Silencing the rumors. Lisa Vanderpump denied having any knowledge of Tom Sandoval cheating on Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss before Scandoval made headlines.
“Ok … no I didn’t know … until a minute before you all did … I wish I would’ve tho. #pumprules,” the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 62, shared via Twitter on Saturday, May 27.
Vanderpump Rules producers have said a big reveal is still coming, sparking speculation that the revelation could include Lisa’s prior knowledge of the affair. However, she nixed that theory on Twitter, adding, “I know the revelation … but it ain’t that.”
Still, the restauranteur has faced backlash for not shunning Sandoval, 40, amid the news that he cheated on Madix, 37, with Leviss, 28. The new Lifetime star told Andy Cohen on May 17 that the England native “was a little too nice to” her ex, but she was making an exception — allowing both her former boss and husband Ken Todd to speak to Sandoval without her wrath.
The Vanderpump Wines founder exclusively told Us Weekly about why she handled Sandoval’s meltdown with kindness and how she felt about Madix’s reaction.
“Everybody else was chastising him. I didn’t feel like joining the pack. I mean, it seemed so kind of slanted. Everything was against him, you know?” the SUR owner told Us at the Vanderpump Dogs Gala on May 18. “I’ve known him for a long time. Of course, I’m condemning what he did. That’s why I said, ‘You’re not a bad person. You just did a bad thing.’ And my heart was always with Ariana. Maybe I didn’t kind of, you know, scream at him and lambast him, but everybody else had done that.”
She explained that it felt cruel to join people in ostracizing him.
“The man that was sitting in my living room, it felt like a broken man. So I just didn’t want to pile on, to be honest,” Vanderpump told Us at the time. “Have I had conversations and held ’em accountable? Yes, I mean, I felt the same way, absolutely, that everybody else did. But at some point, they’re like my children in some way. They’ve grown up with me. … You might scream at him for a second, and I did that before, but when I saw him, then you’ve gotta try to at least move forward or look for the path forward — even though it was too early to move forward [or] look for the path forward. But of course, we were all very upset. We felt duped. We were disgusted, we were hurt — all of those things.”
Fans will continue to see the fallout of Scandoval in the second and third parts of the Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion, airing on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
