Taking sides? Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix stand up for Raquel Leviss as the aftermath of her and Tom Schwartz‘s kiss plays out on Vanderpump Rules.
The musician, 40, and his now-ex, 37, defend the beauty queen, 28, during a conversation with Katie Maloney airing as part of the Wednesday, April 19, episode of the Bravo hit. A sneak peek shared via the network’s Twitter account on Tuesday, April 18, shows Katie’s unfiltered reaction to her ex-husband making out with Raquel at Scheana Shay and Brock Davies‘ wedding.
“I don’t think it was really, like, a big deal,” the Missouri native says of his BFF locking lips with Raquel. Katie, meanwhile, asserts that the kiss made her not want to be friends with Schwartz following their divorce. (The former couple finalized their proceedings in October 2022, two months after their costars’ nuptials.)
Sandoval continues: “They’re just two single people who are decent looking and, like, in Mexico that just decided to makeout.”
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Ariana stands beside her then-beau in the kitchen as Katie defends her stance on the situation. “We’ve had 900 conversations about it and he’s told me 100 times, like, ‘I’m not interested in her. Nothing’s ever gonna happen,'” the Utah native explains. “It’s too close to home.”
The TomTom co-owner interjects with his opinion several times as Katie continues to discuss the “aftermath” of the kiss. Ariana, meanwhile, concedes that it will be “really difficult for [Katie] and Raquel to be friends” because of what happened.
“She’s a f–king whore,” Katie says of the California native, prompting instant reactions from her costars.
Ariana argues, “She did not get paid by anyone to do anything,” as the camera pans to show Sandoval standing with his arms crossed.
The Schwartz & Sandy’s cofounder refuses to see Katie’s point of view, telling her that she shouldn’t be surprised by her former spouse’s behavior. “If you’re not with somebody and they do something stupid like that, [it shouldn’t matter],” he claims.
While Schwartz’s flirty relationship with Raquel has been a focus on season 10, the offscreen drama has centered around his business partner. Us Weekly confirmed in March that Sandoval and Ariana called it quits after nine years together due to his affair with Raquel, who was previously engaged to costar James Kennedy.
Since news broke of the cheating scandal, the Pump Rules cast has been revisiting apparent clues of Sandoval and Raquel’s romance. Earlier this month, Katie admitted on “Off the Vine With Kaitlyn Bristowe” that she found the duo’s friendship “suspicious” but didn’t “know for a fact” that anything was happening. Scheana, meanwhile, claimed that Raquel was noticeably absent for several hours on her wedding day in August 2022.
“She said she needed pool time or me time, but that’s probably not what she was doing for that entire time. … We all had schedules of where to be, and if [Sandoval and Raquel] were trying to figure out a time that they could have privacy, that would be the time because everybody was scheduled to be in your room,” she alleged on her “Scheananigans” podcast in March.
Sandoval, for his part, admitted on the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast earlier this month that he and Raquel had already kissed before Scheana’s wedding. Eagle-eyed viewers were convinced Sandoval made a pass at the SURver during the Wednesday, April 12, episode of Pump Rules — in front of Ariana — as the group celebrated at the resort in Mexico.
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
