Scheana Shay Reveals How Tom Sandoval Saved Her 3 Years Before Scandal

Peacock Scheana Shay.

Scheana Shay gave new insight into why she’s having such a hard time letting go of her friendship with Tom Sandoval.

In March 2023, Shay and most of the “Vanderpump Rules”  cast distanced themselves from Sandoval following his shocking cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss. The group showed support for his blindsided ex, Ariana Madix.

But in a sneak peek from the episode “Saw it on the Graham,” posted by Bravo.com, Shay revealed just how close her friendship with the bar owner was.

In a scene shot with Lala Kent, Shay revealed that Sandoval helped her out financially during the COVID pandemic.

Scheana Shay Said Tom Sandoval Gave Her Thousands of Dollars When She Was Broke

PeacockScheana Shay and Tom Sandoval.

While talking to Kent during a cast trip to Lake Tahoe, Shay dropped the surprising detail about her friendship with Sandoval.  “The thing is we’re not welcoming him back into this group with open arms to be our best friend,” Shay said of Sandoval. “I just know I can never be friends with him again.”

Kent agreed it was sad.

“That’s where I’m struggling,” Shay continued. “Do you remember drying the pandemic when I had no income, and I woke up one day to a massive PayPal from Sandoval? Because I had no money and I had nothing coming in.”

In a confessional, Shay said, “During the pandemic, I woke up to several thousand dollars in my account. He knew I was struggling at the time. My podcast got canceled. I’m pregnant. I had no income. And he was there for me in a time when no one else was.”

Shay admitted to Kent that she was having difficulty cutting Sandoval out of her life completely. “I’m struggling here,” she cried.  “I’m not saying I want to be his best friend, I’m not saying come over for [expletive] dinner… I am struggling not forgiving this human who has been there for me.”

Shay clarified that she wasn’t “feeling torn.” “I’m Team Ariana ‘til the day I die,” she said.

Fans have seen Sandoval help out financially in the past. In season 9, he forked out thousands of dollars to help James Kennedy pull off a lavish Coachella-themed proposal to Leviss.

Former co-star Jax Taylor previously weighed in on Sandoval’s acts of kindness. “This is the thing about Tom, what he does,” Taylor said on the “Vanderpump Rules Aftershow.” “I know people say look at all the stuff he does.  To me — and I don’t mean this the wrong way – it’s ‘Look what I did,  look what I did.’”

Tom Sandoval is Devasted Over the Loss of His Friendship With Scheana Shay

PeacockTom Sandoval

Shay previosuly talked about how hard she struggles with not having Sandoval as a friend anymore. In the episode “The Dog Days of Summer,” she noted that Madix insinuated their group take sides in the split. “This hasn’t been easy, for me especially,” Shay said. “He was genuinely one of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. Is it worth losing Ariana? Ariana made it very clear that anyone who chooses to remain friends with Tom Sandoval is basically dead to her.”

Shay noted that Sandoval was also struggling amid the affair fallout, and she questioned, “If someone is really struggling at this level, how do I keep coming for him?”

“I’m mad that he did all of this and I miss my friend,” she told Madix in another scene. “I can’t keep hating him for you.”

Sandoval said his friendship with Shay is what he missed the most out of everything he lost post- Scandoval. “I would say out of everyone, the loss of Scheana and I’s friendship has been devasting to me,” he said in the episode “You’re Not the Queen of My Group.” “Scheana’s a friend that’s just, she’s all heart. She’s funny. I miss her,” he said.

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