Kicked out of the clubhouse? Andy Cohen called out Howie Mandel shortly after his bombshell podcast interview with Tom Sandoval — and he didn’t hold back.
The Most Talkative author, 54, made a reference to Mandel, 67, during the Tuesday, April 11, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “Tonight’s Jackhole [of the Day] goes to the fact that Howie Mandel apparently didn’t know what he was getting himself into with his interview of Tom Sandoval today,” the producer teased. “Because it seems like maybe he didn’t do his homework?”
Cohen subsequently played a clip from the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” episode, which dropped earlier on Tuesday. In the audio, Mandel seemed not to recognize the Vanderpump Rules cast members mentioned by Sandoval, 40, as he shared his side of the story regarding his cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss.
“Now both Sandoval and Howie are being dragged on social media,” Cohen added. “Howie, you have to be careful before you take a side. Bravo fans are very passionate.”
The Emmy winner previously chimed in on the interview via Twitter, replying to a social media user who encouraged him to invite Mandel on WWHL “to explain himself.” Cohen answered on Tuesday: “Or not.”
Sandoval’s podcast appearance marked the first time he spoke in-depth about his affair with Leviss, 28, which has been dubbed “Scandoval” since making headlines in March. Us Weekly confirmed last month that the former SUR bartender and Ariana Madix called it quits after nine years of dating due to his infidelity.
Both Sandoval and Leviss issued public statements on the drama and apologized to Madix, 37, for their actions. During his chat with Mandel, however, the TomTom co-owner claimed that he and Madix were already broken up weeks before news of his affair went viral.
“Like many relationships, it felt like it became more of like a best friends, family [thing] — sometimes roommates,” he argued. “There were a lot of ways where the relationship was just lacking the intimacy, the connection. We would travel more by ourselves than we would together. I would go to weddings by myself. … We for a while had been sort of having our own lives.”
The Schwartz & Sandy’s cofounder said his life felt “bleak” after turning 40 in July 2022. “I started to lose my optimism in life and my drive. I started to feel trapped. I started thinking like, ‘I don’t need this house, I don’t need this s–t, but I feel like I need to make a change to feel motivated, to feel optimistic again,'” he said.
According to Sandoval, he attempted to break up with Madix on Valentine’s Day — without coming clean about Leviss at the time — but the Florida native was “in denial” about ending the relationship. “Obviously, she was very upset. She freaking punched me and all this s–t,” he alleged. “A couple days later, I sit down and talk with her again, and she’s like, ‘I’m not letting you leave me. You’re gonna have to me force me out of this relationship.'”
The Bravolebrity noted that he was still involved with Leviss while having breakup conversations with Madix, who was none the wiser. “I was seeing Raquel as often as I could. I know that sounds horrible,” he said. “And FaceTiming her all the time. And Ariana didn’t even notice because that’s just how separate our lives were. I had to actually tell her, ‘How have you not noticed how distant I’ve been lately?'”
Madix has yet to comment on Sandoval’s interview. She broke her silence on the scandal via Instagram last month, writing, “What doesn’t kill me better run.”
