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The spurned former cast members of Vanderpump Rules<\/em><\/a> are locked in a bitter war of words over what went wrong that had caused bosses to boot out the entire cast \u2013 with Tom Sandoval<\/strong><\/a> and Ariana Madix<\/strong><\/a> right at the center of the off-screen blame game drama.<\/span><\/p>\n Bravo announced on November 26 the show would be returning for a 12th season \u2013 but with a brand-new cast. People<\/em> reported that the dramatic shake up was due to showrunners having \u201cno way forward\u201d with the current cast, emphasizing the firings were \u201ccompletely driven by creative\u201d decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, a source exclusively tells Life & Style<\/em> that members of the current cast basically gave them no options with how to handle the show\u2019s future because of behind-the-scenes feuding. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that Ariana refused to film with Tom, and the fact is their storyline was the only one the viewers really cared about, so it put the producers in a very tough spot,\u201d the insider says.<\/span><\/p>\n The difficulty the reality stars created began driving producers mad and making execs at the network nervous. \u201cThere\u2019s only so many reaction scenes they can do with other cast members,\u201d the source notes, \u201cto keep the show interesting, they needed Tom and Ariana to work together.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, after Ariana, 39<\/a>, discovered Tom, 42, was having an affair with costar Raquel Leviss<\/strong> in March 2023, getting them to cooperate on the show together has been tricky, to say the least. The former couple confirmed their relationship in season 2 in 2014, a year after Ariana joined the cast, and successfully navigated nine-years worth of challenges as a couple on the show before dropping the bombshell news of their split.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like rock bottom,\u201d Ariana told People<\/em> of the breakup. \u201cI\u2019ve gone through other stuff before on the show but nothing like this at all. But there\u2019s nowhere else to go from rock bottom except up. So honestly, realizing that really helped me come out of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While the insider does concede that \u201cAriana might have good reason not to want to see Tom\u2019s face<\/a>,\u201d the obstinate refusal to deal with him after his betrayal has caused chaos for the show, which was \u201cbuilt around having the cast interact as a whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it threw a huge wrench in things and now that the show got canned of course there\u2019s a lot of blame being directed towards Ariana,\u201d the source adds.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not the only issue, a lot of people are whispering that the salary demands from her, and from LaLa, were also an issue, so fingers are also being pointed at her over that aspect too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Despite blame being thrown in her direction, the source makes a point to add, \u201cAriana doesn\u2019t care<\/a>,\u201d about the rumors or the accusations, \u201cShe\u2019s got so many opportunities, not being tied to the show anymore is a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n