When Raquel Leviss Revealed New Info About Tom Sandoval and Bravo Network in a Bombshell Interview

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 25, 2023. It has since been updated.

Raquel Leviss provided her perspective on the "Scandoval" narrative. The Vanderpump Rules actress and Bethenny Frankel had a conversation about her relationship with Tom Sandoval and the ensuing media frenzy. Leviss believes she's been handed "the short end of the stick" following the dramatic on-screen breakdown of her relationship with her co-star during the recent spring 10th season of Vanderpump Rules, per All About The Tea.

“The concept of an affair hits home, hits really hard to a lot of people,” Leviss said during a Wednesday appearance on the Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast. “So I think there was a lot of projection happening, a lot of emotions that came up for people. And unfortunately, I was the punching bag for a lot of that.”

Five and a half months after it was made public that Sandoval and Leviss had an affair lasting months behind the back of Ariana Madix, his former girlfriend of nine years, Leviss claims Sandoval has benefited professionally from the Bravo show's rising popularity while she has incurred debt and had to take a step back for her mental health, per PEOPLE.

Leviss made the explosive revelation that Sandoval recorded her private FaceTime chats without her consent or knowledge. Sandoval used this to further his editing control over season 10 when the FaceTime chat he secretly shot turned into possible scandalous material for the Bravo series. “If he would’ve asked for permission, I would’ve said no,” Leviss said about the private video.

She added that she even confronted Sandoval about this during pickup filming, “I said to Tom, ‘How can I trust you? You filmed me without my consent.’ And he admitted to it, but then after that scene wrapped he said, ‘Why did you say that? why did you say that on camera? You made me look bad. And I was like, ‘Well because that’s what happened.’”

The co-owner of Schwartz & Sandy “ended up boycotting filming the rest of 'Scandoval' so he could have editing rights to that scene.” Frankel also brought up the fact that, even though Leviss's narrative propelled a record-breaking season of Vanderpump Rules for Bravo, the former pageant queen was not guaranteed a financial portion of that. 

In her account, Leviss explained why she began seeing Sandoval even though he was seeing 38-year-old Madix. “It took me a while to accept, but I learned about love addiction, and it’s a real thing,” she said. “It’s where you confuse intensity for intimacy. … And those chemical changes in the brain are the same chemical changes that happen when you take drugs.”

“It doesn’t excuse the fact that it happened, but now I know better,” she said. The reality TV actress also added that Bravo makes their relationship look different than it really is. "I would not be involved in this affair secrecy type of situation if I thought there was longevity in this relationship between Tom and Ariana," she added.