Mention It All - World’s Toughest Test (Living With Sandoval) Ft. Sam Bush (VPR Premiere)

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

The day has finally arrived: Vanderpump Rules is back for season 11, and Dylan is back to recap the premiere with Sam Bush. They share their takes on the latest episode, including their thoughts on Lala’s olive branch, why they’re dreading Sandoval’s return, and how Schwartz should proceed. Later, they discuss their predictions for the season and whether or not they’re feeling optimistic about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Betches Media presents Ha ha laugh funny Mention It All A Bravo by Betches podcast We don't say that But now we said it With me, Dylan Hafer We're going to check me both

Hey everyone Welcome back to the Mention It All podcast I'm Dylan Hayfer It's a big day As you know We have a Vanderpump Rules premiere to get into And no better person

To be here To break it all down with me Than my friend My Bravo sister Samantha Bush Hi Sam Hi Sam Hi your Bravo

sister in Christ. Yeah, I don't. That just came out. I don't know. I love it. Colleague, like. Oh, wow. It feels a little bit surreal.

Maybe surreal is not the right word. It feels a little bit like, I don't know. Insane in the brain that the Vanderpumpurals is back already. Do you feel that? A hundred percent. Like, Scandival feels so long ago. But yet, I feel like because it's just been months. and months of constant, like, talking about it.

It just feels weird that it's back already. I don't know. How do you feel? Yeah. Well, because normally on a season of any show like this, they film and then there are months between filming and then they do the reunion and that's kind of like, you know, a point in time. And then they film again.

And it feels like because Scandival happened as their season was airing and we got that finale where cameras went back up and then there was so much. in the press and XYZ, like the sort of the normal timeline of seasons has kind of been shaken up. And so it's exciting, but also it feels like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, so they're filming this premiere just weeks after that reunion and therefore like a few months after Scandival broke, but we were still hearing about all this stuff at the time. And I don't know. It's inception.

In terms of Scandival itself, I have also mixed feelings of like I'm intrigued to see where all of these threads go over the course of this season. Obviously, there's a lot of sort of collateral damage left by this bombshell. But at the same time, I'm also like, oh, I would love to see like James and Lala argue about something dumb. Right. Like there is a part of me that's like I do think we have to tie up some loose ends. like we will have to hear about Scandival probably the whole season. But I am ready to kind of move on. I felt like this premiere was good.

It wasn't great, in my opinion. I felt like, I don't know. It felt strange. Yeah, I think, okay. So I've watched the episode a couple of times. I, you know, I saw it early and then I watched it again yesterday with, the people. I was going to say, the peasants. No, being on Twitter last night was actually a lot of fun, so I'm not like mad about... I'm banned. I'm banned.

Source subject. Oh my God, I forgot. Wow. Knife in the heart. Well, if you're not at Take Your So Loft, maybe that's Sheena now. Yeah. Shishu. But so with this premiere, I think like, I agree. I thought it was a pretty good episode. It wasn't mind-blowing. It wasn't an all-timer. But I think they also just were sort of in a position where it's like, how could it live up to expectations? What could they do that would sort of match the level that we last left this cast on? Because I think it's easy to sort of forget how once in a lifetime those last few episodes of the season felt, knowing that we were putting all those pieces together.

And then we had that finale that was truly like once in a lifetime episode of TV. And then the reunion was a bigger event than anything I can remember on Bravo. And so then coming back for the premiere, it's like, of course we're excited to see what happens. They're, you know, we're getting updates in the stories. They're kind of setting the table for a lot of the stuff that's going to happen this season. But there's really no possible way that it could be like at that same. heightened level. And for the for the health of a long running franchise, it can't be at that level. No, if it was operating at that level, like I would be just deeply concerned for every single

person involved. I just think like this, I think that they navigated it pretty well with like showing them trying to move on from this, but the dust is still settling. You know, Tom Schwartz is I have to tell you, I've never been more attracted to him than when he was watering his plants. He was like, buddy, this one's for you. I was like, I love him. Him having this like sort of almost like big brother role to James in the premiere was not something I was prepared for when he's like, yeah, man, you got a house now. Here's a plant.

