Vanderpump Rules boss Alex Baskin set social media on fire when he teased the
third and final round of the Bravo reunion.

Like a game of telephone, his quotes about new revelations that are set to be
revealed turned into viewers anticipating a �bombshell� new piece of
information, something that the cast apparently doesn�t know about that is so
big, they should wait to see it before determining if they even want to
return for the already renewed 11th season of the mega-popular reality
series.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Baskin wants to clarify � and also
expand, and titillate, on that tease.

�There are revelations and developments that left even our heads spinning,�
says the executive producer, who has been with the show for all 10 seasons,
of what he refers to as the Part 3 post-reunion twist. �We wind down the day
of [filming the reunion] and then a few days later, there�s yet another
development. It isn�t something the group witnessed at the time. So I think
they�re going to have to respond to it when they see it.�

Baskin confirms that the �twist� indeed applies to Scandoval, the term used
for the news breaking that castmates Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss had a
months-long affair. The Bravo series famously captured the fallout,
particularly for Sandoval�s partner of nine years and Leviss� friend, star
Ariana Madix, since the news broke after the season wrapped filming. The
first opportunity the cast had to confront Sandoval and Leviss was at the
reunion, which was filmed in March. Below, Baskin goes behind the scenes of
the reunion that has captivated the country and confirms that viewers will
indeed be shocked along with the cast, who have not yet seen Part 3, come
Wednesday night: �The timeline evolves.�

Part 3 of the Vanderpump Rules Reunion is the part that focuses on Raquel
Leviss. What can we expect to learn?

You can expect to learn a lot. What made this reunion different than any
other was that we, as a production, had no idea what was going to happen.
Usually we have some sense. There�s great anticipation for Raquel to come out
[in Part 3]. I will say that whatever anyone thinks of what she did this past
season, it was brave of her to face the music, knowing everyone is at full
tilt.

And there is, as we�ve been teasing, a twist at the end of the reunion. So I
think it�s the perfect capper to a season unlike any other. We wind down the
day of [filming the reunion] and then a few days later, there�s yet another
development. I�ll just say this isn�t a garden-variety getting-the-group-
together-to-recap show or, in this case, just Raquel speaking her piece of
apologies to Ariana. There are revelations and developments that left even
our heads spinning.

I�m going to circle back on that in a minute. First, was there ever a moment
where it looked like Raquel might not participate?

We didn�t know until probably about a week before that she was actually going
to do the reunion, and then we still had contingency plans in case. The final
episode, the one we got up and running once the whole Scandoval situation
broke out, she filmed with Tom [Sandoval]. After they shot together, I think
there was real concern on her part about going forward. She wasn�t speaking
to us at that point; we were talking to her representatives. But there was a
point in time in which we didn�t have contact, so we didn�t know whether she
would show to the reunion or not.

And then about a week before, we received firm assurances she would be there.
But we still didn�t know. We were prepared for any and all eventualities. We
shot the one-on-one interviews with the principals involved in the situation:
Tom and Ariana and Raquel. We shot Tom�s and Ariana�s interviews the night
before, and we held filming Raquel�s for the day of the reunion, in case
there was any concern that Raquel might shoot the one-on-one and then not
appear at the reunion. But by that point, she was pretty dead-set on going to
the reunion and dealing with what she needed to; looking Ariana in the eyes
and standing up and taking accountability for what she had done.

And clearing some things up?

Some. There were some questions that lingered. There was also a lot of
emotion. One of the reasons we did the one-on-ones was because we knew the
reunion itself would be so heavily charged, that we thought having the sit-
down interviews with Andy [Cohen] might elicit different information and have
a different tone. There is the reunion itself, and then the coda in which
more is revealed.

Was there anything left on the cutting room floor from the one-on-ones that
you wish you got in, or that will be included in the extended Peacock
versions?

Not a ton. We had to balance the one-on-ones with the reunion itself, and so
we had to really thread the needle of wanting them to yield information on
their own, but also not wanting to preempt the reunion. Some information
overlapped; frankly, it�s more interesting to see the group respond to the
information. But there also might have been some discrepancies in the one-
on-one compared to the group. So we play those out. And then there�s the
final beat that I keep teasing, which reveals even more.

You were also dealing with a temporary restraining order that Raquel filed
against Scheana Shay, which she dropped after filming. If you could have had
them onstage together, is there anything you wished could have played out
differently, or are you satisfied with what you got?

Both. The way that it played out was really dramatic; we learned how to count
to 100 yards. We always cover reality and the reality was there was a
restraining order between those two people. I do wish we could have gotten
them together because they had a lot to say to each other. Raquel and Scheana
had what they both thought was a real friendship; there was an intensity in
feelings there. So I wish they could have hashed out their issues. Then the
day of, Raquel wanted to drop the restraining order, so there was preliminary
paperwork that was given to Andy that Andy then presented to Scheana [in Part
2 of the reunion]. I wish in some parallel universe that Raquel could have
handed that to Scheana, because of the dramatic effect of that. But, we were
not lacking for any conflict or any drama. Who knows; maybe that will happen
next season on the show.

Attending the reunion is part of their contractual obligations, but Scandoval
backlash, mental health issues and that TRO made for extenuating
circumstances. If anyone on the cast said they weren�t going to participate,
would you have allowed that? And are you shocked everyone did participate in
the end?

Yes. As intense as the reunion is, for the production the hard work goes into
getting there in the first place. And this was as difficult and as intense of
a few weeks as you can imagine. If you look at the timeline: We learned about
the affair on March 2; Ariana learned on March 1. We had cameras up on March
3. Then the reunion itself was on March 23. When you consider dealing with
the fallout of all of that, then shooting the additional [finale] episode and
getting the reunion ready, under all the variables that the reunion entailed,
it was a lot.

Of course, our best-case scenario was that everyone would show so that we
could tell the full story. But ultimately, there�s a contractual requirement
and there�s a reality that you can�t make anyone do something that they are
just intent on not doing. We were concerned about everyone�s well-being. And
that�s why initially, when Raquel didn�t seem like she was going to go, or at
least there was doubt and she wasn�t in communication with us at that point,
it isn�t like we would have forced her to do so. Our feeling was that if she
was going to go, it would be on her own accord and she would have to be OK
with that situation. And if she wasn�t, we would have been disappointed from
a storytelling standpoint, but we also would have understood. And that goes
with anyone there. In covering peoples� lives, we can�t force them to do
anything that they don�t do of their own volition. Sometimes it means that
they don�t want to be there, but that�s different from making the decision
not to be there for whatever reason, especially for mental health.

Did Tom Sandoval try to get out of filming?

Sandoval never tried to get out of the reunion. I thought, �Would I have
gone?� I don�t know! He was never in doubt. He obviously was dreading it, and
that�s to be understood. But I think he always anticipated that he would go,
and I think he was pleased to have the one-on-one interview as well so that
he could speak his piece separate and apart from the crowd.

You have sent TikTok on fire with your comment that the cast will want to
watch Part 3 before signing on for season 11. That seems to not be exactly
what you said. Can you clarify?

It�s so funny because I�ve gotten all sorts of really aggressive messages
from people, including that I will be �crucified� if there�s disappointment
in what happened compared to what I built it up to be. What I would say is,
by any reunion standpoint, it is a super-explosive event and it is a big
twist. Raquel is not pregnant. There�s no story that involves aliens or
dragons! But what I had said was that it�s a twist at the end of reunion
that, if we were in production, the cast would have responded to. And it�s
one of the many reasons that we wanted to take a moment between the reunion
airing and going back into production.