Ariana Madix is spilling ALL the tea!
Ahead of the first part of Vanderpump Rules‘ season 10 reunion on Wednesday, the reality star sat down with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy for her first lengthy conversation about her bitter breakup with Tom Sandoval following his affair with Raquel Leviss.
During the nearly two-hour conversation, nothing was off-limits! From debunking the “breakup conversation” the bar owner claims they had to “the plan” she thinks he was hoping would help him avoid the affair ever getting exposed, Ariana got into everything! Read on for the scoop!
Sex Life
In the podcast episode’s teaser earlier this week, Ariana revealed Sandoval and Leviss hooked up in her guest bedroom while she was in the other room. Gross AF! In the full episode, she also opened up about her own sex life with Tom, which he claimed was one of the biggest reasons for their split. Ariana shared:
“In the beginning … I was very excited that someone was, like, really into me because the relationship I was in previously, that sex life was fine, but at the same time I was being, like, criticized very heavily about my body, my personality — just everything. And so I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is somebody who’s really into me,’ and so that was very exciting.”
Over the next nine years, their “sex life waxed and waned,” she recalled:
“I definitely think that, you know, it got to a point sometimes where I just wanted that quality time so bad. … I felt like he just was adding more and more things to his plate and I don’t know, I just felt like, ‘Oh, he’s just not into me.’”
That said, her ex “would complain about frequency” when it came to being intimate, which often made her question everything, she said:
“It felt like he wanted to have sex, but I was like, ‘But do you want to have sex with me? Is it about me or is it just about the act?”
OOF!
She also insisted they didn’t have an open relationship and thinks that the rumor “came from him.”
Valentine’s Day
We already know the TomTom co-owner tried to end the pair’s relationship on Valentine’s Day of all days, but Ariana had a very different POV on the evening. She claims it started out very romantic!
“He got me flowers, we went to Schwartz & Sandy’s for dinner and we brought a super special bottle of wine that was special to us. I got dressed up. … We went out for drinks later. Rachel [AKA Raquel] showed up, as did a few of our other friends.”
Of course Raquel would show up on Valentine’s! SMH. Once home, the couple had an “hours-long” conversation in which the 39-year-old revealed he was having a mid-life crisis. This is when Ariana expressed how sad she’d be if they split — but she did NOT threaten to harm herself, unlike what her ex has claimed. She explained:
“And I said, ‘If we break up, I’m probably going to quit the show. I will probably leave Los Angeles, I’ll probably deactivate my Instagram.’ And he found that to be, like, very offensive. … I was never saying that I was going to kill myself. I was saying that my life — this life — will be over for me because I will go do something else. … He knows that that’s not what I was saying.”
Also, because they were already having issues and Tom clearly had a “plan” to get out of the relationship, the Fancy AF Cocktails co-author doesn’t think they’d still be together today even if the cheating scandal didn’t make headlines. She noted:
“Still together? I would say no, given what I know about this plan. The plan was to break up with me without any sort of mention of an affair or cheating, whether that was pre-reunion or not or pre-going to film Winter House or not. And then they would just start dating.”
That said, she’s “so glad” she found out this way since otherwise she would have “been this cog in the machine of this whole narrative” that she believes Tom was creating.
Couples’ Therapy
The crazy thing is that even though the Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras performer reportedly had a plan to end the relationship, he was still working hard to hold onto Ariana. Months into his affair with the 28-year-old, Ariana said Tom suggested they go to couples’ therapy — and it almost led to their breakup (which she thinks he wanted but couldn’t follow through with):
“There was a session that got really intense, and it felt like maybe we were ending. And at the end of the session [the therapist] was like, ‘OK, so, is this a breakup?’ And he was like, ‘No.’”
HE SAID NO!? WTF!
She then commented on the heated confrontation they shared on cameras in the finale right after she learned of the affair, slamming Tom’s “sad sack act,” saying:
“I knew he was trying to be that person so that I would be the angry person; I could see what was happening in front of my face, and it was really frustrating. Honestly, when he started yelling at me, I felt a little bit satisfied that he was finally going to be the real him.”
Jeez…
The Real Tom
When asked if she thinks Tom is a pathological liar, Ariana got candid:
“It’s now hard for me to look back at nine years and if I tell myself he’s a pathological liar, then it means that the last nine years of my life were potentially a lie. But he did say stuff on that finale episode to Scheana [Shay], like, ‘We weren’t happy’ and ‘We bought the house as a Band-Aid,’ and I’m like, ‘A Band-Aid to who?’ Because that wasn’t where I was at at all.”
She continued:
“There are a lot of things from his perspective that were said in that episode and otherwise that it’s like, ‘Oh, OK. Well, that’s maybe how you were thinking, but that’s nowhere near where I was.’”
Red Flags Galore!
The 37-year-old went on to admit she turned a blind eye to several red flags throughout the end of the romance, such as how “everything was coming before me and before the relationship.” According to her, the singer would choose to go out drinking or spend time with friends instead of being at home with her.