Here's a candle. You know, man, it was tough with the business and everything. I'm like, what is this? This Schwartz feels different somehow. Schwartz? Schwartz. Schwartz has changed. like on a cellular level.

I think like after everything he went through last year with a divorce from Katie and then this scandal of all. And then he said his brother's health issues. Like he's been put through it. And some of that is like his own fault. But him and James have no chemistry. Yeah. They lack a chemistry.

And also I feel like shorts could afford a house. I feel like if he easily wanted to be a house owner or homeowner, he could do that. So I'm confused. Yeah. I don't know exactly what's going on in Schwartz's like financial world. Obviously, this is the best... He looks like a battered woman. Like, remember in that one episode? Tom, you're a battered wife. Like, he does, like he just looks like he's been beaten down. And it's like he needs to realize that it's Sandaval who's done that to him. Like... Well, it's, it's interesting because Sheena is in a similar position. I mean, she is saying everybody thinks she's on OZempic, but it's not Ozempic. It's just Scandival. You know, the stress has been astronomical. But before...

Taking a step back, I want to talk about something that is missing from this premiere, for the most part, and that is Tom Sandoval. Yeah. Because I want to unpack the decision that they made to start filming for this season while Tom was still in New Zealand filming. Whilst you being thrown over the shoulders of Jojo, Siwa. Special Forces World's Toughest Test, which I was surprised when I realized that this was the situation during the premiere. and I was a little bit like, well, that's lame. Why wouldn't they just wait seemingly like two days for him to be back? But then after I watched the episode and they do this dramatic moment at the end where he's returning to the house under cover of night and it's like, hello, is anyone home?

I almost think that it worked well to not have, to have him sort of looming over the premiere without immediately diving into like, hey, Ariana. I like, oh, Sheena, can I talk to you for a sec? Like, we got one episode to kind of like start picking up the pieces before the actual source of the toxicity enters the room. Yeah, I mean, him walking around that house going hello and like, if Ariana was home, she probably didn't even said anything. So it's like, I don't know who you're talking to. Anne, assistant Anne.

Oh, my God, praying for Anne. Apparently, so Tom and Tom went on the vial files this week, which I just, I just, I can't. The clips I've seen, Thomas, truly melting down. Apparently on that podcast, Schwartz, and I'm seeing this via like comments and stuff. So if I'm misquoting, don't come for me. Apparently Schwartz mentioned assistant Anne recently quit. So God bless Anne.

Yeah, God bless Anne. Onward and upward. Hopefully some better, better things lie ahead. Hopefully. Yeah. You imagine putting that on your resume. Like for a year you assisted Tom Sandival. I think that would just show up on the resume as like executive assistant to a public figure.

Involved sending tax messages to his cohabitant. It's bleak. And I know. So now as we speak in real time, it's about to be February. And Ariana says she's been out of the house since September. She was, I think she said before that she was staying somewhere else while she was doing dancing with the stars because the schedule was just too crazy. And then obviously now she's in New York doing Chicago on Broadway. So they are still technically living in the house together,

but she has essentially removed herself from the day-to-day dynamic of that. But it seems like pretty much the whole course of this season, they're going to be like actively in the house together, which look, I think that it is shitty, whatever Tom is trying to manipulate or, you know, I believe that he is being like an asshole in this situation. But I also just feel like for Ariana, I'm like, girl, do what you got to do to just get out of there. Yeah.

Like let him buy you out. Yeah. Like I would, I also just feel like you're making enough money. Like you could leave. Like it just feels strange. These two are just too little weird house. And I'm just like, why do you two want to live in the same house together? And I've heard Tom like countless times feel like, it's a big house.

We rarely see each other. I'm like, no, like you share the same. fridge. Right. Like not not having to use the same toilet doesn't mean that it's a big enough house that you like physically you have photos of each other on the walls together. You have like Lego portrait of your stuff. Yeah. The artwork is crazy. The glued back together penis flute. It's like we oh god. Oh my god. This is not like for Ariana it's like she obviously do whatever you want. But this is not like a Lisa Hawkestein situation where she's like hanging on tooth and nail to whatever scrounged up money, Lenny's going to throw her.

