Not since KimYe has a guilty pleasure reality show catapulted into must-see TV so many years into its run. But that's what happened with Vanderpump Rules, once simply part of the Bravo-verse, albeit a section that dutifully spit out podcasters and side hustles, and the only one with two physical locations (Pump and Sur, both owned by Lisa Vanderpump) that my friends visiting LA regularly ask me to drive by so they can maybe catch a glimpse of a reality star in the wild.
When season 10 ended with the revelation that Tom Sandoval had a months-long affair with Raquel Leviss—the drama also known as Scandoval—it made its cast members, however briefly, A-listers. (Check out an explainer of Scandoval here, and our cover story with Ariana Madix here.)
Which is why the upcoming season is perhaps the most anticipated yet. Which cast members are returning? Who's staying away? How can they ever top last season's drama? Here's everything we know about Vanderpump Rules season 11:
Toms Schwartz and Tom Sandoval will return.
Of course, he is! Tom Sandoval, the “worm with a mustache” who ruined white nail polish for everyone, is probably angling for a redemption arc, or at least is smart enough to know that, if he doesn't keep telling his side of the story, he'll just go down in history as a cheater. Back in June, People reported that his ex-best friend and business partner, Tom Schwartz, has also signed on for another season. Why not?
Former besties Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz
Bravo/Getty Images“I don't know what it's going to look like,” Schwartz said of the upcoming VPR season. “I will say I'm excited and grateful that we have a new season…. I don't know what to expect, honestly, but I know it's going to be a good season. I'll say that.”
Ariana Madix is also back.
The Vanderpump Rules cast—sans Leviss and Sandoval—began filming in June, according to Page Six. On June 30, Madix, wearing a strapless denim minidress, was photographed smiling for the cameras alongside bestie Katie Maloney.
Though it was initially reported that Madix refused to film with Sandoval, we caught our first taste of an interaction in late July, when the Dancing With the Stars contestant ignored his presence entirely in footage from a cast outing at Belmont LA. And yes, he was still wearing his lighting-bolt necklace.
