The Vanderpump Rules Season 11 premiere was certifiably good as gold — but it was missing one key player in the friend group’s ongoing drama: Tom Sandoval, otherwise known as the “worm with a mustache.”
The episode picks up mere months after Sandoval’s shocking affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss was uncovered by his then-girlfriend, Ariana Madix.
While she and the rest of the West Hollywood gang continue to rebuild their lives in light of Scandoval, the bar owner is nowhere to be found throughout a majority of the episode.
So, was Tom Sandoval fired from Vanderpump Rules? Why wasn’t he in the Season 11 premiere?
We’ve got answers for you — keep reading for everything we know.
No, Sandoval was not fired from Vanderpump Rules. He will be joining longtime co-stars Madix, Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz, Lala Kent, Scheana Shay, James Kennedy and Lisa Vanderpump for Season 11. Shay’s husband, Brock Davies, and Kennedy’s girlfriend, Ally Lewber, will also appear on the show.
The only cast member who didn’t return post-Scandoval was Leviss, who previously told Bethenny Frankel‘s Just B podcast listeners, “I refuse to not respect myself on that level where I would endure that emotional abuse any longer. I can’t do that to myself.”
The answer is yes and no. While Sandoval didn’t film any new scenes for the premiere, editors did include him a handful of flashback reels. Plus, the episode ends with him coming back to his shared home with Madix. Therefore, his return will likely be front and center in next week’s episode.
In case you missed it, Madix reveals early in the episode that Sandoval was absent from the Season 11 premiere because he was still in New Zealand filming Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test — which is a competition show that puts a group of celebrities through a rugged military-style boot camp until one is left standing.
While Sandoval made it to the show’s finale, he voluntarily bowed out in the middle of the final task when medics deemed his fervent shaking “overdramatic” — but prior to his exit, he memorably learned to tap dance with Jojo Siwa and even was carried on the back of the former Dance Moms star.
Vanderpump Rules airs every Tuesday at 8/7c on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.