Scheana Shay hinted that there’s more to the story after fans slammed the Vanderpump Rules cast for hugging Tom Sandoval in recent beach photos.
“All these people saying they aren’t gonna watch the season from photos that have been coming out … like come on!” Scheana, 38, replied via Instagram on Friday, August 11, on a fan account showing Lala Kent embracing Sandoval, 41, on the sand. “How about you WATCH the damn show and see HOW all these photos happened!”
Scheana added: “NO one knows what’s actually happening in this group right now other than US! Nothing is fake in this group and people are definitely paying for their actions.”
The Pump Rules cast, which began filming season 11 in June, has reunited on several occasions since the explosive season 10 reunion special aired in May. During the reunion, Scheana and Lala, 32, as well as the rest of their costars slammed Sandoval for his affair with Raquel Leviss. (Us Weekly confirmed in March that Sandoval and Ariana Madix split after nine years together in the wake of him cheating on her with Leviss, 28.)
While some fans were intrigued by the beach snap, other viewers questioned the seemingly nice interaction between Lala and Sandoval.
“@scheana if Ariana hugged Randall [Emmett], no matter the circumstances, it would be WWIII,” one user wrote in the comments section of PumpRules’ Instagram post, referring to Lala’s ex-fiancé, Emmett, with whom she shares daughter Ocean, 2. “I get y’all have a lot of history, but when does loyalty take precedence over a paycheck?”
Scheana clapped back at the loyalty quip, telling the user, “Ariana was there. Watch the season is all I’m going to say.”
When a separate follower revealed they were “extremely confused” by the picture from the L.A. beach, Scheana teased, “That’s great! Be confused. Watch the season and make your judgements then. One photo does not define everything we have filmed, I promise you that.”
A third fan claimed the season 10 reunion was “too much for most normal people” and questioned how Scheana “would want” her 2-year-old daughter, Summer, to “see that when she is old enough to understand how people should act.”
“The reunion happened only a few weeks AFTER all of this was news to us. How did you expect them to act when it was so fresh!?” Scheana fired back in the comments.
Despite defending her castmate’s decision to film with Sandoval after he mistreated Ariana, 38, Scheana previously admitted that shooting season 11 has been tough.
“We went to Tahoe, it was all filmed for season 11. Ariana and Katie [Maloney] did not come, but Tom Sandoval did. There was one day [that was] beyond the most emotionally draining day I have ever had in 11 seasons of Vanderpump Rules,” Scheana confessed during an Amazon Live last month. “No joke, my eyelashes hurt from how much I cried that day. My contacts were dry and I was congested. I felt weak in every way possible. 11 seasons and that day got me the most.”
Earlier in July, Scheana made headlines for a photo she took with the cast, including Sandoval. While fans slammed her for the group shot, Ariana came to Scheana’s defense.
“@Scheana is an amazing friend who took a photo with a fan for their birthday. There’s been so many mean comments towards her for it and she was just doing something nice,” Ariana wrote in an Instagram Stories post at the time. “We always try to stop for photos and when the whole cast is present, it’s common for the whole cast to be in the photo regardless of what is going on between any of us at the time.”