“I trusted in him so much… that I trusted his perspective on things, and I think I was caught up. […] I’m a smart girl and I could have dug deeper, but I didn’t.”
This was true when she was grieving the loss of her dog, Charlotte. She said she “didn’t have an idea that he would betray me during that time” because she assumed he was “also grieving,” but now she thinks there’s a strong chance he was “potentially” getting intimate with his side piece while she was away at that time! Ugh.
So Many Affairs!
Sadly, this cheating scandal wasn’t a one-time thing. Ariana said she’s learned of other affairs in recent weeks, including a rumor that haunted her for years. She dished:
“There was one time, years and years ago, when I got a direct message that was like, ‘Tom hooked up with my friend in San Diego.’ And I brought it up over and over again… and he was like, ‘No, absolutely not.’ Now I’m thinking it was actually a yes.”
Other cast members have also been trying to figure out who else Tom cheated with. During the VPR finale ep last week, he revealed there was at least one other person in their inner circle he f**ked, but he did not reveal a name. As for how he’s gotten away with cheating for so long, Ariana claimed he would use other peoples’ credit cards to fly Raquel out to him while traveling, including “bringing Rachel home to St. Louis” and “putting her up in a hotel.” There’s been a TON of speculation about Tom cheating with VPR alum Billie Lee — but Ariana’s not on board with this theory:
“The reason I don’t is because — I understand that this sounds crazy because Raquel was someone I loved and trusted — but I trust that Billie Lee would not do that.”
She confirmed the friends “talked about” the rumors offline, too. Now, she thinks she’s “99.9 percent sure” she knows “exactly” who Tom mentioned cheating with in the finale, but she’s also protecting their identity. Because of this pattern of infidelity, she declared:
“I didn’t lose him. He lost me.”
In Mourning…
Considering the relationship was so pivotal in her life, Ariana and her friends held a funeral after the affair was announced. She reflected:
“Our friends had all brought over wine and we were just watching Drag Race. It was essentially a funeral, right? Because these were people who were friends with him and friends with her and they were like, ‘We’ve lost these friends because we cannot in good conscience.’”
She claimed the cover band star returned from filming with Raquel and yelled at the group for being there — insisting it was his home too — and called the gathering a “party.” He then left and went back to his new girlfriend’s home. As for how she’s doing post-breakup, she said the scandal makes it hard for her to look back on the romance “with any level of nostalgia,” but that she does miss their “inside jokes” and getting to be “a goofball” with her ex. She also thinks he misses her:
“As someone he would go to for advice on mostly everything up until that moment, I just think there’s no way he doesn’t [miss me], because he’s been making a lot of questionable decisions over the last two months.”
Who’s Raquel Anyway?
While Ariana and Raquel used to be friends, they are very estranged now! Madix described the Cali native as “lost” while noting she doesn’t really know who Raquel is:
“I realize now I never knew her, but I certainly don’t know her now and I don’t know anyone who does know her. It’s hard to say, but based on what I’ve seen, [she’s] lost and empty. … I don’t really know what’s going on.”
She also doesn’t think she and Sandoval make sense together:
“I mean, unless he has changed everything that he’s ever said he’s looking for in someone.”
When asked if she’s heard from Raquel since this mess began, Ariana revealed she got a text, but it was not satisfactory:
“[It] was very, like, ‘I just don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry.’ And then at the reunion, it was very subpar.”
The Reunion!
Thankfully, Ariana had a lot of support from her friends and OG co-stars during the reunion taping, which gave her a “vote of confidence.” It was still a very “painful” filming experience, she shared:
“I was angry. At times, I was sad. But I honestly think that the biggest thing that I felt … I was so grateful for my friends. Both the friends that were there that day and otherwise, and I honestly [think] a lot of it felt numb in a way.”
She then joked:
“I was like, ‘I’m not looking at either of them. I will communicate with Andy [Cohen] or Lisa [Vanderpump] … otherwise I will speak to the sound stage.’”
Oooh, we can’t wait to watch it!
More Bombshells?
Bravo has been teasing an unknown reveal in the upcoming three-part reunion, but Ariana isn’t sure what it is. She debunked the rumor Raquel is pregnant (which ET sources also denied as well), telling Alex she doesn’t there’s a likelihood of that being the case but didn’t elaborate on why. She also thinks there’s a possibility the affair started “between the James [Kennedy] and Raquel era,” but she doesn’t think it’d be crazy if true. Similarly, she doesn’t think Lisa “knew [about the affair] the whole time” and thinks “there’s no way” the SUR waitress hooked up with Scheana’s husband, Brock Davis. As for her decision to return to the show next season, she said “anything that makes me feel unsafe” would be a deal-breaker.
Whoa!
She really laid it all out! What’s the most shocking bombshell in your opinion? Share it (below)!
[Image via Call Her Daddy/Bravo/YouTube]
