The good news is, Vanderpump Rules Season 11 is currently in production.
The bad news is, the show might look very different from what we’re accustomed to.
Now, from a ratings standpoint, Tom Sandoval’s affair with Raquel “Rachel” Leviss is the best thing that could’ve happened to this show.
But there are a number of reasons why it might not be great for the future of the series.
There’s a chance that everything will feel like anti-climax after such a bonkers scandal, especially since the principal players might never appear on camera together.
As we previously reported, Leviss has yet to film a single scene for season 11.
The artist formerly known as Raquel fled Los Angeles at the height of the Scandoval drama for 100-day stay at an Arizona mental health facility.
She’s since completed her stay, but she hasn’t gone in front of a camera.
Bravo has Raquel/Rachel under contract, but the mental health aspect of her absence could provide a loophole that would allow her to walk away and remain in compliance with California labor laws.
Raquel took a ton of flak after news of the affair went public, and she was relentlessly bullied by Ariana stans.
So it should come as no surprise that she’s looking to be compensated for all that misery.
Reps for Leviss have denied that she’s seeking a more lucrative contract, but production insiders recently confirmed that negotiations have become intense.
Raquel may not have many fans these days, but she has one outspoken supporter in Bethenny Frankel.
The former Real Housewives of New York star spoke to Entertainment Tonight this week and defended Raquel’s decision to secure the bag.
“She’s not the first person in the world that’s had an affair…You were wrong, you slept with someone’s boyfriend. It happens,” Frankel said.
“You work in a bar on a reality television show, the most toxic environment in history. I didn’t think it was a big deal but, of course, the media gods came through and were marketing it like it was the friggin’ election,” she continued.
“The girl was a punching bag for everybody on every talk show in the entertainment industry.
“So you get beaten up? Like Erika Jayne did, get paid. You’re gonna put me in a ring with Mike Tyson, I’m gonna get paid.”
Someone who’s probably less sympathetic to Raquel’s plight is Ariana, who has been filming — but not with Sandoval.
Yes, according to a new report from TMZ, Tom and Ariana have yet to appear on camera together.
The outlet claims that producers have been pushing for an on-camera chat between the exes, but Ariana is not interested.
Obviously, that’s bad news for VPR fans who were hoping for maximum drama from the new season.
Filming on season 11 began in June and is scheduled to continue through August, so there’s still time for a late-summer showdown.
But the clock is ticking, and right now, it looks as though the main Scandoval combatants are planning to continue keeping their distance from one another.