Like, Ariana is in the power position here, or at least she should be. I mean, at this point, she was getting brand deals. Like, she was in the BIC ad. She was like, she was doing it. Duracel. Duracel. Uber one app baby. Yeah.

I'm like, I'm like, Ariana. Yeah, I know. I'm like, but who knows the mind games? Like, who knows? Who knows? Yeah. Seeing James' new house that is seemingly, like, inches away from the Burbank Airport, I'm happy for him, but also... It's on the tarmac. I absolutely love productions, like, commitment to trolling him, where he's like, I love this spot.

It's so quiet. And then it's just like... The Boeing 737 door, like, explodes above them. You're like in the house and you hear something in the yard and it's literally like a airplane door It's like falling into the pool No but I love that Ali immediately is like well I mean it is close to the airport So Allie's always gonna like kind of get James to like go back down to earth just a little bit

Yeah I really I like Ali a lot I thought last season she she really introduced herself well to to the group and to the show and I'm I'm glad that she's still around this season. I'm wondering what is your take on? So Brock and Allie this season are still like part-time friends of, essentially. And so the full-time cast this season, I was looking this up the other day because it occurred to me. It's the smallest full-time cast we've had on this show since the original cast in seasons one and two. Because, you know, after that, when Schwartz and Ariana got added and then Lala and James got added, and then there were, was a time. There was a time when we had, you know, the like Dana, Brett, Max, whatever, the

fuck that was like 16 people. And now counting Lisa, there are only eight full-time cast members. Do you feel like this is like, do you feel like we're getting back to what the true, like, essence of Vanderpump Rules is? Or do you feel like it would benefit us to have like a little bit more variety going on in the characters? I would like a little bit more variety. But for the sake of like where we're at right now like I don't think adding new people in the midst of this like Scandival like fallout I think it would be too much like I think I think eventually I would like to get there but I also don't need Brock full time I agree I think that was because two seasons ago he was full time like the year that like James and Raquel were getting engaged the year that Brock and Sheena were

getting engaged. Like that season, they really came on full steam of like James and Raquel are on the show. Brock and Sheena are on the show. We still had Charlie around. I do miss Charlie. Like I like Charlie's five. I like Charlie's little. Yeah, I like Charlie's confessionals.

But so it is interesting. Obviously, Raquel, Rachel, I like that in the show universe, she's still Raquel, like only. I'm curious if Sandoval will refer to her as Rachel. on this season. Probably not. But it is funny because in real life, I feel like I'm like supposed to call her Rachel now because that's what she's asking us to call her.

But on the show, it's like, I'm going to leave a voice memo for Ruckup. An alley. So good, so good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman,

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Work your magic So obviously Raquel is not going to be on this season Of Vanderpump Rules There is some speculation as to like When that decision was made And when production was aware Sheena had I guess Alex Baskin on her podcast and they basically said that they weren't sure at the beginning of filming whether

Raquel was going to come back at all. So do you feel like this season is missing something because Raquel's not there? Or do you feel like it's the right direction for the show to kind of like move forward without her? I don't know. I feel like I would have liked her to come back. I think it would have been really hard. But I also feel like I don't want to have to watch this like, reintroduction of Tom Sandoval and trying to get everyone to like be okay with him again.

And I'm like, and Raquel's like on this island of being like ostracized and like bullied on like, you know what I mean? I just feel like, especially if Lala's going to go this route of like I feel bad for her now that the reunion is over when she truly dragged her to hell. I'm like, I feel like Raquel could have come back. I don't know if maybe that was the best, that would have been the best decision. for her, but maybe there would have been like closure or something. Yeah, I think in a way, for some of the people in this group, not everyone, because obviously, you know, not everyone is on the same journey post-scandival. But I think in a way, it would have been more plausible for Raquel to get forgiveness or grace from some of the people in the group than it would have for Tom. But because of the way things shook out, Tom is still a full-time cast member. the show. So whether or not people like him or are on good terms with him, we're going to be

getting scenes of Tom. Whereas Raquel, I think, I mean, it definitely was her choice to leave the show fully. But I think because of kind of the atmosphere of what was happening at the time, I understand why she didn't feel like it was a healthy environment for her to come back to. But I actually think if she had come back, obviously we're already seeing in the premiere that Lala would have been receptive to that. Lisa obviously would have been willing to kind of like work with her in whatever capacity I guess. Lisa would have. And I feel like, I mean, maybe with the exception of Sheena and Ariana. I think Sheena would fold. Like I think Sheena would like have a sit down with Raquel and they would really talk it out. And I think Sheena would be like one of the first people to like bend.

