TV
March 16, 2023 | 02:27
Ariana Madix broke her silence after her longtime boyfriend, Tom Sandoval, had an affair with their “Vanderpump Rules” co-star Raquel Leviss.
Speaking out for the first time on Instagram, Madix said she has been “devastated and heartbroken” since finding out the news, but thanked her friends and fans for the “outpouring of love and support.”
“Hey. where to start?” she wrote to her 1.4 million followers on the platform along with a snap of herself out in Mexico.
“I want to express my deepest gratitude for the outpouring of love and support I have received from friends, family and people I have never even met in the last two weeks.”
“When I’ve felt like I couldn’t even take it, you all have given me the strength to carry on and seen me through my darkest hours,” she added.
“To say I’ve been heartbroken and heartbroken is an understatement. however, I know I’m not alone in this,” wrote Madix, who dated Sandoval for nearly a decade.
“So many of my closest friends are also grieving this loss right now and reeling from this betrayal on so many levels.”
“I’m so f-king lucky to have the best support system in the world and I hope I can repay every single person for the love you’ve shown me,” she continued.
“What doesn’t kill me better run,” she ended her lengthy caption.
Her comments come after Page Six confirmed on March 3 that Madix, 37, and Sandoval, 39, broke up after she learned he and Leviss, 28, had been “communicating inappropriately for months.”
A source told Us at the time that Madix was “blindsided” by the dalliance and had “no idea there were any issues” between her and Sandoval, whom she had dated since 2013.
Not only that, but Madix and Leviss had grown close in recent months, leaving her co-owner feeling “betrayed by her friend.”
We heard Madix “find out” about the couple’s “full-on affair” on March 1 while attending Sandoval’s cover band’s show, where he gushed about “respecting” his now ex-girlfriend.
Asked how their relationship had stood the test of time, Sandoval said he and Madix were “really good at respecting each other.”
He noted that while they’ve had their “ups and downs,” the bartender said they both had “each other’s back in a reasonable way.”
When news of the elaborate affair broke, both Sandoval and Leviss respectively issued statements on social media.
“I want to apologize to Ariana. I made mistakes, I was selfish and made reckless decisions that hurt someone I love,” Sandoval wrote last week.
“No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly. I can only imagine how devastating this has been for Ariana and everyone around us.”
“I feel really terrible about it,” he continued. “My biggest regret is that I dishonored Ariana. I never meant to disappoint so many people, including our loving families and friends … I owed Ariana better.”
For her part, Leviss issued a lengthy statement in which she blamed the affair for her “addiction” to love and vowed to do better from here on out.
“I’m reflecting on my choices, talking to a counselor, and I’m learning things about myself, like my patterns of codependency and addiction to being and feeling loved,” she wrote.
“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.”
Although this is the first time Madix has addressed the affair, her brother, Jeremy Madix, was quick to defend her — and slam Sandoval — on social media just hours after the news broke.
On cast member James Kennedy’s Instagram post about the matter, Jeremy called Sandoval a “trying hard to have a midlife crisis with his cringey band” before taking shots at Leviss, who he said “faked his way to the top.”
Amid the controversy, Sandoval publicly apologized to Madix on March 8, writing in part on Instagram that he “made mistakes” and “reckless decisions that hurt someone” he loved.
“Nobody deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly,” he continued. “I can only imagine how devastating this has been for Ariana and everyone around us. I feel really terrible about that.”
For more Page Six reality TV updates
Leviss also issued a mea culpa to Madix, blaming the entanglement on her “addiction” to love.
“There is no excuse. I am not a victim and I must own my actions and I deeply regret hurting Ariana,” the former party queen said in a statement.
“I’ve started counseling to end my cycle of unhealthy behaviors, learn to set stronger emotional boundaries, and learn to protect my mental health.”
Producers filmed the fallout from the affair for Season 10, which is currently airing.
However, a source close to the situation told Page Six exclusively that “no one” from the “Pump Rules” cast is talking to Leviss while the cameras are rolling.
“Vanderpump Rules” airs Wednesdays at 9pm ET on Bravo.
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