Taking sides? Bille Lee’s attempt to stay friends with both Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix is falling on deaf ears.
After the Vanderpump Rules alum, 39, stepped out with Sandoval, 40, several times over the weekend — on Monday, April 17, Page Six published additional pics of the pair leaving his shared home with Madix, 37, on Sunday, April 16 — Lee spoke to Entertainment Tonight about her friendships with her former costars.
“Tom and Ariana are my family. They have been there for me over the years and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. It saddens me that people are so fixated on picking a side. Both are human and are both hurting in their own ways,” she told the outlet. “There is a world where you can support and be there for both parties and that’s the world I choose to live in.”
Lee, who last appeared on the Bravo hit in 2019, continued: “There is also no reason for this to continue to be so divisive. Ariana is happy and Tom is really working hard on himself. I’ll continue to love and support them unconditionally.”
Her comments come after ex-castmate Kristen Doute implied that Lee was a hypocrite for hanging out with Sandoval on Friday, April 14, as Lee “cried at Ariana’s house” after news broke that the Tom-Tom co-owner had an affair with Raquel Leviss.
“Ya I was crying because they BOTH are my family! It was sad and still is! What were you doing while I was crying!? Literally taking selfies with everyone including Ariana. Like who does that!?” Lee responded to Doute via Instagram. “It felt like a funeral and you were taking selfies. Read the room. [Your] friendship is fake and performative.”
While Madix has yet to publicly comment on the pics of Sandoval and Lee, she is currently not following the former SURver on Instagram. Madix does, however, keep up with Doute — who previously dated Sandoval more than a decade ago — on the app.
Doute, who was tapped to film her first Vanderpump Rules scene last month after she was fired in 2020, is among the several current and past cast members who have stood by Madix after Sandoval’s affair was exposed.
“They make it out like I am a narcissist. You are taking what I did with this affair, and you are erasing the last 15 years of our friendship,” Sandoval said on the April 11 episode of the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast in response to his costars slamming his actions. “Using all these things as content for their podcast. Fellow cast members are asking me all these questions, but you don’t want to know because you care about Ariana. You want to know so you have more content for your podcast. It is f—king disgusting to me. It is so gross. You are not someone who gives a flying f—k about Ariana. You are doing this for your own personal gain.”
Sandoval and Leviss’ affair began in August 2022. While he claimed he ended things with Madix — whom he’s been linked to since 2014 — in February, she didn’t know about his infidelity until March 1 when she found a video of Leviss on Sandoval’s phone.
The Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras singer and the former beauty queen are on a “break” from their romance and she has since checked into a facility for mental health treatment. Madix, meanwhile, partied at Coachella while her ex hung out with Lee. While she was seen making out with personal trainer Daniel Wai on Sunday, sources told Us Weekly that she’s single.
“She is allowed to date whoever she wants and was having an amazing time at Coachella with Daniel,” one insider told Us of Madix. “She’s definitely open to seeing where things go with Daniel, but at the same time, Ariana isn’t totally ready to jump into a serious relationship.”
