But his words may have serious repercussions on his future at Bravo.
“They [producers] had no clue he was doing this, of course not. They never would have allowed it,” an insider told The Sun.
“They’re putting so much time and energy into making sure the rest of the season is better than any other season and hyping up the reunion.”
“So, him pulling this b–h move is basically producers’ worst-case scenario,” the source added.
And while it’s unclear what awaits Sandoval, the outlet’s sources close to the network say that “no one on the cast would be shocked or upset if he was fired.”
It’s said that Bravo’s top dogs found out about Sandoval’s interview when Mandel announced it earlier this week.
“They’ve been freaking out and basically scrambling since,” the source added, saying the producers “have no idea what he is going to reveal so they’re watching it in shock along with the fans.”
“Him doing this is a big ‘f–k you’ to all of them,” the insider added.
Page Six has reached out to Bravo and reps for Sandoval for comment.
“I had already broken up with her two weeks earlier, and I told her, I said, ‘Listen, we don’t have to post anything on social media, like, let’s talk through this,’” he alleged.
Sandoval claimed that they kept the split between them, so they could “figure out a way to navigate this that helps us both out and makes it easier” — but asserted that Madix, 37, was in “denial.”
For “Vanderpump Rules” star Peter Madrigal, hindsight is 20/20.
Madrigal — who went on a few dates with co-star Raquel Leviss around the start of her secret romance with Tom Sandoval — admitted he overlooked signs that the two were hooking up behind Sandoval’s girlfriend Ariana Madix’s back.
“I kind of dismissed it,” the SUR general manager, 38, explained in Monday’s episode of the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast.
Madrigal said he “saw some things” but thought to himself, “‘Sandoval is loyal to Ariana. He would never do something like that.’”
The Bravolebrity noted that he did not want to “get into details about what [he] saw” between Leviss, who waits tables at SUR, and Sandoval, whom he considered to be a close friend.
Madrigal called the duo’s months-long affair “a shocker,” mostly because he “thought [he] knew Sandoval.”
The restaurateur repeatedly expressed how “disappointed” he is in his former pal, adding of Leviss, “I thought she was a good person, but then again, I hardly knew her.”
Madrigal also wondered whether the former beauty pageant queen, 28, had agreed to go out with him those handfuls of times as a “ploy” or “distraction” for her dalliance with Sandoval, 40, which Page Six reported “began last summer.”
Though he started to develop genuine feelings for her, Madrigal recalled noticing “a separation” while pursuing Leviss, saying things “got weird.”
“I think in the back of my mind, there was something else going on, which is now confirmed,” he shared. “She was already picking her next target.”
He also issued her a stark warning: “Raquel, watch out because, in nine years, [Sandoval’s] probably gonna leave you for someone else.”
Despite his strong feelings toward the secret lovers, the reality star does have some sympathy for Sandoval’s best friend-turned-business partner, Tom Schwartz — even though many believe he had knowledge of the pair’s illicit romance.
“I’d hate to be in his position right now,” Madrigal said. “I love Schwartz, and I’d hate to be in his shoes right now.”
At its best — or worst — reality TV is filled with scandalous affairs, brutal betrayals and light girl-on-girl violence.
But rarely do the exploits of its stars generate interest beyond fervent fans and Andy Cohen’s bank account.
That changed, however, this week, when the world was strangely gripped by Scandoval, a cheating scandal that’s torn apart the cast of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules,” a decade-old reality show with aging stars and dwindling viewership — until now.
Those who deemed themselves above any interest in the Two Toms, what really happened at Scheana’s wedding and who cheated in Vegas have found themselves unable to escape the news of Tom Sandoval’s infidelity with longtime partner Ariane Madix’s best friend, Raquel Leviss.
Huh? If you’re scratching your head — and thinking of your college diploma — but also strangely intrigued, read on.
What is ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ anyway?
The Bravo reality show launched in 2013 as a spinoff from the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” It follows the exploits of attractive people in Los Angeles who work at SUR, a West Hollywood restaurant and lounge co-owned by former “Housewife” star Lisa Vanderpump.
To get an idea of what kind of clientele SUR attracts, know that Vanderpump has explained that its name is both Spanish for “south” and an acronym for Sexy Unique Restaurant.
SUR’s servers and bartenders were initially a hard partying bunch with dreams of modeling, acting and music careers.
Vanderpump acted as both mother hen and referee to her staffers, counseling them as they dated and mated — almost exclusively with each other.
As the seasons wore on, the stars began to all have similar facial features as they spent their Bravo earnings at the cosmetic surgeon.
The cast also started to settle down, some got married, bought houses and moved to the valley. Others had pesky past allegedly racist incidents surface and were kicked off the show.
