There is seemingly no end to the Scandoval speculation. All the hindsight in the world can’t rationalize how Tom Sandoval could cheat behind Ariana Madix’s back for the better part of a year. Maybe her Vanderpump Rules co-stars can’t believe they either didn’t notice or didn’t call out Sandoval’s suspected affair with Raquel Leviss.
Lala Kent keeps coming back to the issue. And there was more to unpack after the VPR crew filmed the Season 10 reunion. On a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Lala revealed the first time she suspected Raquel and Sandoval’s relationship became inappropriate.
“I started becoming suspicious want to say in August. When it began, allegedly,” Lala said, according to Us Weekly. When asked whether she places more blame on Raquel or Sandoval for the affair, Lala replied that it’s a “tie.”
Lala explained, “Raquel was [Ariana Madix’s] best friend and that’s who you lean on when your man does dirty stuff.” The Give Them Lala Beauty founder added that she hoped Sandoval would do the right thing and “break up” with Ariana before getting involved with Raquel.
Does Lala think Sandoval and Raquel are the real deal despite the unacceptable manner in which they hooked up? She labeled Raquel “sick” and “in love” with the Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner. As for Sandoval, Lala thinks he “is incapable of that type of emotion.”
Lala agreed with alum Stassi Schroeder that Tom Schwartz was used as “decoy.” His kiss with Raquel definitely “threw people off the scent.” Yet Lala doesn’t think Schwartz was aware of that. “I think Schwartz was absolutely the decoy [but] I don’t think he realized it and that’s what’s so gross about it,” Lala said while on WWHL.
The mother of one has remained highly critical of Sandoval. After he issued a public apology without addressing Ariana, Lala was the first to call him out.
“Hey, I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation … Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently, and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing,” Sandoval wrote at the time. “Also, Schwartz & Sandy’s might have my name on it, but also there are 3 other partners and 20 employees, who especially rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families. Just like TomTom, I’m a small part of a much bigger thing. Please direct ur anger towards me and not them. They did nothing wrong.”
RELATED: Vanderpump Rules Fans Blast Howie Mandel For Seeming To Justify Tom Sandoval’s Behavior
Lala responded on Instagram Stories, “S*ndoval. Shut up. Employees, abort mission,” she wrote on Instagram Stories on March 4, 2023. “Where’s Ariana’s apology in this? It’s called narcissism … & and it’s terrifying.”
Raquel issued an apology of her own. Lala did not comment. She posted the following statement to Instagram on March 8, 2023, adding she planned to work with “a counselor” to address her faults.
“I want to apologize for my actions and my choices foremost to Ariana, and to my friends and the fans so invested in our relationships. There is no excuse, I am not a victim and I must own my actions and I deeply regret hurting Ariana,” she wrote.
Raquel continued, “I have sought emotional validation through intimate connections that are not healthy without regard for my own well-being, sometimes negatively affecting others and often prioritizing the intimate connection over my friendships. I am taking steps to understand my behavior and make healthier choices.”
Due to Scandoval, filming the Season 10 reunion was exhausting. Lala wrote on her Instagram Stories, “That was the most exhausting reunion I’ve ever done in my life. I’m drained. I feel like I want to crawl into a hole and sob and scream, but I’m happy to be home now with my little one, crawl in bed, watch Seinfeld, and just, like, regroup.”
Meanwhile, Sandoval decided to give an interview after Bravo filming wrapped. Producers are allegedly not happy with his decision and are discussing his longevity on the show.
“Like many relationships, it felt like it became more of like a best friends, family [thing] — sometimes roommates. There were a lot of ways where the relationship was just lacking the intimacy, the connection,” Sandoval explained. “We would travel more by ourselves than we would together. I would go to weddings by myself.”
During the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Sandoval described his first kiss with Raquel. “It was magnetic,” he said of the event. “I felt something that I hadn’t felt in so long, like emotionally.”
Lala saw “clips” from the interview, but caught on to the fact that Sandoval was shifting the blame about the affair. Lala told Andy Cohen that she “doesn’t like the slander about Ariana.” She added, “He needs to shutup. I told him to shutup a long time ago and I was doing him a favor.” Meanwhile, Raquel has checked into a mental health facility.
TELL US- DO YOU THINK TOM IS INCAPABLE OF LOVE? IS RAQUEL IN LOVE WITH HIM? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF LALA’S COMMENTS ABOUT SCANDOVAL?
[Photo Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images]
