Rachel Leviss blames alcohol and heartbreak for Sandoval affair

16 August 2023

Rachel Leviss blames alcohol and heartbreak for her affair with Tom Sandoval.

Rachel Leviss blames alcohol and heartbreak for Sandoval affair [Instagram]

The 28-year-old star left her 'Vanderpump Rules' co-star and BFF Ariana Madix, 38, devastated after it was revealed she had been carrying on an affair with Ariana's boyfriend Tom Sandoval, 40, for several months and now Rachel has opened up about the fling and the fallout from it.

Speaking to Bethenny Frankel on her podcast 'Just B with Bethenny Frankel', she said: "It’s been a whirlwind, it’s been chaos. But I’ve taken some time to myself to reflect and try to understand my actions. And I finally have come to the place where it makes sense to me.

"Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online.

"But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviours and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, 'OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behaviour'.

"And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I first had to know what leads to those behaviours.

"I do want to take a moment though to just acknowledge the hurt that I brought to a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanting to get certain needs met.

"Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from a relationship from someone I thought I was going to marry. And in ending that, I still haven’t healed yet.

"When I was filming, I was drinking a lot to ease that anxiety and in a reality TV environment, I wasn’t getting that safe space for me to express my emotions in a healthy way."

When Bethenny told Rachel - who was previously knows as Raquel - that she felt she had been "exploited", Rachel said: "It’s so nice to have you validate that experience because for a moment I thought I was going crazy. And it’s true, reality TV is edited, it is contrived to create a certain storyline. So it’s not all factual.

"As a viewer tuning in, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that. Then the concept of an affair hits really hard to a lot of people. So I think there was a lot of projection happening, a lot of emotions that came up for people, and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of that."

After news of the affair became public, Rachel checked herself into a mental health facility but left it in July.