In short, the franchise was sagging and flagging, but Scandoval has plumped it back up like a perfectly targeted Juvederm injection from a Rodeo Drive dermatologist.
The episode that aired Thursday — the first since “Scandoval” broke — saw more than a 30% bump compared to the week before, viewership the show hadn’t enjoyed in two years.
Who are the main players in Scandoval?
Tom Sandoval, 39: A former bartender and male model from Missouri, he’s been known to flatiron his hair and wear matching motorcycle helmets with his bestie Tom Schwartz, 40. The bosom buddies co-own two popular LA-area bars, TomTom and Schwartz and Sandy’s.
Ariana Madix, 37: Sandoval’s girlfriend of nine years. A bisexual, relatively down-to-earth blonde, she brought a relative touch of gravitas to the vapid cast. The couple seemed in it for the long haul — as much as anyone on a reality show is. In 2019, they purchased a $2.075 million five-bedroom modern farmhouse in Los Angeles’ Valley Village neighborhood.
Raquel Leviss, 28: She’s a former beauty queen who entered the SUR scrum in 2016 as the girlfriend and later fiance of another cast member — foul-mouthed, sobriety-challenged British DJ James Kennedy, 31. The pair broke up, but she became a show staple and also forged a close friendship with Madix.
What the heck happened?
On March 1, Sandoval was performing with his cover band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, at TomTom in West Hollywood. (Shockingly, another Sandoval ex, former cast member Kristen Doute, has called him a narcissist.)
His cell phone fell from his pocket as he performed and someone gave it to Madix for safekeeping.
Before the gig, Sandoval gushed about Madix to Page Six, saying, “We definitely have our ups and downs, for sure, but I think we’ve been really good about respecting each other.” But, in retrospect, the cell phone was a Chekhovian gun that, of course, had to fire.
While typically trusting, Madix looked at it and saw a sexually explicit video featuring Leviss. Upon further scroll, she realized that the pair had been having an affair for some time — reportedly for months.
A source told Page Six that Madix was “blindsided” and “heartbroken,” but “good guy” Sandoval has a history of cheating.
He and Madix first started hooking up while he was in a relationship with former cast member Doute, 40. Doute later accused him of cheating on Madix with a woman dubbed “Miami girl.”
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Leviss and castmate and friend Sheana Shay, 37, who is also Madix’s bestie, were in New York to appear on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.”
The pair went out for drinks and Shay lost Leviss, but she found her outside the establishment talking on the phone with a hysterical Madix.
Leviss alleges that led to a confrontation and Shay punched her in the face and “pushed her against a brick wall” causing injury to the back of her head.
Leviss filed for a restraining order against Shay and included photos of her bruised, cut eye in court documents. Shay has denied the attack.
“Currently, mutual friends & co-workers are telling me she doesn’t regret the physical attack on me,” Leviss said in the document, “and would do it again if she found that further emotional distress was caused to our mutual friend.”
Sandoval and Madix have split and two days ago, he was photographed making a late-night visit to Leviss’ apartment.
How bad is the fallout?
Angry fans have been flooding the social media and Yelp pages of Sandoval’s bars.
Sandoval took to Instagram with a rather uncompelling apology asking angry “Pump” viewers to bear in mind that his business partners did not know, nor did they condone his actions.
“Please direct ur anger at me and not them,” he wrote adding “sorry for everything.”
Days later he finally addressed Madix in another apology saying, “Most of all, I want to apologize to Ariana. I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made reckless decisions that hurt somebody I love. No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly.”
Leviss released a statement saying, “There is no excuse. I am not a victim, and I must own my actions, and I deeply regret hurting Ariana.”
Madix has not publicly spoken about the affair. She and Sandoval have broken up.
And why do people care?
Fans have been invested in Madix and Sandoval’s love story because the pair have represented arguably the most stable relationship in “Vanderpump” history.
Furthermore, the story and its revelations have unfolded in real time like a live-action soap opera, where fans get to weigh in.
Instead of asking for privacy, the cast and other involved parties have done the opposite.
They’ve leaned into the brouhaha — taking sides and regularly providing updates and opinions on podcasts and social media.
Leviss angered castmate Lala Kent, 32, after her lawyer sent her a legal letter requesting she and her castmates delete the sexually explicit video of Leviss that they may have obtained.
“Raquel, tell your little Mickey Mouse lawyer that if he has stuff to send over, he can send things to my lawyer, same with the rest of my friends and cast alright?” Kent, 32 said in a since-deleted instagram video.
It’s essentially become the Super Bowl of reality TV, existing on multiple platforms.
You don’t need to be a fan of the game or know the rules to enjoy. Just crack open a bottle of pinot grigio — a favorite of the gals who have rallied around Madix — and pull up a seat.
What’s next?
