LOS ANGELES — When I opened my Bravo group chat on Wednesday to say I was heading to Schwartz & Sandy's, the bar and restaurant co-owned by "Vanderpump Rules" stars Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval, the phone pings were swift: "Lucky! Pls report your findings. Tx." Others were less diplomatic.
But it's not about the pasta. It's about the reality TV cheating scandal that has my social media feeds — and likely yours too — in a chokehold.
For those without a degree from Bravo University's School of Messy Television, the story begins with "Vanderpump Rules," a spinoff of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" that premiered in 2013 and followed the sordid drama of the good-looking waitstaff of West Hollywood's SUR, owned by then-"RHOBH" star Lisa Vanderpump. A decade later, hardly any of the core cast members still work at SUR, but their collective drama continues to slosh around our screens. Rage texts, ultimatums, drunken blunders, heated spats that lead to slaps or punches, Mamaw's beer cheese — it's all been part of the allure of the ridiculously addictive series. And cheating? It's as baked into the show as Vanderpump's name. Much of the first season revolved around whether Jax Taylor, a former cast member, cheated on then-girlfriend, co-worker and castmate Stassi Schroeder with a woman in Las Vegas and possibly got her pregnant.
