Get ready for a wild season of Vanderpump Rules. As fans and cast members react to reports that cast member Tom Sandoval cheated on Ariana Madix with costar Raquel Leviss, Bravo cameras are reportedly still rolling on the reality show’s current, 10th season.
On Friday, March 3, TMZ reported that Sandoval, 39, and Madix, 37, had ended their nine-year relationship after Madix found out about an affair between Sandoval and Leviss. The site also said that Vanderpump Rules producers found out about the drama, got cameras rolling, and got the entire cast on set again to capture the fallout.
People reported Sandoval and Madix’s split on Friday, as well. “They had been having problems for a while, but this was the final straw for Ariana,” a source told the magazine. “She put up with a lot over the years, but she won’t sit back and be disrespected this way.”
That same day, Vanderpump Rules costar James Kennedy — who was engaged to Leviss until their December 2021 split — posted a screenshot of TMZ’s coverage of Leviss and Sandoval’s reported affair. “Hope you all feel as sick as I do,” he wrote in a comment. “This explains everything.”
One source told People that Sandoval and Leviss had a months-long relationship, saying, “This has been going on for upwards of 6 months — all the while, Tom was sleeping next to Ariana in bed. She was completely blindsided by this; devastated doesn’t even scratch the surface of how she feels. This is someone she thought she knew, someone she planned to spend the rest of her life with. You can’t even put into words that betrayal.”
Todd Williamson/Bravo
The magazine also reported that cameras were on the scene when Sandoval and Madix — pictured above at Bravo’s Season 10 premiere party last month — had a “tense sit-down” at home on Friday afternoon. Just two days earlier, before the news of the alleged affair broke, Madix was spotted kissing Sandoval at his band’s Los Angeles show, People added.
On Saturday, March 4, Sandoval seemingly addressed the scandal in an Instagram post, telling fans, “I fully understand and deserve your anger and disappointment toward me.”
He also asked fans to take out their anger on him and not his business partners and employees at Schwartz & Sandy’s Lounge, the Los Angeles bar he recently opened with Vanderpump Rules costar Tom Schwartz.
“I will be taking a step back and taking a hiatus out of respect for my employees and partners,” he wrote. “I need some time to address everything else. Sorry for everything.”
Vanderpump Rules, Wednesdays, 9/8c, Bravo