Scheana Shay really wants to see the good in her longtime friend Tom Sandoval after he cheated on Ariana Madix.
In PEOPLE's exclusive look at the May 7 season finale episode of Vanderpump Rules, Scheana, 39, tells Ariana, 38, how Sandoval, 41, covered the cost of airfare for the “sound operator person” for his band Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras.
“I’m seeing that genuine side of him that I’ve loved for 15 years that has been a good friend to me,” Scheana says in the clip. “And I’m hoping he’s changing and becoming better.”
Throughout the season, Scheana has grappled with maintaining her friendship with Tom in the wake of the Scandoval.
“It’s just the same thing over and over, Scheana,” Ariana tells cameras in a confessional. “I don’t know why she thinks that somehow she knows this man better than I do, but alright, girl. Happy for ya.”
The mom of 3-year-old daughter Summer Moon continues to tell Ariana that she wants to see “if he’s on a path of growth.”
“Don’t talk to me about that, path of growth,” Ariana responds. “He’s an ex-boyfriend of mine who does not deserve to be in my presence and breathe the same air as me and that will not change."
Scheana felt differently. “I feel like you want different apologies from him,” the Scheananigans podcast host says.
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Ariana staunchly refutes that, telling Scheana, “I don’t want him to speak to me ever again.”
The Dancing with the Stars alum believes an apology seems “very much beyond” Sandoval at this time. “I don’t want any apologies,” Ariana concludes.
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Earlier in the season, Tom and Scheana butted heads because she told she’d written a song alluding to his affair with Rachel "Raquel" Leviss. But in the April 30 episode, the Schwartz & Sandy's co-owner felt like they’d been on the path to mending their friendship.
“I feel like Scheana and I have really come a long way,” he said. “We're really starting to become friends again and then it's like, go profit off my pain. It’s just like Tom is going to collateral damage in this, I don’t give a s---. I gotta put my track out. If Scheana was really caring about mending things, she wouldn’t have done this.”
