and implement the #Scandoval
— JessTheMess🗑🚮 (@Jessica61781360) March 14, 2023
One dissatisfied fan tweeted, “Tonight’s episode was so shamefully scripted I have lost all interest in Scandoval and all future vals.”
Another notable moment in the episode featured Lisa Vanderpump’s husband, Ken Todd’s guest appearance. Fans perceived this segment as staged, with Todd delivering revelations about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss.
Thus, fans believed producers wanted to portray Ariana’s perception of Raquel before Sandoval.
Twitter was abuzz with many tweets from fans calling out the show and producers accusing them of scripting the episode.
Hence, the million-dollar question, “Is Vanderpump Rules scripted?”
Is Vanderpump Rules Scripted or Legit?
Given the recent “Scandoval,” what fans chose to call the Sandoval scandal, shocker, some viewers wonder if the show was scripted to pump the viewership of the show.
But former Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder disagrees. She believes the infidelity is “absolutely” real.
In an episode of her podcast, Straight Up With Stassi, the former star was asked if there was a possibility that a high-level executive would revisit such a scandal to reignite a struggling franchise.
The question was essentially, “Do you think Vanderpump Rules is scripted?
Schroeder firmly replied, “No. absolutely not.”
She explained, “The thing about Vanderpump Rules that made it so great and at times so bad is that it’s so real.”
Stassi continued, “When people say last season sucked so bad, well, that’s because that was the [expletive] that was really going on. They are not making [expletive] up for storylines.”
She later emphasized, “That’s the beauty of Vanderpump.”
Schroeder later talked about how Sandoval’s manipulative tactics were real and deeply ingrained in his approach to the show.
She adamantly denied that the show was scripted, saying, “So anyone who’s saying this is fake, no, like literally no… I just know it’s not fake because I know everyone involved.”
Brock Davies said, “None of this is Scripted.”
While talking to US Weekly in June, Brock Davies also vouched that Vanderpump Rules was, in fact, very real.
He addressed the whole reality show cast:
“They ultimately are friends [of] 15 years, so they’re just gonna support each other, and they’ve just made the most iconic TV show because they are so real and .. vulnerable and open.”
Brock emphasized, “None of this is scripted and…. maybe people can see the emotion you’re getting from this season. It’s all real.”
Furthermore, Scheana Shay’s husband claimed he was just as clueless as the fans. He explained, “I mean, honestly, no one really saw any of this coming, so no one knows what’s coming.”
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Katie Maloney Said, “Our relationships are real.”
Vanderpump Rules star Katie Maloney chimed in to defend the long-running show. She declined the rumor and said, “It’s pretty not-scripted.”
She continued, “You see, our relationships are real. We all have our history… they can’t show everything, and they don’t show everything that’s positive, but they definitely show everything that’s negative… but it still is real.”
The OG, Lisa Vanderpump Herself, Tweeted, “It’s not Fake.”
After fans started speculating about the show’s authenticity, the leading lady, Lisa Vanderpump, weighed in to address the rumor on March 15.
She tweeted, “No, I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for rating #they do that on their own.”
Ok no …#PumpRestaurant will be open as normal…#fake-news
— Lisa Vanderpump (@LisaVanderpump) March 15, 2023
Oh and no I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for ratings #pumprules they do that on their own…#fake-news
Have a beautiful day everybody.
However, just because the current Scandoval is seemingly legit doesn’t mean there aren’t storylines on reality TV.
Vanderpump Rules was “Getting a little too scripted” for former star, Jax Taylor
Although many of Vanderpump Rules’ stars defend the show, former cast Jax Taylor revealed that Vanderpump Rules is indeed scripted.
While talking to US Weekly in May 2021, he noted, “I was 100 percent checked out at the end. It was getting a little bit too scripted for me… It wasn’t fun.”
Since Jax had just welcomed their newborn, he wanted to be more comedy and family-oriented. He added that he was done arguing with people half his age. The Michigan native had previously defended the authenticity of the show.
Previously, Jax said, “I pride myself that we have a real show.” He confessed that he regretted talking to Brittany the way he did but later added, “But that’s just real life, though. It’s real.”
Jax also noted that he wouldn’t pretend just because there were cameras around.
“That’s just not how our show works. I think that’s why our show works well – because we are a real show.”
Jax discontinued from Season 9 of Vanderpump Rules.
Pure Editing Bliss
Vanderpump Rules fans have often speculated heavy editing on the show, and Season 10, episode 13 only added fuel to the fire.
In 2019, one of the show’s stars, Ariana Madix, discussed the producers for their extensive editing tactics.
In the episode, it appeared that Tom Sandoval and Schwartz disregarded their partner and star of the show, Lisa’s instructions, and showed up at the restaurant during the decorating phase.
However, she hinted that producers instructed the Toms to come with the intent of portraying them in a negative light.
She initially tweeted how the whole “the toms are idiots” story was more interesting, in her opinion.
When a fan criticized the Toms for not following a simple instruction, Madix insisted that they had done what they were told.
Ariana concluded, telling fans that they “definitely aren’t” seeing the whole picture when it comes to the show.
The Bravo long-running show, Vanderpump Rules, is, perhaps, a pure editing bliss, a semi-scripted spicy television experience, even!
What do you think? Is Vanderpump Rules really scripted?
