Tom Sandoval Confirms ‘Miami Girl’ Hookup & Cheating – Hollywood Life
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The highly-anticipated season 10 finale of Vanderpump Rules kicked off with some top shelf drama on May 17. After Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix provided viewers with a timeline of events, the night she discovered his months-long affair with Raquel Leviss, they sat down for an intimate one-on-one conversation at home. While Ariana told Tom she wants him “to die”, he insisted he “really didn’t want to hurt” her, but Raquel treats him “with respect” and it’s something he hadn’t gotten from Ariana “in a long time”.
Tom then tried excusing his behavior by saying he and Ariana had “no sex life” and they basically lived two different lives while living under the same roof. He also accused Ariana of “putting pressure” on him to stay in the relationship. He claimed he tried breaking up with her two weeks before she discovered his affair with Raquel. Ariana said that if that were true, he should have left at that time instead of jumping back into bed with her. And even if he wanted to break up with her then and there, he was already far into a months-long affair with Raquel.
#PumpRules Finale Preview: Sandoval cries to Lisa Vanderpump pic.twitter.com/m5b6YnuLZ8
— Queens of Bravo (@queensofbravo) May 17, 2023
After Tom told Ariana that he’s “sorry” she had to find out about his affair because of a sex tape he filmed with Raquel and forgot to delete, she told him that she “regrets” ever loving him, defending him and supporting him. “You’re worth nothing. And I want you to feel that deep in your soul,” she told him, as a tear streamed down his cheek. “I regret ever loving you.”
After his sit-down with Ariana, Sandoval continued his apology tour with a stop at Tom Schwartz‘s. Because of their close friendship and Schwartz potentially knowing about the affair before everyone else caught on to it, their restaurants were suffering, and Schwartz was being “cancelled” online. Sandoval cried in Schwartz’s arms and apologized to him. While Schwartz promised Sandoval that he wouldn’t kick him while he was down, their new restaurant Schwartz & Sandy’s was suffering because of the aggressive backlash from fans, so he was pretty upset. Schwartz wanted to make it clear on camera that he wasn’t “complicit” in the affair and Sandoval needed to tell Ariana that.
Again, Sandoval insisted that he wanted to break up with Ariana, they had grown apart, and he, out of nowhere, bonded with Raquel and felt a deep connection with her. He claimed his relationship with Ariana had been bad for four to five years, but they hid it from the world. According to him, they had “zero intimacy” and the only time he ever got off was when he’d “watch porn in the f***ing bathroom.” He said he went into therapy, but he didn’t know what to do. He loves Ariana, but their relationship wasn’t great, according to him.
Schwartz said that’s “all relatable”, but he had “so many opportunities” to sit down with Ariana and tell her how he felt, and that’s what he should’ve done. Sandoval said he tried. He went on to reveal that after his hookup with Raquel after guys’ night in August, they didn’t do anything again until late Sept., during the Life Is Beautiful festival. He basically said Ariana should’ve known better and caught on by then — he said he told Ariana he was going to Schwartz’s, but “all she would have had to do [was] follow me and see that I’m not.” But Schwartz hit back, saying Sandoval shouldn’t “put that responsibility on her.” He also complained again about being “cancelled” because of his association with Sandoval, and all Sandoval said was to “stay off social media”.
throwing up #pumprules pic.twitter.com/U5bOzPliBs
— Vanderpump Rules (@sur_rules) May 16, 2023
The next scene was the one between Ariana, Katie Maloney and Scheana Shay that was released earlier this week. Ariana told the girls that she learned Sandoval and Raquel first had sex after guys’ night in August — just days after Ariana’s dog died. Sandoval and Raquel had sex in Raquel’s car, and he “didn’t have a key to get in” so he had to ring the doorbell and have Ariana let him in. Scheana went on to say that after her March 1 WWHL appearance with Raquel, when everyone found out about the affair, she had “so much rage” in her. Scheana said she “shoved” Raquel “so f***ing hard” before running back to her hotel room in NYC. Obviously, Raquel later filed a restraining order against Scheana, claiming Scheana punched her, but Scheana insists it’d be physically impossible to do that since she has such long nails and can’t fully form a fist. Instead, she said she probably “scratched her”. Katie also said that she believes Schwartz knew about the affair early on because while they were all at BravoCon in Oct. 2022, Katie made a comment about Raquel being a “groupie” because she was wearing a TomTom hoodie, and Schwartz said, “She’s not there for me — trust me.”
