Raquel Leviss has admitted that she “needed to get caught” in her affair with Tom Sandoval so it didn’t continue.
The 28-year-old Vanderpump Rules star recently spoke to Bethenny Frankel on her podcast, Just B, where she shared details of the secret affair she had with her co-star. “I needed to get caught. I needed to because it would have just continued, and that’s not who I want to be,” Leviss said. “This was the biggest wakeup call for me.”
Frankel, 52, was quick to tell the reality star that she seemed to “hit rock bottom” but Leviss agreed with the podcast host. However, she explained how she sees a “silver lining” in the controversy because she’s now able to help others who are trying to heal. Later in the episode, Leviss expressed no interest in ever returning to reality TV, replying “hell no” when asked by Frankel if she was returning to the Bravo series.
Sandoval, 40, was in a relationship with Leviss’ friend and co-star, Ariana Madix, when the affair started. Leviss admitted that she was “really hurting” by sneaking around with Sandoval, who had been in a relationship with Madix for nine years.
“I wasn’t happy. I was really hurting,” she confessed. “I don’t ever want to be in a place like that again, and I will make sure that I don’t put myself in a situation like that again.”
After the affair was exposed, she ended all communication with the rest of the Vanderpump Rules cast. She revealed that Sandoval has only tried to contact her a few times since news broke of their split.
Towards the end of her discussion with Frankel, a former Real Housewives of New York star, Leviss offered an apology to those she hurt. “I really just want to acknowledge that a lot of people were believing in me, and I feel like I was a disappointment to those people,” she said. “I know that there was a lot of trust that was broken between friendships and betrayal that happened. I look back at my actions, and I’m disappointed in myself as well.”
On 3 March, news of Leviss and Sandoval’s affair broke when TMZ reported that Madix, 37, found out she had been cheated on by Sandoval for at least six months. The same night that Madix was caught kissing Sandoval at a concert for his band, Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras, she reportedly found out about the infidelity.
According to People, Madix discovered “a selfie video sexual in nature from Leviss” on Sandoval’s phone – the same video Leviss is now accusing Sandoval of taking without her consent. She supposedly “began scrolling and saw their history of inappropriate texts.”
While Madix promptly ended her nine-year relationship with Sandoval, Leviss headed to a 90-day treatment facility after their affair was exposed.
