‘Vanderpump’ Star Raquel Leviss Opens up After Mental Health Treatment and Reveals Why the Name Change

Raquel Leviss has spoken out for the first time in an interview following the shocking cheating scandal that deeply impacted the Vanderpump Rules cast.

In a significant revelation, Raquel Leviss has addressed her recent experience of undergoing mental health treatment and making a surprising change to her name. The star of Vanderpump Rules chose the platform of Wednesday's episode of the Just B podcast with Bethenny Frankel to share her perspective. In the podcast, the 28-year-old Raquel elucidated her reasons for seeking assistance at a mental health facility, which stemmed from the intense scrutiny and criticism she faced due to her involvement with co-star Tom Sandoval, who is 40 years old.

"I'm OK. I'm hanging in there. It's been a whirlwind. It's been chaos, but I've taken some time for myself to reflect and try to understand my actions, and I've finally come to the place where it makes sense to me," she told host and reality star Bethenny. She went on to elaborate that her decision to go to the facility in Arizona was driven by her desire to gain deeper insights into her actions and the recurring pattern of becoming entangled in unhealthy relationships.

"Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such a b***h reel online. But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors, and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of 'OK, why am I choosing men that are unavailable? Why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships? What are the things that I need to change about my behavior?' And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I needed to know what it was that led to those behaviors," she further said.

The Bravo personality, who had maintained silence since her appearance on this year's intense season finale of VPR, proceeded to discuss her role in the controversial cheating scandal, as per The U.S. Sun. "I do want to take a moment to just acknowledge the hurt that I brought to a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions, and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanted to get certain needs met. Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from a relationship with somebody who I thought I was gonna marry, and in ending that, I still hadn't healed yet. So when I was filming, I was drinking a lot to ease that anxiety, and in a reality TV environment, I wasn't getting that safe space for me to express my emotions in a healthy way," she concluded.

As reported by Hollywood Life, while at the Meadows in Wickenburg, Arizona, Raquel chose to revert to her original birth name, Rachel. The reality TV personality shared with Bethenny that this decision arose during a therapeutic process known as "inner child work," involving writing with the non-dominant hand.

“My therapist asked me to write my name on the whiteboard. And I wrote Rachel. And she [the therapist] was like, ‘Interesting. I see you as Rachel to your core. You’re going by Raquel, which is okay, but it’s not true to who you are. It’s a wall you have up.’ I feel like most of my life I’ve been afraid, I’ve struggled with social anxiety. I’ve struggled with judgment from other people. So having a fear of vulnerability makes sense. So I’m just trying to come back to my roots. I’m introducing myself as Rachel.”