It’s unclear if Sandoval and Leviss will embark on a proper relationship, but fans will be licking their chops over the Season 10 reunion, which will reportedly air in May.
While filming had recently ended for season 10, producers picked up their cameras and started recording scenes around this storyline. They even brought back the exiled Doute — one of the castmates booted for alleged racist behavior — to be included in this latest chapter.
But Vanderpump, the show’s matriarch, cautioned fans to stop with the threats and anger, and to remember that while Scandoval may be entertaining, it’s real life with real humans.
“It’s a show,” she told Bravo boss Cohen. “But they’re all hurting. And I’m not saying we should let them off the hook. Condem their actions but don’t condem the people.
“All this aggression, it can have serious ramifications.”
“I saw there’s this country bar [and] I know they’ll be straight guys there, whoop it up!” Madix, 37, told Leviss, 28, while discussing their upcoming girl’s trip to Las Vegas and Lake Havasu, Ariz.
Leviss agreed with Madix’s notion by eagerly replying with a “Whoop whoop!”
“Lake Havasu is infamous for like girls gone wild like woo, spring break!” Leviss said in a confessional while motioning taking off her shirt. “Or so I’ve heard.”
Madix also questioned why Leviss told their co-star Katie Maloney that she had asked Maloney’s ex-husband, Tom Schwartz, to make out with her.
“I cannot believe what you told Katie last night that you like asked Schwartz if he wanted to make out. I was like am I about to be mad at Raquel for the first time?” Madix said – foreshadowing how it will certainly not be the last time.
The Bravolebrity clarified in a confessional that when she and her co-stars were encouraging Leviss to put herself out there, “make mistakes and go crazy,” she did not mean it “like that.”
“For a moment I felt it was unfair for Katie to like determine who Schwartz can hang out with or make out with, but after seeing the way she responded last night, I felt really, really bad,” Leviss admitted, referring to Maloney, 36, crying over the revelation.
Leviss and Schwartz’s several make out sessions seemed to be the biggest scandal until it was revealed that Leviss was actually having a “full-on affair” with Sandoval, 39.
“I want to apologize for my actions and my choices, foremost to Ariana [Madix] and to my friends and the fans so invested in our relationships,” Leviss wrote in a statement shared on Wednesday. “There is no excuse. I am not a victim, and I must own my actions, and I deeply regret hurting Ariana.”
Leviss also claimed it was her “addiction to being and feeling loved” that led her to betray Madix.
“No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly,” he wrote. “I can only imagine how devastating this has been for Ariana and everyone around us. I feel really horrible about that.”
“I want to apologize for my actions and my choices, foremost to Ariana [Madix] and to my friends and the fans so invested in our relationships,” the 28-year-old said in a statement to “Entertainment Tonight” Wednesday.
“There is no excuse. I am not a victim, and I must own my actions, and I deeply regret hurting Ariana.”
Leviss went on to blame the scandalous dalliance on her “addiction” to love.
“I am reflecting on my choices, speaking to a counselor and I am learning things about myself such as my patterns of codependency and addiction to being and feeling loved,” she said.
“I have sought emotional validation through intimate connections that are not healthy without regard for my own well-being, sometimes negatively affecting others and often prioritizing the intimate connection over my friendships. I am taking steps to understand my behavior and make healthier choices.”
Leviss then claimed she has been “physically assaulted, lost friendships, received death threats and hate emails in addition to having had my privacy violated” since the scandal first made headlines last Friday.
“I have begun counseling to end my unhealthy behavioral cycle, learn to set stronger emotional boundaries and learn to protect my mental health,” she concluded. “I don’t expect sympathy, understanding or forgiveness. Right now I must focus on my own health and well-being, and as I strive to be a better person moving forward, I will prioritize my mental health and learn from my mistakes.”
On March 3, Page Six confirmed that Leviss and Sandoval had a “full-blown affair” despite his nearly 10-year relationship with Ariana Madix.
An insider told us that the co-stars had been “communicating inappropriately for months” and now “want to be together.”
Madix, 37, found out about the alleged affair just hours after she cheered on Sandoval’s cover band on March 1.
Sources tell us she was “blindsided” by the news and feels “betrayed” by both of them — especially after recently growing close to Leviss.
“Ariana is heartbroken,” the insider claimed. “Ariana was there for Raquel during the James [Kennedy] breakup. Ariana had no idea there were any issues.”
“I just, I don’t know, but I’m kind of like dating myself and I enjoy being single and I feel like being single has allowed me to really reflect on myself and spend quality time on myself,” she said. “And I feel like that was much needed for me to grow into.”
After news of the affair broke, several “VPR” stars took to social media to slam their co-stars.