Sheena would be like, Raquel, just watch my hands real quick. I cannot form a fist. And then Raqal would be like, you know what, Sheena? You're right. You're right. Like, I just think like they would have gotten over it. Yeah. I really do.

I do think Sheena, sheena is a little bit of that like any way the wind blows kind of chick. And not in a way that makes her a bad friend or like fake, but just in the sense that I She just gets over shit. And Sheena, like, wants to be good with everyone. Like, she wants people to like her. She wants people to, like, validate her. And I really like Sheena. Like, I think Sheena is, A, great TV and be, like, a genuinely, like, caring person.

But I do think she has that kind of, like, thing where it's, like, her arc curves in the direction of, like, smoothing things over with everyone. All the time. Like, she'll be really upset. I mean, I think we're going to see it with Tom. Like, I think she's one of the first people that's cool with Tom. I mean, at BravoCon, she allegedly went up and hung out with him. You know what I mean? Like, I think she just wants everyone.

She's like, actually, she just wants to be cool and everybody. She's like, actually, I was deep in conversation with Captain Jason. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm really interested to see, like, the first interaction with, like, Ariana and Tom. Like, what is that dynamic? Yeah, so the big kind of group scene in the premiere is that there's a night at Tom Tom, James Kennedy is DJing, you know, some things never change.

Yeah. And it's the first time Ariana has been back to Tom Tom, since the night when the phone fell out of the pocket of Tom Sandibal. And she, you know, found out the information. Yeah. And so there's this, like, high drama montage of all. of the ups and downs and moments that Sandoval and Ariana have had specifically at Tom Tom where they're like the two best things in my life are like you and this bar and like oh my God

it's going to be even better once it's open and I really have to hand it to the editors because they are like they're putting their whole whatever into this you said it not me they're I could tell the words were forming on your lip. So I was like, I'll say it. They're giving 120% into whatever emotions they're trying to make us feel. I don't know if you got a little, you know, misty-eyed during this little montage. But it was like, it was like, damn, we really, we really could have had it all. It was like, I was like getting emotional.

I was like, wow, they were really together for like everything. Like it was so, it was crazy. They know what they're doing. They know they're playing with us. They know what they're doing. And I think that I think that Vanderpump rules a lot of the time has been at its best when it does feel like you're in this sort of like heightened state of reality where it's like every heartbreak is bigger. Every romantic gesture is bigger. Every fight is bigger.

And like what Ariana feels or doesn't feel or, you know, what production is, you know, telling us she feels. When she's sitting down in this booth at Tom Tom, it's like, damn, a dagger right to the heart. But she's, she's conquering it. She's there. She's looking great. She's there and she's thriving as much as she can.

Like I think she's really not okay. And I think I, so the one thing I will say is I'm concerned about how quickly she moved on. I'm happy for her, obviously. And I hope this guy has good intentions. But like, I just feel like there's so much to work through with that trauma with the Scandibald that like, I almost feel like she's like, I cannot do that.

Like I feel like if I do that, the damn will break and I'll be, I won't be okay. I was actually, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Sheena say in her confessional that she doesn't think that Ariana has fully like recovered or processed. That was most introspective thought Gina's ever had. But what I'm curious about is she said it in her confessional, and I'm really wondering whether we will get that conversation between Sheena and Ariana this season. Because I think that is a super valid conversation. And for somebody who has been her close friend for the entire duration even before her relationship with Tom, I would be really, I think that would be like extremely compelling narrative TV storytelling to have Sheena kind of. to sit down with Ariana and be like, hey, Dan seems great.