Later, James Kennedy called Raquel to drag her to filth, but in his confessional, he said she wasn’t really the one he was truly upset with — it was Sandoval who hurt him the most. James thought Sandoval was his friend, and his mentor, but now that Sandoval went behind his back and hooked up with his ex-fiancee, he’s not interested in continuing their friendship. And that feeling seems to be across the board for most of the cast, but we’ll get to that later.
James Kennedy crying over his lost friendship with Sandoval got to me. He really valued that friendship 🥺 #pumprules pic.twitter.com/7zCDkNQg7F
— Queens of Bravo (@queensofbravo) May 18, 2023
In the next scene, Sandoval went to Raquel’s so they could comfort each other amid the s***storm they caused. They both said “it’s been rough,” took a shot together and then started discussing the matter at hand. But things got super awkward really quickly. First, Sandoval accidentally called Raquel Ariana, and then, when he told her that his family loves her, she thought he said, “I love you”, so she said, “I love you too”. He told her what he really said, and she seemed embarrassed, but he told her he also loved her, and then they hugged again. They also admitted to wanting to kiss, but refused to do so because cameras were around. “It’s so weird,” she said.
When asked why she hooked up with Tom, Raquel told a producer that she always wanted to be physical with someone she loved, and she already loved Sandoval like a friend when they hooked up, so it felt natural. And while she said she should have removed herself from the “situation”, she “couldn’t resist” being around Sandoval.
Back in her private conversation with Sandoval, Raquel expressed fears about him one day cheating on her, too, but all he could say was he’s currently happy with her and couldn’t predict the future. He said he felt like his life was over when he turned 40, but getting together with her made him feel alive again, like his “best days” weren’t behind him. They both admitted to regretting the way they got together, and said they’d do things over if they could, but obviously, that’s not reality.
Following the scene, Raquel turned off her phone and wasn’t seen or heard from for weeks.
Kristen Doute also returned to the show and had a cute, but brief scene with Ariana, where they both apologized for any hurt they caused each other in the past. Then, they burned some stuff in the backyard and played with some crystals. Katie also met up with Schwartz and tried to find out when he really learned about the affair, but he said he didn’t know much until just before everyone else found out.
Later, Ariana and Sandoval each had their own scenes with Lisa Vanderpump at Villa Rosa. During Ariana’s scene, she cried and said she “misses” Tom “so much”, but LVP told her there’s something better for her on the other side of this. Then, when Sandoval went to her house, he hyperventilated when he realized he might never speak to Ariana ever again. LVP told him to pull it together and urged him to heal. “You’re not a bad person — you just did a bad thing. Make sure you know that,” she told him.
Then, during a girls’ night out, Schwartz showed up so he could apologize to Ariana. And while she was receptive to what he wanted to say, she told him that she can no longer be friends with him because she refuses to have any mutual friends with Sandoval.
In the final scene of the finale, Sandoval went to Scheana’s for one final stop on his apology tour. Apparently, he was disrespectful to her when she initially lashed out at him about the affair (off camera) after WWHL, so he wanted to make things right. However, she wasn’t interested. She said she couldn’t be friends with him because of what he did to Ariana — in fact, she said he didn’t deserve to have any friends. But before she made that clear, she asked questions about his affair, and he again said he and Ariana were having problems for years. He claimed Ariana “threatened to kill herself,” when he tried breaking up with her in the past. But Scheana said that was no excuse for him cheating on Ariana with her good friend. Scheana told Tom that she defended him in the past — especially when there were rumors about him hooking up with “Miami Girl” in 2014. She said she “always thought [that rumor] was true”, but she still defended him — however, before she could say anything more, Sandoval interjected by confirming the hookup. “Ariana has always known the truth about that,” he told a stunned Scheana.
“Other then Miami Girl, [Raquel] was the first time you’ve ever cheated on Ariana?” she asked, to which Sandoval said, “There was one other time.” Again, Scheana was shook. She asked if it was someone random, and at first, Sandoval said yes, but then he corrected himself by saying it wasn’t anyone random. However, he refused to reveal their identity. “It’s not fair. I’m not going into it,” he said, to which Scheana replied, “You’re sick.” Could the other person that Sandoval cheated on Ariana with be their former co-star, Billie Lee, who he was rumored to have hooked up with in the past and recently hung out with while shirtless? Only time will tell, but as we’ve come to learn while watching ten seasons of Vanderpump Rules, secrets always have a way of coming into the light.
Want more? The Vanderpump Rules three-part reunion kicks off next Wednesday, May 24, at 9pm on Bravo.
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