When Ann Maddox agreed to become the personal assistant for a Bravo reality TV star in December 2020, she thought she would be organizing closets and running errands while building out her acting résumé. Three years later, that gig has evolved into her being the primary mediator between a couple at the heart of one of reality television’s most explosive breakups.
Until just a few weeks ago, Ms. Maddox, 42, worked as the personal assistant for Tom Sandoval, one of the stars of “Vanderpump Rules,” who broke the internet last year when the news emerged that he had cheated on his longtime partner, Ariana Madix, with one of her best friends and fellow castmates, Raquel Leviss. The subsequent scandal (widely known by its nom de web, Scandoval) ricocheted across tabloids, initiating reactions from A-listers like Jennifer Lopez and Chris Pratt. The event catapulted Ms. Madix into a new level of fame, including a turn in “Chicago” on Broadway.
Throughout it all, Ms. Maddox (no relation to Ms. Madix) has had a front-row seat to the unfolding mayhem, though she has said that she had no prior knowledge of Mr. Sandoval’s affair.
Ms. Maddox said in an email on Tuesday that she had “brushed it off as tabloid hullabaloo” until a friend explained to her that it was real. “I was truly crushed,” she wrote. “It broke my heart and it took a long time for it to sink in.”
Ms. Maddox appeared on camera for the first time this season, which had its premiere Jan. 30, serving as mediator between the two bitter exes, who are still living in the same house. When they want to move from room to room, they alert Ms. Maddox, who runs interference.
In Episode 2, when Mr. Sandoval wants to have a birthday party at the house, it’s Ms. Maddox’s job to negotiate via text with Ms. Madix to get her permission. With her help, the two settle on a compromise: He can have the party, but everyone has to be out of the house by midnight. In addition to interceding in their domestic drama, Ms. Maddox is also charged with intercepting any letters or packages that Ms. Leviss might send to Mr. Sandoval, before Ms. Madix can see them.
Bravo fans immediately noticed the new cast member: “Tom Sandoval’s assistant Ann literally deserves the Nobel Peace Prize,” one fan account quipped on X.
Compared with the glammed-up, perfectly posed and poised “Vanderpump” stars, Ms. Maddox seems like a regular person who was suddenly dropped in front of a camera. Her bewilderment at the situation comes out of every scene in a way that nearly breaks the fourth wall. “Ann, do you get paid extra to clean up a mess like this?” Katie Maloney, one of the show’s other stars, asks in Episode 3.
Ms. Maddox’s sunny personality and distaste for confrontation makes the dynamic even more uncomfortable, especially as her fondness for Ms. Madix — despite a presumed allegiance to her boss, Mr. Sandoval — becomes increasingly obvious. In November, Ms. Maddox posted a photo of herself wearing a cheerleading uniform emblazoned with the words “Team Ariana” to root for her boss’s ex on “Dancing With the Stars.”
A Florida native and a graduate of the Florida State University Film School, Ms. Maddox worked in reality TV as a transcriber and assistant in postproduction before she began booking commercials and small TV roles. She had also been pursuing her love of comedy and improv. Last month, to coincide with the Season 11 premiere of “Vanderpump Rules,” Ms. Maddox started a comedy podcast with another former celebrity assistant called “We Signed an NDA” that promises to dissect “pop culture and modern celebrity, with a focus on reality TV, and platforms the voices Hollywood overlooks … without getting sued.”
Speaking on a recent episode of the podcast “The Viall Files,” Tom Schwartz, a fellow “Vanderpump Rules” cast member, said that Mr. Sandoval’s assistant “just resigned last week.” Over email, Ms. Maddox declined to be interviewed about her work for Mr. Sandoval or the circumstances of her departure. “My lips are sealed for now!” she wrote.
For now, Ms. Maddox is focused on building an audience for her podcast and working on her comedy career, though rumors are swirling in the Bravo universe that she has actually taken on a personal assistant gig for another celebrity: Mr. Sandoval’s ex, Ms. Madix.
Sumber: www.nytimes.com