I'm not coming for your relationship at all. I don't not want you to be happy. But can we just like address kind of this, you know, timeline? And I think, I don't know if Sheena will really go there or if production will, you know, nudge her in that direction. But I'd be curious because I'm happy. Ariana seems happy. But I think it's really hard to look at the, just the bare facts and not be like,

that was quick. Yeah. And she's also like doing all the, like I said, like she was doing these brain deals. She's in this new relationship. Like she's keeping herself so busy and so distracted that I do worry that like maybe when the Chicago run is over and things are now like we're a year out from Scandival and like then she kind of has to like process everything that just happened. Like that's probably so intimidating and overwhelming.

Right. Like in a way, the fact, obviously they filmed this season before any of this. But the fact that she hasn't been staying in the house since. September, it's kind of like kicking the can down the road a little bit. I think now she is like suing him basically to get him out of the house. So there is like, you know, more of like a legal process happening there. It's not just that she's like, you know, avoiding seeing him. Yeah, there's definitely something going on like legally.

But yeah, I think that's going to be a really interesting thread to follow this season of beneath the surface of her looking hot and crushing it in business and life. Like, how is she doing? And we know that she's, you know, she's not like pretending that she's just fully 100% you know, past it and ready. But I think that's going to be really like a thing to follow over the course of this season is like, what is the real like raw emotional truth of where Ariana's at with all of this? Yeah.

And I mean, I have to say I really am very intrigued by Lala's journey. Yes. Like especially, I don't know. There's just something like where I'm rooting. for her. And I know people were really upset I saw online. Like they were really upset about this voice memo, but I'm like, first of all, Lala is a reality television star. So she knows what she's doing. But I also think it's very real how she feels. Like I think she genuinely feels that way. I think that Lala in this premiere at least had the most kind of intriguing, like, arc happening. Because the scene of her with her mom, who lives with her now, um, You know, them talking about what she went through with Randall. Obviously, she's still in this custody situation. I thought it was fascinating the way in her confessional she sort of broke the fourth wall to say that Randall doesn't want to give her full custody because then she'd be able to put Ocean on Vanderpump rules.

And she's like, if you think that's what I care about in this whole custody battle, like that's not the point here. So no, she's like, I just want my daughter. Like, that's crazy. it felt really real to hear her say that like everything I've been doing up until this point has basically been to make sure that things are going to be okay for my daughter. And so there's this whole other bucket of personal stuff just for me, myself and I that I haven't even really gotten to yet. And I think that's something where like last season took place all after Lala and Randall had broken up. So it felt it feels like we've seen her like, you know, single and moving on and XYZ. But that, because of there are so many like moving pieces with this situation, like she hasn't really even necessarily gotten to take the time to really move forward. Yeah. And I also think that there's a part of her where she feels like, okay, I was also cheated on. I was also publicly humiliated. This man is a true sociopath monster. And I was labeled, oh, you're a whore. You know, this,

you should have seen this coming. Like no one really felt bad for her. And I think when you pair that with how Ariana is being treated, and I get that there are different situations. But like, it's probably tough. Like that's probably tough to watch. Like Ariana put on this pedestal of what did Tom Schwartz call her? Something about the scorned woman.

Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like the patron saint of scorn women or something. And I think on some level, Lala's maybe not jealous, but kind of like, I wasn't given any, any grace or no one felt bad for me. And I'm dealing with someone who's like a literal, like he's a monster. Like she had to sneak out of the house.

Right. And there have been, you know, exposés and lawsuits and all of this stuff accusing him. She's not necessarily the one accusing him of stuff, but that, you know, he clearly is not a good, not a good dude. I think, yeah, I think that's interesting. Because when Lala and Rand broke up, I think there was a moment of everyone being like, wow, he's a piece of shit. And then that was kind of good. That was it. Like there wasn't this kind of extended movement of championing Lala and her being kind of like the little engine that could.

Where I think with Ariana, obviously we've seen them together on the show for a lot longer than with Lala and Randall. but that there was this kind of like, we not only did we say like, wow, Tom was a piece of shit, good for her getting out of that relationship, but like it kind of became like the good and evil like archetype in a way that Lala just didn't get. And I think it is interesting because I've seen a lot of people on social media. And I know that there's been this kind of like vocal minority of like anti-Ariana people for a while now, which is just something where it's like I can't. don't like get a life. But that I've also seen this group of people. I posted the picture yesterday of Sheena and Lala with Ariana at her opening night in Chicago the other day.

