Look Back on Vanderpump Rules' Most Shocking Cheating Scandals

It's not about the pasta, but it is about the past.

As Vanderpump Rules fans continue to watch (and brace for) the fallout from Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' shocking affair—which led to the end of his nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix—they are also revisiting earlier seasons of the Bravo reality TV series, looking for any signs that something was amiss. And when you really dig deep into VPR's 10-season run, there are more red flags to be seen than at the U.N., with cheating scandals proving to be not so sexy and unique.  

In fact, Vanderpump Rules was built on the back of an affair involving Scheana Shay and the former husband of a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, while Tom was first accused of being unfaithful to Ariana quite early on in their relationship. And, against all odds, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright were able to survive his infidelity in season six, proving you could find happily ever after even if your significant other initially tells you to "rot in hell!"

So, as we anxiously await how the Tom and Raquel drama will play out in the currently airing season 10, get ready to raise your glasses and eyebrows high as we look back on all of Vanderpump Rules' cheating allegations over the years:

Let's not forget that we owe this entire series to Scheana Shay's affair with actor Eddie Cibrian, who was married to former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Brandi Glanville. Scheana dated him while Brandi was pregnant with their second child, and the two women's dramatic sitdown at SUR—coordinated by Lisa Vanderpump, naturally—was the segue from one episode of RHOBH to Vanderpump Rules. Sneakiest (and messiest) crossover ever!

After denying he cheated on Stassi Schroeder all season long, in the season one finale, Jax admits that the allegation that he cheated on her in Las Vegas, resulting in the woman getting pregnant with his child, is true, stunning Stassi and the rest of the cast that had defended and sided with him in the breakup.

One of the show's most infamous hookups went down in season two, when Jax confessed to sleeping with Kristen Doute, his best friend Tom Sandoval's longtime girlfriend and Stassi's best friend. Though Kristen initially refuted the claim, she finally admitted that they hooked up (but never kissed) during the finale. Oh, and it went down while Tom was sleeping in the other room and they were watching the Ryan Gosling movie Drive. This all culminated in Stassi delivering her now-infamous slap across Kristen's face, while Tom punched Jax. 

Seasons later, Kristen later admitted to cheating on Tom throughout their six-year relationship.

After Ariana Madix joined the cast in season two, Kristen quickly had suspicions about Tom's friendship with his fellow bartender. While the pair denied ever hooking up with Tom was dating Kristen—"I'm smarter than you," Ariana infamously responded. "I'm prettier than you. Get the f--Get the f--k over it"—Tom eventually admitted during the season two reunion that he and Ariana made out in a pool when they were both in Las Vegas.

When asked by Andy Cohen if she worried about Tom's past after he confessed to "cheating on Kristen a few times," Ariana said, "I've been friends with him for three years. I know him really well. It's not a thing for me—at all." (Sigh.)

After Tom and Ariana announced they were officially together, Kristen revealed season three that a woman reached out to her on Instagram claiming to have hooked up with Tom while he was in Miami with Jax and Schwartz. Kristen even brought "Miami Girl" into SUR to confront Tom, but Ariana didn't take the allegation seriously after Tom vehemently denied the claims and the couple left.

At the time, however, Jax seemingly threw his friend under the bus by backing up the claim. And after Tom and Arian's breakup, Jax, who left the show in 2020, tweeted a cryptic message.

"I've called a lot of things on that show that people never believed," he wrote. "Everything I say always ends being true."

"I've called a lot of things on that show that people never believed," he wrote. "Everything I say always ends being true."

After Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney got married in 2016, he confessed to drunkenly making out with one of Lala Kent's friends in season six.

When Schwartz was asked about the story, his memory was fuzzy. "There's no way. No, it couldn't have been," he says in a 2018 episode. "Yeah, I remember going to The Bungalow, but I definitely don't remember making out with anybody. I got s--tfaced that night, I remember that."

Schwartz later addresses his behavior in a confessional, admitting, "I truly and honestly am baffled."

But it wasn't the first time Schwartz cheated on Katie while he was blackout drunk, admitting to kissing another woman while he was inebriated in season three. 

After 12 years together, Katie and Schwartz announced their breakup in March 2022. 

In a 2014 episode, Jax claimed Katie cheated on Tom Schwartz by "motorboating" an unnamed man, sharing that he'd heard the story from Scheana. Katie was furious over the allegation and Scheana eventually apologized to her co-star.

"I never once said she cheated. I said what I saw," Scheana wrote in a Bravo blog. "After talking to Katie about it, I realize that it wasn't what it seemed. When she bent down to take her shoes off, her head was in that region. Also, in her drunken state when she was dancing shaking her head back and forth it definitely looked like she was 'motorboating' this guy. She DID NOT cheat...I simply felt like she crossed the line."

After some serious sleuthing—including looking at Uber receipts—Kristen deduced her boyfriend James Kennedy cheated on her with one of Scheana's friends in season four. He denied it to her face, only saying they may have kissed,  but later admitted in an interview, "The truth is, Jenna and I were definitely boning." And a new iconic .GIF was born!

But that wasn't the only time James cheated on Kristen, as the DJ also hooked up with Lala (who believed he was single at the time) and another SUR hostess, Lauren, who was in a relationship with another employee at the restaurant.

After his breakup with Kristen, James began dating student and beauty pageant contestant Raquel Leviss in season five. The pair quickly faced cheating allegations when Scheana and Kristen crashed one of James' DJ gigs with three former SUR empoyees who claimed that they hooked up with him (they even took photos of James sleeping) while he was dating Raquel.

James denied all of the women's stories and the couple continued to date, calling it quits in 2021 after five years together. Following their split, James confessed to having sex with Lala at the beginning of his relationship with Raquel.

"For some reason, I was very naive back in the day and I thought James never cheated on me," Raquel told E! News in February. "But this clarified that he definitely has cheated on me multiple times. That was definitely a hard pill to swallow."

It was another season, another cheating scandal for Jax in 2017 when he fessed up to hooking up with former SUR waitress Faith Stowers. Though he initially denied it in the season six premiere, Jax came clean after his girlfriend Brittany Cartwright confronted him—all while wearing a Taco Bell sweatshirt. 

"This isn't my first time being caught cheating," Jax said in a solo interview. "In the past, I've gone through months and months of deny, deny, deny, and that didn't work for me." He went on to say that he and Brittany had hit a rough patch (which was seen on their spinoff, Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky), which led him to hook up with Faith.

Jax's admission, of course, devastated Brittany, who delivered her infamous "Rot in hell!" line in response. While Brittany initially broke up with Jax, the couple quickly reconciled and ended up getting married in June 2019. They welcomed their son Cruz two years later.

The BCU (Bravo Cinematic Universe) was shaken on March 3 when it was confirmed that Sandoval and Ariana had ended their nine-year relationship amid the revelation that he'd had a seven-month affair with Raquel. (An insider told E! News that cameras were rolling on the cast when the news broke, meaning the drama will play out on the show's currently airing 10th season.)

"I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made reckless decisions that hurt somebody I love," the TomTom co-owner wrote in an apology on Instagram March 8. "No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly."

He added, "My biggest regret is that I dishonored Ariana. I never meant to disappoint so many people, including our loving families and friends."

Raquel also issued a public apology to Ariana, saying she had "no excuse" for her actions. In a follow-up statement, Raquel addressed the future of her relationship with Tom.

"I need to take care of my health, work on self-growth and take time to be ok with being alone," Raquel told E! News in a statement. "I care for Tom, and I don't want to label anything or predict what lies ahead. Right now, I need to heal."

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)