Raquel Leviss responded to renewed fan chatter about why she pursued a relationship with Tom Sandoval when she knew he was still dating Ariana Madix.
“You’re not wrong!” Raquel, 28, wrote in a Saturday, August 26, Instagram comment replying to a clip from the “Bravo Tea With Jared B” podcast. “I should have had more self respect than that and should have respected the relationship that Ariana had with Tom. No excuses.”
Raquel’s comment came in response to a video of host Jared Barnes discussing her recent interview with Bethenny Frankel. While talking to The Real Housewives of New York City alum, Raquel said she wouldn’t have gotten involved with Sandoval, 41, if she thought he still had a viable romance with Ariana, 38, but Jared questioned why she agreed to that arrangement.
“If you wanted to be with Tom Sandoval so [badly], you should have let him know that this tryst, the situation that was going between you and him, goes no further until you know officially that they have broken up,” Jared said in his podcast, which debuted earlier this month.
In her comment, Raquel blamed her logic on her own self-esteem problems. “Looking back, I see I had low self-worth and Tom kept telling me he was actively breaking up with [Ariana] ‘amicably’ for her ‘mental health,’ which I can now see was magical thinking,” she wrote. “He had a million and one reasons why they hadn’t broken up yet and it was easier to stay in that fantasy then [sic] to face the fact that the social anxiety and isolation was not worth it.”
Raquel concluded that Jared’s assessment of the situation was “absolutely” and “100 percent right,” adding, “It was MY responsibility to remove myself from that situation … now I know better.”
Us Weekly confirmed in March that Ariana and Sandoval split after he was caught having an affair with their Vanderpump Rules costar Raquel. Sandoval later told Howie Mandel that he tried to break up with Ariana before she found out about his infidelity, but Ariana denied his version of events.
Raquel, for her part, said earlier this month that she no longer believes she and Sandoval were in love with each other, despite the fact that they used the “L” word during the season 10 finale of Pump Rules.
“I felt seen and heard by him. I haven’t really had that connection with other people in the cast, nor people in my real life,” Raquel told Bethenny, 52. “I was filming in a tumultuous environment. I was needing some validation and somebody to hear what I was going through. Here comes along Tom who really gave me that time of day to share my side of the story in a non-judgment zone. That’s exactly what I needed in that moment.”
She also downplayed her friendship with Ariana, claiming that the pair actually didn’t spend much time together outside of filming for their Bravo series. “Ariana and I were not best friends. We were acquaintances who became friends through the show,” Raquel said. “She’s always been somebody who’s been very sweet to me. She would stand up for me and encourage me to pursue whatever I was, I don’t know … pursuing. And that was all great — but we never had, like, a deep conversation that I would have with a best friend.”
After Raquel’s interview made headlines, Ariana said she was more upset with Bethenny than her former friend. During the three-part podcast, Bethenny alleged that Ariana had “forgiven” Sandoval because they still live together and were seen filming Pump Rules season 11.
“I’m like, ‘Why are you speaking for me?’ I don’t know you,” Ariana said of Bethenny during a Friday, August 25, appearance on costar Scheana Shay’s “Scheananigans” podcast. “You don’t know what the f–k you’re talking about, lady.”