They were like backstage with her. They came to the show. They flew to New York to come to see this show. And there were all of these responses that were like, wow, like Lala will be anywhere. There's a photo op. Or like, I bet Sheena's so jealous. Or like basically just like assuming based on this. one photo of the three of them smiling together that like sheena and lala have all of these

ulterior motives for being there and then also like a trying to drag katie for not being there which like who fucking knows like maybe she was sick i don't know but like i just think it's really weird that people their immediate instinct is to assign all of this like nefarious negativity to these people where it's like of course they go through ups and downs like of course la la and Ariana have had some complicated stuff in their relationship. Of course, Sheena might be like extending an olive branch to Sandoval that Ariana doesn't love. But like, they've been in each other's lives for so long and have like mostly been friends through all of that. Like, yeah, you're going to go to your friend's fucking Broadway debut opening performance and smile for a picture.

Like, it's just not that deep. No, it's a five second picture. Like it took, you know what I mean? Right. It's not even like Lala got the opportunity to be in the show. with her. It's like she literally just like attended and took one photo that's on Getty images. Like, it's not like she, she didn't get cast in the show too. Right. People just automatically jump to like such a negative place. And it's like, well, maybe that's what you would do. Like,

maybe that's how you would act if that was like, if you were in that situation, like you would ride her coattails. But that doesn't mean they are. And like you said, these people are trauma bonded. This group, like they have been through so much to. like so many ups and downs and it's just like they're of course going to go see her when she's on Broadway and I also frankly I don't see kitty as a musical gal I don't think she likes them I think she would like something a little more like indie than Chicago I think she yeah she would be really into like like once the musical or like maybe like a Hades Town kind of vibe like something a little more witchy yeah good sleep is everything that's why Ali's science

back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theonine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie Sleep Solutions for the Whole Family at Ali.com. That's OLLL-Y.com. When you finally find your thing, you want the whole world to know about that thing. So you use a thing called Canva to make it an even bigger and better thing. whether you want to create flyers for that thing,

make presentations for that thing, or design merch for that thing. You can do anything. So people can see your thing, feel your thing, love your thing. The next thing you know, it's a thing. Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing. I think people underestimate the fact that

when you have been in this world of a show like this for so long, it is something that very few people can understand or can relate to. And I think there are, I've heard people say similar things about being like an athlete at the highest level or like being like an Olympic athlete that it's like people who have done it don't. Like the people who haven't done it don't understand how much you don't understand. And I think that they've been through all of these public relationships, breakups, humiliations, good moments, bad moments. you know, getting dragged on social media, XYZ, they are trauma bonded in a way. And I think we see that on lots of shows where it's like the contours of

friendships and the ups and downs aren't the same as like you and your friends in the group chat. Like it's just a completely different world that you're living in. And, you know, you don't have to like it. But it's like, I think these people, they like are there for each other in a way that is a, not quite the same as regular friendship. No, it's totally different. It's very, it's so different. And Ariana, honestly, when Lala told her that she sent her this voice memo,

Ariana actually handled it better than I thought. Yeah. Katie was more of like, what? I agree. I was, I was bracing myself for that conversation to go totally left. I was thinking that we were going to get like, you know, Lala v. Ariana in episode one. And it didn't really go that way.

I think Ariana, she doesn't have to like it, but I think she does understand it on at least some level. And also, like you were saying earlier, I think if we're being 100% real here, there is at least one layer of Lala reaching out to Raquel that's like, she did that because it made sense for the show. She went back in that alley with her little jumpsuit, her little leachart.

Like a fucking Grand Theft Auto character. Like the lighting back there, it was so cinematic. She looked, she looked perfect in her little body suit. Her little, you know, she looked so good. She was standing with the phone, the speaker phone, it's got to be like this. And I'm holding the phone, like the Kardashian speaker phone where it's like flat screen to the sky. Held with your fingertips. Held with your fingertips.

