Ariana Madix: Tom Sandoval had a shot at redemption — until he did this
Ariana Madix was ready to put Scandoval behind her — but then her ex’s antics got to her.
Madix, 37, was with her longtime boyfriend and “Vanderpump Rules” co-star Tom Sandoval, 39, for nearly a decade, until news broke in March that he cheated on her with her ex-friend, Raquel Leviss, 28.
Dubbed “Scandoval,” the “Vanderpump Rules” scandal has rocked the reality TV world.
It’s also instigated such a renewed surge of interest in the show, that some fans speculate that it was “staged.”
On Thursday, Madix told the New York Times that the cheating duo had a shot at redemption, but then they shot themselves in the foot with their behavior.
“I think any chance that either of them separately had for [redemption] ended when they started giving trash interviews victimizing themselves,” she said, referring to Leviss’s TMZ interview and Sandoval’s Howie Mandel interview.
At the end of March, Leviss told TMZ, “I apologized to [Madix] over text, but she didn’t receive it very well.”
She also sounded distressed about the fact that the public was not sympathetic towards her, and said “it’s been a lot,” referring to the fallout from her affair with Sandoval.
During an April appearance on Howie Mandel’s podcast for his first interview post-Scandoval, Sandoval described his first kiss with Leviss as “magnetic.”
“I felt something that I hadn’t felt in so long, like, emotionally,” he said. He described Leviss as “so awesome,” “so kind,” “smart,” “witty,” “fun,” “beautiful” and “f – – king amazing.”
As it turns out, Madix was not impressed by either her cheating ex-boyfriend or Leviss blabbing to the press and gushing about their infidelity.
“I think had they not done or said all of those horrible things, maybe one day [they could be redeemed],” she said.
“But I think the answer ultimately is no. In our friend group, the answer is no.”
She also shared her exasperation with Sandoval’s “sad sack act” during one of the reunion specials for the Bravo show.
“I knew he was going to try to sell a bit,” she said.
“I knew he was trying to be that person so that I would be the angry person; I could see what was happening in front of my face, and it was really frustrating. Honestly, when he started yelling at me, I felt a little bit satisfied that he was finally going to be the real him.”
She said in no uncertain terms that she is not open to filming with either Sandoval or Leviss again.
“I have nothing to say to either of them. Our show is very real and follows a real group of friends, and neither of them are in the group of friends, so, good luck.”
The three-part “Vanderpump Rules” reunion airs on May 24, with an additional “secrets revealed” special airing June 14 at 9 p.m.
