Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright‘s wedding was just days away when the March 3 episode of Vanderpump Rules kicked off. So that meant Jax had a very important decision to make before they left Los Angeles. Last week, Jax had disinvited Tom Sandoval from the wedding altogether, but this week, Stassi had convinced both him and Brittany that they might regret it one day if Tom didn’t attend the wedding. Jax didn’t really agree, but since Brittany did, he swallowed his pride and forgave Tom. Tom shed some tears and then, during Jax’s private confessional, he revealed that he didn’t really want to apologize to Tom, but he said his life would be much easier if he just pretended to not care about their fight anymore.
So in the end, Tom Sandoval was not only re-invited to attend the wedding, but Jax allowed him to be in his party again, too. The only different this time around was that Tom Schwartz would be the one standing next to Jax — not Sandoval. And to his credit, Sandoval received the news in the best way possible. He didn’t put up a fight — he just admitted in his confessional that while the decision wasn’t a huge surprise, it still hurt his feelings.
Meanwhile, Ariana struggled to find enthusiasm to attend her own birthday party, while Stassi forwent celebrating hers altogether. Yes, we know — that decision left us completely stunned as well. Year after year, Stassi has made it very clear that everyone must bow down to her on her birthday, and while that’s usually entertaining to watch, there was something refreshing about her more humble approach to this year’s big day. She didn’t even want Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney or Beau to sing “Happy Birthday” to her when they surprised her with a little cupcake at a cafe.
Later, Raquel revealed that when she went to bed early one night and left her phone in her purse, James feared she was cheating on him, so he sent her a string of hurtful text messages. The comments were so harsh that Raquel could barely read them aloud during her confessional. And she was “embarrassed” to tell anyone about them either. But despite calling her a “slut”, a “whore”, and telling her that he’d “never” marry her, James didn’t think he did anything wrong. In fact, he blamed Raquel for his fiery behavior, saying if she hadn’t gone out and ignored his calls and text messages, then he wouldn’t have lashed out and panicked.
Fortunately, Raquel told James that his behavior was unacceptable no matter what the circumstances were, and she gave him an ultimatum — he either needed to stop drinking or she’d leave him. So James told Raquel he’d stop drinking and start going to AA meetings. The only question now is: will it stick?
Want more drama? New episodes of Vanderpump Rules air Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo.