As reality TV buffs, we've seen our fair share of jaw-dropping reunions, but the Vanderpump Rules Reunion: Pumped Up Edition for season 10 has to be the most mind-blowing special we've ever watched. That says a lot considering it contends with reunions for shows like The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, The Real Housewives of New York and Below Deck; and this is just in the realm of Bravo.
Right out of the gate, the Pumped Up Edition of the reunion that aired exclusively on Peacock started out on level 10. Ariana appeared to be ready to burn down the proverbial house of lies Tom Sandoval and Raquel had built around their cheating scandal, Lala was ready to eviscerate both Toms for the wrongdoings she felt they committed against her close friends and James Kennedy was determined to be the MVP, often spewing whatever came to mind (often leaving us to chuckle).
So what were the most noticeable differences between the Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion on Bravo and the Pumped Up Edition? And what revelations shocked us most? Keep reading to find out.
The Pumped Up Edition has way more profanity
When Peacock advertised their episodes of the reunion would be uncensored, they meant it. If by some imagination you weren't well-versed in using profanity prior to watching, you certainly should be an expert by the conclusion. The cast let it rip, especially, Lala, James and Ariana.
We're not complaining. In fact, hearing the cast express themselves without edits and beeps interrupting their conversations, you get a fuller picture of their emotions and the tense reunion set. Take for example the last text message Ariana sent to Raquel. While we won't place it here, know that the impact of the message is different seeing all the expletives.
Also, outside of Lisa Vandermpump, Tom Schwartz, Andy Cohen and of course, Raquel, the rest of the cast no longer refers to Sandoval by his birth name. Let's just say their most frequent new name for him rhymes with "pucker."
LVP and Andy even got in on the fun. Her when she called Schwartz out for having a fence up his "hind parts" when it comes to him taking a stand on anything, and Andy when he had to reprimand James for attempting to fight Sandoval.
James and Lala are hilarious
Despite the seriousness of the topics being discussed, James and Lala were quite the comedic duo. They seemed to charge each other up as they hurled out insults like "narcissist" and "worm with a mustache" on Bravo. But those insults laced with profanity just landed better on Peacock. At times it was like watching a stand-up comedy special on Netflix. However, the laughs usually came at the Toms' expense.
The Toms' timeline makes even less sense than before
Once Scandoval officially took off in the press, many wondered what Schwartz knew of the affair given he had his own romantic entanglement with Raquel. Sandoval told Andy in his one-on-one for the reunion that he disclosed his relationship with Raquel to Schwartz in January. However, Schwartz says on the reunion stage that he found out about Sandoval's affair months earlier, and he had messages to prove it.
If viewers take Schwarz at his word, he knew about Sandoval and Raquel when the cast went glamping and he made the tasteless joke about Raquel liking guys who are unavailable. Schwartz also knew about the cheating when he and Sandoval were talking at the food truck and the former made another tasteless joke about the reason he couldn't be with Raquel was because she had her eyes on another guy.
Perhaps the most cringeworthy thing about the timeline of all this, is that Sandoval actively encouraged Schwartz to hook up with Raquel after Sandoval had already been romantically involved with her. Even LVP had to call Sandoval out on this matter.
Sandoval planted the seed to hookup with Raquel at Coachella
During part one of the reunion, unaired footage from the season was shown of Scheana talking with Ariana after the latter finds out about the affair. In the convo, Scheana stated that a friend of hers heard Raquel and Sandoval were in a hot tub during Coachella (while Ariana was asleep) and shared that he and Ariana "are open," and then he started hitting on Raquel. Sandoval refuted the story at the reunion, but the cast didn't seem to believe him.
The parallel between Sandoval's breakups with Kristen and Ariana is bizarre
We learn in the first part of the reunion that when Sandoval was in a relationship with Kristen but was romancing Ariana, the reason he didn't end things with Kristen first was because she was in a "bad space," as her grandmother died and he didn't want to pile on that with a breakup. Eerily, he says he didn't break up with Ariana before getting involved with Raquel because Ariana's grandmother had died along with her longtime pet dog, and he didn't want to pile on that with more bad news.
Sandoval lashes out and goes below the belt
As part two of the reunion waged on, Sandoval's tears dried up and he started lashing out at his castmates. In one exchange with Lala, he was adamant that she doesn’t take responsibility for any of her misdeeds and hurled out the cringeworthy statement, "You pulled your IUD the day you found out Stassi was pregnant."
This off-hand remark was a nod to the fact that she, Scheana and former castmates Stassi and Brittany all got pregnant around the same time. Moreover, the implication from Tom was that Lala couldn’t wait to get pregnant by her disgraced Hollywood executive ex-boyfriend Randall. While Lala didn’t respond to Sandoval’s comment at the reunion, she certainly did so on social media.
In a Pumped Up Edition exclusive, Tom and Ariana went back and forth about whether or not she was condescending toward him during the course of their relationship. He claimed that she was and used her reunion attitude toward him as proof. She resented him trying to weaponize her post-Scandoval feelings to play victim, and as they faced off, he called her a mother trucker (he actually dropped the f-bomb, which we won’t repeat here). LVP was sure to call him out on the insult.
Raquel wants to do another season and thought Ariana knew about the affair
During her one-on-one sitdown with Andy, Raquel made a number of surprising statements. First, she stated she regretted filing a restraining order against Scheana. That begs the question, was Raquel untruthful about Scheana punching her?
Second, Raquel seemed to be unaware she was confirming Ariana’s suspicions and making Sandoval out to be a liar. Raquel confessed she and Sandoval had been talking about the reunion and that he had indeed coached her, a point Ariana alleged but Sandoval refuted.
Also during the one-on-one, Raquel said she thought if Sandoval had broken up with Ariana and later announced he was dating Raquel, she and Ariana would be okay. This seems suspect, as it is very uncommon for two people to remain besties when one starts dating the other’s ex.
We can’t forget to mention the fact that Raquel also alleged she thought Ariana knew about the affair before seeing the infamous video. She said Ariana never questioned anything and insinuated the lack of questioning meant she had to know what was going on but chose not to address it. Andy was perplexed as it sounded as if she was blaming Ariana for her cheating. Raquel eventually said looking back she feels ashamed for that line of thinking.
Oh and for those wondering, Raquel said she would actually like to film Vanderpump Rules season 11. Considering the amount of vitriol surrounding Scandoval, we hope she develops a very thick skin if she returns to the show as most of the current cast are not fans of hers.
The Vanderpump season 10 reunion continues to air on Bravo on Wednesdays. The Pumped Up Edition becomes available to stream on Peacock on Thursdays.
