Not about the “what ifs.” Ariana Madix confessed there are aspects of her relationship with ex Tom Sandoval she misses — but she wouldn’t have done anything differently post-split.
“I would say [I miss] inside jokes, being goofballs together,” the 37-year-old Vanderpump Rules star said on the Wednesday, May 24, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “The funny, stupid stuff.”
When asked whether she thinks Sandoval, 40, misses her in a similar way, Madix said yes. “I just feel like as someone that he would go to for advice on mostly everything up until [we broke up], I just think that there’s no way that he doesn’t [miss me].”
The Florida native continued: “He’s been making a lot of, like, very questionable decisions over the last two months and he doesn’t have that, like, sounding board or advisor anymore.”
Us Weekly confirmed in March that the former SUR bartenders ended their nine-year relationship after Madix discovered Sandoval’s affair with costar Raquel Leviss. The duo’s breakup and the aftermath of the cheating scandal were explored during the dramatic season 10 finale of the Bravo hit.
“I was ride or die for you and I had her back as well. The fact that she has continued to smile in my face while also smiling on FaceTime with you is one of the most God-awful disgusting things I have ever heard of,” the Something About Her co-owner told Sandoval during a heated exchange in their home on the May 17 episode. “Why [aren’t] you sorry that you did it?”
The musician, meanwhile, attempted to explain his perspective in a confessional interview. “Ariana and I just grew apart. We have had issues like this for five years,” he claimed. “And we just didn’t want that out there in the world.”
Sandoval and Leviss, 28, have both extended public apologies to Madix for their actions — which will be further picked apart during the season 10 reunion special. The Fancy AF Cocktails coauthor told podcast host Alex Cooper on Wednesday that she received another “subpar” apology from the beauty queen at the taping.
“It was like a rehearsed speech,” she recalled. “I was just like, ‘Shut the f–k up.’ … Nothing had clicked, I didn’t feel like it was genuine.”
Madix has continued to open up about her healing journey and hopes for her future — which includes her budding romance with new beau Daniel Wai — since the explosive season finale aired. When asked whether she had any regrets about how her relationship with Sandoval came to an end, the Bravolebrity provided a unique perspective.
“Honestly, I want to say no,” she said. “Because I feel like, listen — I’ve seen people online be like, ‘She wasn’t perfect.’ Obviously. ‘She’s not innocent.’ OK, I don’t have to be. I was very much a committed partner in this relationship … and I feel like I did my absolute best as a partner.”
She continued: “I feel like all I can do is my best — and whether my best was good enough or not for anyone, that’s what it was. Like, yeah, I could have been less trusting. I could have been more paranoid. I could have followed [him] or bought pens and batteries, or whatever. But ultimately, I feel like if I go back and try to, like, change all the things — coulda, woulda, shoulda — I mean, I would never stop.”
While Madix has been an open book about the breakup, her ex-boyfriend has attempted to lay relatively low. Leviss, for her part, is seeking mental health treatment as the backlash continues.
