I can’t stop thinking about the most recent episode of Vanderpump Rules because it was absolutely wild. The penultimate episode of this season was supposed to be the finale, but then Scandoval broke and filming resumed. We got a clear view into Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’s likely strategy to extricate him from his nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix and turn their affair into a public relationship — had they not been found out. Tom was insidiously laying the groundwork for breaking up with Ariana (and making it her fault) by his conversations with Tom Schwartz and with her about their disconnect and lack of intimacy. And in a truly shocking move, Raquel approached Ariana to ask her and Tom’s relationship, even bringing up their sex life.
In the biggest Vanderpump Rules scene since we watched Stassi Schroeder whack Kristen Doute upside the head, Raquel Leviss is grilling Ariana Madix about her relationship with Tom Sandoval … all while sleeping with him on the side.
The infuriating conversation — which Leviss initiated — came during Wednesday night’s (May 10) episode of the hit Bravo show, when Madix reveals that she and Sandoval are having trouble emotionally and physically connecting with one another.
“You come home from working all night and, like, what you think you’re just gonna whip your d-ck out? And I’m gonna be like, ‘Yeah, let’s f-ck!’ That’s never gonna happen. You have to spend time together,” Madix says, to which Leviss replies, “I feel like in a relationship you should want to have sex.”
Even worse, when Leviss asks if Madix is “sexually attracted” to Sandoval, she says that while she thinks “he’s so f-cking hot,” she doesn’t believe the same about herself. Meanwhile, Leviss tells cameras that Madix’s “body insecurities have a role in the issues that Tom and Ariana are having.”
In the end, Madix says she wants to stay in the relationship, leaving Leviss somewhat flustered as she admits, “I knew I should’ve broken up with James [Kennedy] two years before because I wasn’t attracted to him anymore.”
Raquel was clearly doing her own recon in that conversation with Ariana. She was trying to find out if what Tom was telling her was true and whether Ariana wanted to be in the relationship. It seemed like Raquel was also subtly trying to sow doubt in Ariana’s mind about her and Tom’s connection and whether their relationship was worth salvaging. The conversation was absolutely insane, with Raquel bringing up their dry spells (that Ariana had told her about), telling Ariana that in a relationship you should want to have sex (because if you don’t your longtime boyfriend might have an affair), and asking Ariana if she was even attracted to Tom. The latter prompted Ariana to say that Tom was hot, but she wasn’t, and then she made some disparaging comments about her own body. And Raquel was so quick to comfort her! Women supporting other women while also f-cking their boyfriends. Some say Raquel was gaslighting her, but I think Raquel was genuinely trying to boost Ariana’s self-esteem. Because if Ariana’s feels good about herself it’s easier for her to move on from Tom, therefore clearing the way for Raquel and Tom to eventually go public without looking bad. What an insidious plan.
Sidenote: This episode showed Raquel buying her own half of the now-infamous matching lightning bolt necklaces. If you’re going to have matching necklaces signifying your ~magnetic~ affair, it should be one person buying both with the intent to match and have a connection. So Raquel just copied a necklace Tom already had? That tracks.
Photos credit: Cover Images, Getty and screenshots from Bravo and E! YouTube videos.
After seeing Rachel laugh so many times I am of the belief that she has no shame or remorse. I don’t think she’s capable. Theres a sensitivity chip missing along with a good case of narcissism but I won’t armchair diagnose her mental functions. I think Rachel spends a lot of time feigning consideration. At her core, I dont believe any of the fallout has any real impact on her. It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let someone think you are a garbage human than open your mouth (which she cannot seem to stop doing) and confirming that she’s just an asshole. And Tom faked it for years but his fake crying and trauma face is causing his good guy facade to finally crack. He hates it when he can’t bully someone into buying his narrative. This whole situation just infuriates me because of all of his gaslighting. These two need to disappear.
I kinda think Ariana was starting to suspect Tom was cheating. All the comments from friends, the odd way Tom was busy prioritizing Raquel over the last couple of episodes. The convo with Raquel might have contributed to her breakdown. You just can’t process a friend doing this to you. Unforgivable.
I have encountered several women with low self esteem who could easily do what Raquel did in their 30s, 40s, or 50s to get validation from another friend’s husband/boyfriend. I think that is why some women are so paranoid to have mixed gender get togethers as I have gotten older. I also have seen women like Ariana and Raquel stay with men who cheat or mistreat them because they believe they can never do any better.
Tom gaslit Kristen and Ariana. He simply can’t handle someone who isnt a rahrah cheerleader for him. He has Peter Pan syndrome and will never grow up. His comments on adrenaline fueled things are what he enjoys spending time together doing were ridiculous and he sounded 25 not almost 40. He wanted a newer, shinier object, simple as that. He is just as gross as Jax it is just that everyone is now finally realizing it.
Andrea, your comment made my blood boil because I understand EXACTLY what you’re talking about and it’s maddening!
Other women can typically sniff this flavor of “cool girl” out quickly. Men often can’t see it since they’re being pandered to, so they dismiss the concerns of women pointing it out.
Katie Maloney clocked Raquel early. In my opinion, Ariana has a harder time spotting “cool girl” tendencies since she played that role a bit in her younger years (with Tom/Kristen). Katie was vilified all season, even a bit by Ariana, for her criticisms of Raquel.
In the scene where Lala tells Ariana about Tom staying at the bbq intentionally, Lala said that Ariana got really upset and they had to stop filming. She then confronted the producers and accused them of always trying to mess with her relationship. I think that’s really indicative of her state of mind – she was going through so much and truly wanted to believe the best about Tom and so she chocked up all the rumors about him to producers trying to stir up drama for the show.
It must be such a mindf*ck always having producers in your ear pushing the narratives they want to feature. I think in a normal environment Ariana may have recognized the nonstop red flags from Tom, but I can see how the toxicity of filming and the confusion of what’s real versus what’s being pushed by producers could really cloud someone’s mind, especially while they’re grief-stricken.
I do think a lot of the insane conversations that Raquel has with Katie and Ariana are the result of producers, except she’s too D and S (lol James) to be subtle or discerning so instead she just bluntly, emotionlessly delivers what the producers prod her to. It’s like when Scheana told her to call Oliver’s wife, or to tell Katie she couldn’t go to the pool – Raquel didn’t even think, she just immediately did it exactly how she was told to. I still can’t decide if she’s intentionally diabolical or so incredibly dumb that she doesn’t understand how badly she’s messed up.
I can’t figure why Ariana was so crazy about her. Nobody else even liked her, except the guys of course. Always a bad sign.
Until this episode, so many people were still framing Raquel as a victim of Tom’s manipulation. They pointed out she’s younger than him and she just had a breakup.
Thankfully this episode made the depths of her manipulation and lack of remorse or empathy clear.
They were both gaslighting Ariana into oblivion.