Longtime Vanderpump Rules couple Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval are making the most of their other ventures before filming ramps up for what will be the show’s ninth season.
Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, fans wondered how that would affect the show’s filming.
It only made the concerns greater with the announcements of several key cast members revealing they would not return.
First, the production fired Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doutte after alleged racist behavior. Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni also left the show.
Then, Jax Taylor and his wife, Brittany Cartwright, shocked both their fans and co-stars when they announced they wouldn’t return.
Thankfully, it was recently revealed that despite all the obstacles, Vanderpump Rules would return for another season.
During a recent interview with Heavy, Ariana and Tom cleared up mixed messages about the upcoming season.
Ariana and Tom dish on new Season of Vanderpump Rules
The coronavirus pandemic heavily affected Vanderpump Rules’s production. Ariana noted the Vanderpump Rules cast also contributed to the unpredictability.
“It’s always so funny, because you never know with our show, our cast has always been so unpredictable, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” she shared.
Ariana also clarified filming for the new season hasn’t begun yet, but she and Tom were “in touch with pretty much everybody” and were excited to get back to filming.
She continued, “We’re so excited to start filming! We start filming this month, and I love that people were looking forward to it and excited about the news that we were going to go back to filming…I know I keep saying we’re excited, but we’re really excited, and I can’t wait to hangout with everybody!”
Shortly after the announcement that Vanderpump Rules would return, teaser trailers arrived, hinting the cast already filmed the season.
Ariana took to her Instagram stories to clear the air.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this but we haven’t actually started filming Season 9 yet,” she captioned the post.
Tom says he ‘couldn’t have done this without Ariana’
In 2019, Ariana and Tom released their book, Fancy AF Cocktails: Drink Recipes from a couple of Professional Drinkers, where they shared plenty of tasty drink recipes.
And while they’ve had plenty of fun sharing their recipes with their fans and followers alike, they’ve also recently stepped into a new market — recovery and mocktails.
According to Ariana, their newest mocktails help to “get rid of those post-party headaches and heartburn and all the symptoms that you’re dealing with from the night before.”
Although their book covers a few select recovery drinks, Ariana admitted they are one of their most requested recipes. Tom worked at expanding their recipes list.
“When our book first came out, there were a lot of people that were like, ‘Do you have recovery? Do you have mocktails?’,” Ariana shared. “We have a section in our book dedicated to recovery, but I feel like there’s just so many options and Tom started really getting into the Alka-Seltzer as a recovery.”
The ongoing project required the couple to work closely with one another, which is no easy feat. But Ariana said they made it work despite the “ups and downs.”
“Ariana and I are both very different people, and we both have our strengths and weaknesses,” Tom added. “I feel like that’s one of the reasons why: A. the book even happened and B. it made it so well rounded and something that we could be so proud of.”
“I mean, I couldn’t have done this without Ariana.”
Vanderpump Rules is currently on hiatus on Bravo.