Rachel Leviss had an affair with Ariana's now-ex, Tom Sandoval, and now she's sharing her side of the story.
In a shocking revelation on her podcast, Rachel Goes Rogue, former Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss opens up about her tumultuous relationship with Tom Sandoval and exposes the dynamics of Sandoval's friendship with Tom Schwartz.
On the podcast's second episode, Leviss claims that Schwartz was aware of her relationship with Sandoval from the beginning. Describing the friendship between Sandoval and Schwartz as "the most co-dependent relationship we've ever seen on Vanderpump Rules," Rachel speculates on external influences affecting their bond.
"I know that they went through this rough patch, and I think Schwartz was being influenced by outside people telling him that Tom isn’t a good look and can’t be friends with him because he made terrible decisions," Rachel says, shedding light on the alleged external pressures on Schwartz.
Leviss details instances where she sent letters to Sandoval during her time in a mental health facility, with Sandoval advising her to address them to Schwartz to maintain secrecy. However, their friendship allegedly hit a rough patch when Sandoval claimed that Schwartz was ending their friendship, prompting Leviss to redirect her letters to Sandoval's house that he shared with his ex-girlfriend, Ariana Madix.
"I don’t think he really gave a f**k, I think he wanted her to see it," Rachel remarks, suggesting that Sandoval may have orchestrated the situation to involve Ariana which would result in her seeing the letters she was writing him.
Leviss recalls a moment when Sandoval called her after their first hookup, revealing that he was at Schwartz's apartment during the call. According to Leviss, Schwartz knew about their affair before they even discussed it, emphasizing the intricacies of their friendship.
"Schwartz knew since the very beginning," said Leviss. "I got a phone call from Tom after we hooked up for the first time. My mind was racing, I was feeling so much guilt and shame about it. And I finally got a call from Sandoval, he was at Schwartz’s apartment and that was a safe space for him. So Schwartz knew before we even had a conversation to talk about it and what the game plan was going to be because immediately I was going to film with Ariana and our group of girls that night and I was saying I was seeing Ariana later."
The narrative took a turn when Rachel and Ariana shared an Uber to a filming site, where Ariana coincidentally expressed her disdain for the location due to past incidents involving betrayals. Rachel admits to consuming alcohol heavily that night, and Sandoval allegedly sent a bottle of champagne to their table, adding another layer of intrigue to the unfolding drama.
While Rachel says Schwartz knew about the affair all along, he claimed in April on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that he found out about Sandoval's "one night stand" with Rachel in August, but didn't learn of the full-fledged "emotional affair" until January.
"The one-night stand was in August and then it became, from my point of view, it became an emotional affair. Which is still inappropriate but I didn’t think it was linear," he continued. "[Then] in January, he came to me and told me that he was in love with Raquel (now Rachel)."
In a June 2023 episode of Stars on Mars, Schwartz revealed that he was "permanently" stepping away from the drama with his business partner, Sandoval.
Schwartz began by calling Sandoval's affair with Rachel amid his relationship with Ariana "incredibly messed up."
"It seems each time I try to weigh in or talk about, ramble on about it, drivel on, I inevitably sound like I'm somehow justifying it or making excuses for it, and I'm not," Schwartz insisted. "There's just no excuse for it."
Schwartz previously said that he was "being fed a narrative" by Sandoval that he had tried to end things with Ariana "many, many times" amid his ongoing tryst with Rachel. That, Schwartz said on Stars on Mars, is now moot.
"Any sort of version of his side of the story has become obsolete because of the way he handled it," Schwartz said. "Ultimately, that's his life. That is his life. I did not have an affair. I am not him. It's just so strange that I've been absolutely mired in this. It's taken on almost a life of its own."
At the end of the day, Schwartz said of the affair drama, "I'm stepping away from it permanently."
In early March, Sandoval and Madix announced the end of their relationship after being together since 2013 when she first joined the show. It wasn't long before news broke that Sandoval cheated on Madix with their co-star, Leviss, which is what truly derailed the relationship.
Fans have since been treated to an explosive season 10 finale of Vanderpump Rules, where the cheating scandal -- or, Scandoval -- was fully addressed.
The fireworks continued in a three-part Vanderpump Rules reunion when the affair's real timeline was revealed. And then part three of the reunion also offered this bombshell: Leviss propositioned Sandoval to become a "throuple" (couple with three people) with Madix.
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules premieres January 30 at 8pm ET on Bravo.
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