Scheana Shay thought James Kennedy and Raquel Leviss were only 'on pause' at the 'Vanderpump Rules' reunion

• "Vanderpump Rules" stars James Kennedy and Raquel Leviss ended their engagement in December 2021.
• The day after, they filmed the season nine reunion and broke the news to their castmates.

"Vanderpump Rules" fans watched Tuesday night as James Kennedy and Raquel Leviss told their castmates they'd broken off their engagement. But their costar Scheana Shay told Insider that, at the time, she didn't even know that the breakup was a breakup.

During filming, which took place last December, Leviss even handed back Kennedy his ring. The couple later established on Instagram that month that they had fully broken up.

"When [Leviss] said, 'We're calling off the engagement,' in the reunion, I didn't know that meant, 'We're breaking up.' I just thought they were going to put a pause ... So I was like, 'Oh wow.' Was not expecting that," Shay told Insider.

She added, "It was super shocking because you know, I mean, we've just spent months celebrating them and their engagement."

Much of season nine was dedicated to watching Kennedy prepare for his proposal to Leviss, which took place at a "music festival" he and costar Tom Sandoval planned. The season also featured the couple's subsequent engagement party.

The couple, who had been dating since 2016, seemed to be in a good place leading up to the breakup announcement on December 5, 2021.

"Pump" costar Ariana Madix even shared on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" two days later that she and her longtime boyfriend Sandoval had just been to Disneyland with the couple and "never would have thought anything was amiss."

But Shay said she had a small inkling that something might've been amiss between the couple.

"The one thing where it seemed, not like off, but they weren't setting a date and they were pushing it to 2023," the reality star said.

"And I'm like, 'OK, you just want to have a long engagement,'" she continued. "Or they're not ready to get married. It's one or the other."

As viewers saw on Tuesday night, Leviss said she had been "having nightmares" about their potential wedding day, and both Kennedy and Leviss stated they weren't each other's soulmates. That was reiterated in their matching Instagram posts in December, which said, "We love each other very much, but we aren't in love anymore."

Shay told Insider that following the newly single Leviss and Kennedy could be an interesting plot for a potential season 10.

"I think if there is a season 10 ... seeing James and Raquel single and chasing their dreams and dating and all of that ... I think there's so much story to tell with us," said Shay.

Bravo's "Vanderpump Rules" two-part season nine reunion concludes on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.