Was ‘Scandoval’ A ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Ratings Ploy?

Was ‘Scandoval’ used as a Vanderpump Rules ratings ploy? After a lackluster Season 9, no one knew what to expect when the show returned. Yet, less than a month after Season 10 premiered, news broke that two key cast members had been having an affair. This caused ratings to skyrocket and people to rally around the show. So, was this all just faked to bring relevance and ratings back to the long-running series? Read on for more details.

Was ‘Scandoval’ A Vanderpump Rules Ratings Ploy?

Vanderpump Rules was lost after Season 8 when they fired OG’s Kristen Doute and Stassi Schroeder. Plus, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright had left the series, as well. To add to this, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay both welcomed babies so this was a whole new dynamic. Ultimately, the season had some missteps but the show was renewed for another season. Prior to its return, Katie Maloney filed for divorce from Tom Schwartz, plus Lala Kent and Raquel Leviss were both single. So, it was shaping up to have some interesting moments. Season 10 premiered February 8th and ‘Scandoval’ broke March 3rd.

Fans were tuning in to see if they could find any hidden clues about Tom Sandoval cheating on Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss. People who had never watched Vanderpump Rules were suddenly watching the show to see all of the fuss. Then, it was questioned if this was all staged for ratings. Lisa Vanderpump fired back in a tweet: “Oh and no I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for ratings #pumprules they do that on their own.”

Ok no …#PumpRestaurant will be open as normal…#fake-news
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.

— Lisa Vanderpump (@LisaVanderpump) March 15, 2023

According to yahoo!, Lara Schoenhals is a podcaster who recently spoke to the Insider. She feels that the timing in which ‘Scandoval’ occurred is quite “suspicious.” She noted: “They needed something to get shaken up, to get people’s interest back. “I personally feel like they were mapping this out,” additional podcaster, Hollie Bohorquez added.

More Evidence?

According to Hollie, she has even more evidence. “So before Scandoval even broke, they had the filming permits in place to record with when cameras went back,” she revealed. So, was Vanderpump Rules plotting this or do they have to be ready for anything? More so, was it possible that production was planning to start filming Season 11 early or did they need filming permits for the reunion? They do film the cast arriving, exiting their cars, and getting ready.

Do you think this was all a ploy to bolster ratings? Let us know your thoughts and watch Vanderpump Rules Wednesdays on Bravo.