Here, Cal. And when I realized that it was like, a voice memo, a voice note on Instagram, I think. Not even like a, not even a text, not even a whatever. Yeah. She had to unblock Raquel so she could send it. Like that is, that's cinema. Cinema.

That's cinema. Like, that's why we're watching. Because it's, I think it's coming from a real place, but I also think like, Lala knows that, like, we got to get the ball rolling. Yeah. And I think whether or not, whether they knew at that moment that. Raquel was like a hard no for season 11. I think even if they did, that one voice memo kind of plants the seed of Raquel coming back any time in the next few years while Lala is still on the show, to be honest.

Because even if Ariana never wants to talk to her again, even if Sheena says she never wants to talk to her again, Lala leaving the crack in the door could be, that could be deployed at any time in the future. And I think that's, it's just smart reality TV production because once somebody is like introduced on the show, they never really go away. We got, we got Kristen coming back in the finale. We're getting Jacks this season for better or for worse. Like these people are, their like little character tiles are like still in the bag somewhere just waiting to be fished out. Yeah. Also, I mean, when you think about just everything we've gone through watching this show, like James was truly ostracized for like years.

Like no one talked to James. And yet he was still a full-time cast member. So it's like there is hope for Raquel. I don't know if her podcast is really helping or hurting her comeback. I have heard very little about it. Same. I've heard like two, I've heard she's like put out only two episodes.

Yeah. It's an interesting thing because obviously when she announced the podcast was coming out in January, it was like, oh, mess. see she's timing it to the new season but whatever like whatever PR machine is supposed to be at work there she's not getting the kind of pickup that

you would maybe be expecting like I saw way more about via all files than I have about anything from from uh from ranting with rale Rachel goes rogue oh yeah Rachel goes rogue

not ranting with a Raquel I don't know like blogger ass podcast name Reality with Rachel. I love them. There's like on TikToks, sometimes I'll see jokes about like when people start like small businesses and it's like treats by Toya.

Yeah. Ranting with Raquel. That should have been the name. Should have been the name. Branding expert over here. So going forward from this premiere, how are you feeling like on a scale of 1 to 10, And how optimistic are you about the prospects for this season? You know, I want to be optimistic, but I think I'm just a little hesitant because I don't know what is going to happen.

Like, I'm not that interested in watching Tom Sandoval go on dates. Like, that seems strange. I'm more interested to see, like, this Lala storyline. I'm loving James, like, sober James. like he seems to be in a really good place. Like, I mean, the fact he's doing better than Tom Schwartz, like, that's alarming. I don't know. How do you feel?

I feel so, like, in the middle. I agree. I think based on the premiere alone, the premiere was like as good as I reasonably expected it to be. And so in that sense, I'm like, yeah, I think this season will be fine. I hope it's better than fine. I really hope it's not worse than fine, but, like, I'm not really concerned about it being, like, unwatchable, if that makes sense. Like, I don't think it's going to be back to the depths of, like, season seven, eight, nine of Vanderpump Rules.

Like, I think we are, we have more momentum, thankfully. But I hope that they are able to sort of, like, balance the narrative of Scandival follow-up with something else. And that something else could be a. combination of things. It could be some big feud that we, I don't know, haven't been on the pulse of yet, but like I just hope that they are able to sort of have multiple balls in the air in the way that I think really any ensemble reality show needs. Like when you think about seasons of housewives, seasons that are too focused on one feud and the group just gets divided along those lines. Beverly Hills, we've seen it happen with Jersey too, where if it's just a season that's Teresa and Melissa don't

like each other. It's not, it's not really sustainable. You need a dynamic. You need something more dynamic than that. Yeah. So that's, that's my hope. And that is the one place where I get a little bit nervous about the size of the cast is that there's, I mean, it's not like so, so small for a reality show in general, but for Vanderpump rules, there's, there's less people than there have been in a long time. And I don't think that that really, it doesn't open up a lot of kind of like storyline pockets of opportunities. because there are only so many combinations of people, and we roughly know kind of where people stand with each other.