While Maloney simply posted two clown emojis to her Instagram Story, Kennedy shared a screenshot of TMZ’s original report, writing, “Hope you all feel as sick as I do. This explains everything.”
Lala Kent, who has famously feuded with both Sandoval and Leviss, took a different approach, telling any of her followers going to Sandoval’s upcoming shows to break out into “Ariana” chants.
For more Page Six reality TV updates …
“I obviously think you shouldn’t go at all. But if you’re so inclined to expose your eardrums to nails on chalkboard, this is what you do #Ariana,” she wrote.
Page Six can confirm that Bravo is currently filming the latest drama and hopes to include it in Season 10.
Tom Sandoval is speaking out following his split from Ariana Madix over a months-long affair with Raquel Leviss.
“Hey, I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave [Tom] Schwartz my friends and family out of this situation…” he wrote on Instagram Saturday.
Sandoval, 39, clarified that Schwartz, 40, only found out about the affair “very recently” and “did not condone it.”
He then seemingly addressed anger toward his and Schwartz’s new LA bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s, which fans called to “boycott” after news of the cheating scandal broke Friday.
“There are 3 other partners and 20 employees, who rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families,” Sandoval wrote. “Just like [first bar] TomTom, I’m a small part of a much bigger thing.
“Please direct ur anger towards me and not them. They did nothing wrong.”
The reality star told fans he will be “taking a step back” from the business “out of respect” from his colleagues and employees.
He concluded the note ominously without directly addressing his infidelity or breakup, writing, “I need some time to address everything else. Sorry for everything”
An insider also confirmed the news to us, saying, “It’s true that they split and cameras are rolling.”
“The majority of the cast is expected to gather and film tomorrow to share their reactions to Raquel and Sandoval’s affair. Mostly everyone is shook and completely heartbroken for Ariana,” the source continued.
“Hope you all feel as sick as I do. This explains everything,” he said while sharing the news on his Instagram.
Lala Kent also chimed in, leaving a scathing comment under Kennedy’s post. “I’ve been telling y’all!” she wrote. “Everyone said I was a ‘bully’. It’s called YOU TRIGGER ME AND I SEE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE! I’ve known these two are disgusting from the jump.”
Kent, 32, also sent a message to Sandoval on her Instagram Stories, writing, “I’ve seen you for who you [are] for a long time, and you just don’t like that. But, I think now is the time for you to shut the f— up. I’m eating good the next time I see you.
“I suggest you get some energy for me. You’re gonna need it,” she then told Leviss.
Following Sandoval’s cheating allegations, “Vanderpump Rules” fans flooded the Instagram comments of his new bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s, calling for a boycott of the Los Angeles-based establishment.
“Time to cancel this bar 🤢🤢🤢🤢 nobody likes two timing men,” wrote one person, while another added, “Boycotting this bar.”
Katie Maloney has blamed Tom Schwartz’s bar for the demise of their marriage.
Wednesday’s episode saw Schwartz and his business partner Tom Sandoval finally open the doors to their new bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s. The duo hosted a bash for the Daily Mail.
But Maloney broke down in tears over the opening as it reminded her of why the pair’s romance crumbled.
“I’m trying to be excited for Tom, but this bar has a very complicated history,” she said in her confessional. “It put a massive strain on our relationship. It just was a lot more of a presence in my life than I thought it would be, without me having say over it.”
“All of the marital issues and arguments and everything we were having has now just been personified. This bar was the other woman in our marriage, and I’m standing inside of her now,” she added.
The pair sat down for a chat during the opening, at which Schwartz admitted that his focus was primarily on his business ventures and not on his ex.
“In the divorce, I let myself get sucked in,” he told Maloney.
“It nearly broke you, and it nearly broke me,” she chimed in, adding that “it broke us kinda, so was it worth it?”
“Don’t say that,” he said. “Jesus, I don’t know how to answer that. I just don’t want you to ever think that I chose this place over you because I didn’t.”
But Maloney was adamant that Schwartz’s business came first and as a result, their marriage followed in second place.
“Well, I feel like you chose a lot over me,” she explained. “You never chose me in any side, in any argument, even when it was me having your back in things. It just made me feel like you don’t like me.”
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“I think a lot of things I was choosing to ignore and choosing to live with and think that it was okay, and it wasn’t okay,” she added.
It seemed as though Maloney’s message finally got through to her ex, who apologized for his actions, saying he’s “trying to move forward and not beat myself up too much, but I’m self-aware.”
“Maybe I wish I had really fought for her, but I think I would’ve been prolonging the pain and making her suffer and detracting from her happiness,” he said in his confessional while holding back tears.
“I’m so madly in love with this whole bar, this lounge, the concept, but sometimes I ask myself, ‘Was it worth it?’ and I don’t know.”
“Vanderpump Rules” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
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