Will Charli Burnett return to Vanderpump Rules? Alum opens up about Scandoval

Reality TV show Vanderpump Rules has been a rollercoaster of drama and scandals throughout the seasons. Now Charli Burnett isn't sure about returning for the filming of Vanderpump Rules season 11. She was unknowingly involved in the Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss affair like the rest of the cast. While Charli hasn't given any confirmation about whether she will return to the show or not, she does seem unsure about the same.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the reality star opened up about Scandoval. She wondered how people put two and two together, noting that she was "so blind to things."

The term Scandoval was coined by fans and news houses to refer to Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' months-long affair behind Ariana Madix's back. While Ariana and Tom had been in a long-term relationship, she and Raquel were best friends.

The news of Leviss and Sandoval's affair broke out in March 2023 when Madix saw explicit FaceTime videos of Leviss on Sandoval's phone. The cheating scandal didn't just shock the cast members of Vanderpump Rules but also people across the world. It turned into one of the biggest scandals in the history of reality TV.

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Charli Burnett, an unknowing Vanderpump Rules Scandoval accomplice, opens up about the scandal

Before she joined Vanderpump Rules, Charli Burnett already had a connection with Raquel Leviss as they had originally met in the pageant circuit. However, Charli didn't know any of the other cast members as the brief given to her when she auditioned was different. Charli didn't realize what she was getting into when she joined the show in season 8.

As a new addition to the show, Charli Burnett believed in getting to know the cast members organically. However, she now feels like she should have done her research better.

She told Rolling Stone that she believed that by not watching the show, she could take everyone "how they were" and who they were without any "preconceived notions about them." However, she noted that she now feels like she should have watched the show so that she would have understood more of its history.

After initially appearing in season eight, Charli Burnett returned to the show on seasons nine and ten as well. She and her boyfriend Corey Loftus developed a close-knit bonding with Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix as they admired the former couple. It is worth noting that this was before news of Scandoval broke out.

Although Charli Burnett was cast more as a background character in the midst of the main cast drama, she accidentally came into the center of it. This happened thanks to all the scenes she filmed with Raquel Leviss in season 10. It also included the scene where she tagged along with Raquel to a guy's night at Mondrian’s Skybar, which was when the affair started.

Charli Burnett isn't happy with the fact that she was an unknown accomplice to Scandoval and told Rolling Stone:

“Watching those scenes back, anyone can be like, ‘I wish I saw or I wish I knew. How could you not put two and two together?’ I was so blind to things."

She noted that at the time, everyone was exhausted from filming and that there was a lot going on. Charli said that there are a lot of moving parts and that a lot of the time, people can't see things as clearly due to that.

Charli also said that while Sandoval didn't work at Lisa Vanderpump's co-own restaurant SUR for several years, she saw him at events and TomTom. She noted that this helped her understand who he was and that she saw a shift in his behavior once the affair began. Burnett added that the behavior change made her suspicious of him and said that the previous year felt like everyone was a pawn in Tom's "little game."

Charli Burnett who left before the finale believed that Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss were planning on trying to move away from the main cast after telling Ariana about their affair. She said:

"[Raquel] tried to socialize with [Charli instead of]...other cast members she was typically closer to. I’m starting to realize they had a plan to slowly pull away. Now looking back, even that night seems calculated."

Charli Burnett is unsure about returning for Vanderpump Rules season 11 but she believes there would be a change in the dynamics between the cast members.

Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion part 3 aired on June 7, 2023, at 9 pm ET on Bravo.