So I, you know, I'm excited that it's back. I thought the premiere, I had fun watching the premiere. I did think that it was a compelling hour of TV, and I hope that that's, you know, we can aim for that bar on a weekly basis. Yes. I don't know. I mean, I also just don't think it's good for our health to constantly be at that heightened state that we were in. Yeah.

skin of all. Like we needed, I needed to let some air out of these tires. Like I was going full force on the skin of all for months. Like I woke up every day thinking about it. It was really not okay. So I'm, I'm ready to kind of like move forward, but also I like that we're still kind of like picking up the pieces of it. Yeah. I think that I'm really glad that they didn't like rush out this season. Like it came back at a normal time for Vanderpump rules to come back. And I think if they had like thrown together the edit and tried to get this season on the air in like October, I would have been kind of like, what are we doing here? Like can we please just like proceed as normal? Yeah.

I know. I'm glad. I think they timed it perfectly. I think they timed it perfectly. You know, it took over that Salt Lake time slot, which, you know, was. Oh, I did miss my girls. A prosperous time. I know.

I've been seeing like Lisa Barlow got bangs. No. I'm really upset about it. We can. Yeah. We can't go there right now. It was like a jump scare on my timeline. I threw my phone.

I was like, what was that? I really wanted to think it was like AI. I thought it was like Clippins. It might be Clippins. No, she posted a picture of herself with the salon. Fuck. Yeah, no, they're real. They're real.

She's in crisis or something. Like, you don't get bangs when you're doing good. Maybe she's filming a Halloween movie too. Speaking of Halloween, Kyle Richards and Morgan. Oh, yeah. What's going on there? They've scrubbed each other from their respective Instagrams.

What's going on? I just am, I'm not ready for the, how they're going to spin a breakup between two people that never acknowledged that they were in relationship. It's like, are they like, yes. So Morgan and I have decided to go our separate ways as friends. As friends. As friends. Look, I have they, they have filmed the Beverly Hills reunion like last week. So I don't know if, I don't know.

Maybe, maybe Kathy came to the reunion and was like, what the fuck? Maybe Kathy came to. Maybe Kathy came to the reunion and was like, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, cuff the shit. She's like, it's her or me. Oh my God. What if Kathy said it's her or me? Cut the shit, Kyle. Cut the shit.

It's her or me. Kyle is going to pick Kath. Kyle's going to pick Kathy. Little Kathy. Oh my God, I can't. You'll have to come back when it's Beverly Hills reunion time because I just, I don't know. When I saw that Kathy Hilton was like coming out of her trailer, like, I'm like, why? I was like, why are you darkening our doorsteps again?

That's such a dramatic way to put it, but like, you're right. Like, oh, no, thank you. And then the three sisters, like did a photo shoot together. I'm like, can we just like, can we just like have a functioning group text? Like, it doesn't have to be a photo shoot. Yeah, like, you guys. They go from zero to 100 These girls

Right, it's like It doesn't need to be like a whole Let's do a family barbecue We don't need to do like a full court press That we're like speaking to each other again No, no, no But anyway I mean I suppose

I suppose it's giving us something to talk about So hallelujah But we will have more to talk about in the future But for today Sam, Thank you so much for joining me For this band or pump deep dive And tell everyone where they can follow you Not on Twitter sadly

Yeah, you guys I don't know what happened. I tweeted about Stanley Tumblr's, and next thing I know, I'm banned, like permanently banned from Twitter, and I'm devastated. You're devour. I'm so upset. I've tried appealing it 30 times. Every time it's like, sorry.

Yeah, Elon Musk is not home. Yeah, Elon Musk is like, this still comes from a Twitter email, not an ex-email, which makes me laugh. But anyway, you can follow me at Bravo Historian, or you can follow me at The Bachelor on Instagram, please go follow for all like entertainment, pop culture, memes, silliness, good times. Yes, we love it. Thank you, Sam. Thank you for being here. And thank you everyone for listening. Don't forget to rate with you and follow the show wherever you listen. You can

follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Betches. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool. Mentioned It All is produced by Dylan Hafer, Sean Kilby, Jorge Morales Pico, and Rebecca Sousa McCat. Editing by Horace Pico. Social media by Dylan Hafer, guest booking by Dylan Hafer and Ali Friedlander. Be sure to follow at Bravo by Betches on Instagram and Twitter. All. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly,

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