Ariana Madix is shutting down claims that Raquel Leviss was “manipulated” into believing Tom Sandoval was in an open relationship at the beginning of their affair.
During the “Vanderpump Rules: Pumped Up Edition” reunion, Scheana Shay alleged that Sandoval told Leviss that he and Madix were not exclusive back in April 2022 — just a few months before their dalliance began.
Due to this, one fan suggested that the cast might be coming down too hard on Leviss, who might have thought she was doing no harm due to Sandoval’s alleged lies.
“Could it be that he manipulated Raquel the same way that Ariana has claimed he manipulated her for years,” the fan wrote under Page Six’s Instagram. “I mean why wouldn’t Raquel believe him if that’s what he told her. He was taking her on vacations, to meet his parents, they even spent Christmas together.”
Yet the suggestion didn’t sit right with Madix, who tried to set the record straight in the comments section.
“just to clarify — she didn’t BELIEVE that,” the “VPR” star replied. “She told someone that he told her that. There are missing major chunks here which is totally understandable. They can’t fit every piece of context into the show.”
She continued, “He also spent Christmas with me and my family in LA (photo shown in the finale) before splitting his time and going home to see his after. First holidays without my grandma please remember.”
Shay, 38, first told Madix, 37, about Sandoval’s alleged comments after the affair was exposed in March.
“Apparently in April [2022], she told this person that at Coachella, after you went to sleep, they were in the hot tub, he made a comment to her and was like, ‘So you know Ariana and I are like open right?’ And that he started coming onto her at f–king Coachella,” Shay said during the “VPR” finale.
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Madix, who appeared stunned by the claim, emphasized “that has never been the case ever.”
Madix and Sandoval, 40, had been combatting open relationship rumors all season, with the wannabe rocker previously calling the accusations “the most f–king ridiculous f–king thing ever.”
Yet in light of Leviss and Sandoval’s bombshell affair, Madix revealed that she thinks the rumors “came from him” all along.
The sandwich shop owner found out about the months-long dalliance when she saw a sexually explicit FaceTime recording of her ex-BFF on her ex-boyfriend’s phone. She immediately dumped him and the fallout from the affair was captured for Season 10 of the hit Bravo show.
“Vanderpump Rules” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo while the “Pumped Up” uncensored, longer edition streams on Peacock the next day.
