The No. 1 girl in the group. Ariana Madix gave her first official interview since Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair made headlines — and revealed which aspect of the cheating scandal cut her the deepest.
“The fabrication of the narrative that was being formed like the entire time without my knowledge, behind my back, by not just my ex-boyfriend but his little flying monkeys as well,” Ariana, 37, said during her Wednesday, May 17, appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, referring to Sandoval, 40, and Tom Schwartz. (Madix shared that she believes the Minnesota native was “actively participating in my downfall” by knowing about the affair and not coming forward.)
When host Andy Cohen asked the Florida native if she was surprised that Sandoval was “more emotional” with Schwartz, 40, during the Vanderpump Rules season 10 finale — which aired earlier on Wednesday — Ariana said the Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner has been stoic with her since news of his infidelity broke.
“That’s how he was from the moment I found out,” she explained. “He was just screaming at me. We were in the backyard and he threw a beer can into the back wall. He was more concerned in that moment in the back of TomTom that people would hear us [when I found out about him and Raquel] than how I felt at all.”
Ariana has remained largely tight-lipped about the drama after news broke in March that she and Sandoval, 40, called it quits on their nearly 10-year relationship due to his infidelity. Madix took a brief social media break before returning to thank her fans and friends for supporting her.
“Hi. where to begin? i want to express my most sincere gratitude for the outpouring of love and support i have received from friends, family, and people i’ve never even met in the last two weeks,” she captioned an Instagram post in March. “When i have felt like i couldn’t even stand, you all have given me the strength to continue and seen me through my darkest hours. to say i have been devastated and broken is an understatement. however, i know that i am not in this alone.”
She continued: “So many of my closest friends are also grieving this loss right now and reeling from this betrayal on so many levels. i am so f—king lucky to have the best support system in the world and i hope i can repay every single person for the love you have shown me. what doesn’t kill me better run. love, ariana.”
The TomTom co-owner, for his part, apologized twice via social media after the scandal was brought to light. He later attempted to defend his choices by claiming he tried to break up with Ariana before his affair was uncovered.
“We didn’t tell anybody, but she knew,” he alleged on an episode of the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast in April. “She was trying to, like, convince me not to be broken up … but that was not the case. She asked me that day as we were leaving about, like — because we had talked about fertilizing [her] eggs, which I never did. She was like, ‘So, what do you think about doing a sperm check to fertilize my eggs?’ And I’m like, ‘What? We’re broken up.’ … I was like, ‘We’ll talk about this later, I gotta go do my show.'”
According to Sandoval, his now-ex was “fully in denial” about their breakup. “It scared me. It really scared me,” he said after claiming he dumped Madix on Valentine’s Day. “That’s why, like you say, ‘Why didn’t you just break up with her then?’ It’s because of the threat of … self-sabotaging. And you know how f–king — how much that hurts me?”
Meanwhile, Raquel, 28, issued a public apology to Madix in March before they crossed paths at the Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion. One month later, a rep for the model confirmed to Us Weekly that she was seeking professional help but not for substance abuse issues.
“Raquel and her family decided before the relationship was discovered that she would enter a voluntary facility for mental health counseling,” the statement read. “Raquel had planned to admit herself before the VPR reunion was taped on March 23. She was scheduled to go in pre-reunion but decided she wanted to finish her filming commitment. Bravo and production were aware and in support of her journey towards better mental health.”
Amid the drama, Ariana sparked romance rumors with personal trainer Daniel Wai after the couple were spotted packing on PDA at Coachella in April. Sandoval weighed in on the Fancy AF Cocktails coauthor moving on by telling TMZ that same month, “Yes, I love that. Yes, I do [want her to find love again]. I really do.”
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen airs Sunday through Thursday nights and is available to stream the next day on Peacock.
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