“Schwartz knew since the very beginning,” Leviss said on her podcast, claiming Sandoval’s best friend knew before she and Tom even had a conversation about their hookup.
Rachel Leviss is continuing to share her side of the story following her explosive affair with Tom Sandoval.
On the second episode of her new podcast, Rachel Goes Rogue, the former Vanderpump Rules star alleged that Sandoval’s best friend and business partner, Tom Schwartz, knew about her relationship with Sandoval from the start.
Fans of the series will recall that last March, Sandoval ended his almost decade-long relationship with girlfriend Ariana Madix, following news that he cheated on Madix with their co-star.
“Schwartz knew since the very beginning,” Leviss claimed. “I got a phone call from Tom after we hooked up for the first time. My mind was racing, I was feeling so much guilt and shame about it. And I finally got a call from Sandoval, he was at Schwartz’s apartment and that was a safe space for him.”
She continued, “So Schwartz knew before we even had a conversation to talk about it and what the game plan was going to be because immediately I was going to film with Ariana and our group of girls that night and I was saying I was seeing Ariana later.”
While Leviss says Schwartz knew about the affair — which seemingly began in early August 2022 — all along, he claimed in April on Watch What Happens Live that he found out about Sandoval’s “one night stand” with Leviss in “late August” 2022, and only learned of the full-fledged “emotional affair” last January. Remember, Schwartz also made out with Leviss at Scheana Shay’s wedding in late August.
“The one-night stand was in August and then it became, from my point of view, it became an emotional affair. Which is still inappropriate but I didn’t think it was linear,” Schwartz explained at the time. “[Then] in January, he came to me and told me that he was in love with Raquel (a.k.a. Rachel).”
Schwartz has made several comments about the status of his longtime friendship with Sandoval since the scandal, going back and forth on where they stand, with the show’s season 11 trailer seeing Schwartz question what the future looks like for the pair.
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Rachel Leviss Details ‘Embarrassing’ First Hookup with Tom Sandoval While Ariana Madix Slept Nearby
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But Leviss thinks whatever rift exists between Sandoval and Schwartz won’t remain for long, calling their dynamic the most “co-dependent relationship” ever seen on Vanderpump Rules.
Their ups and downs will likely play out on the upcoming season — which Leviss bowed out of — citing Madix as one the reasons she decided not to return to the show.
Calling her affair with Sandoval “a huge betrayal,” Leviss said she couldn’t imagine Madix — her former best friend — continuing to have to work with someone who’d done that and then see them interacting with the person you thought was your person … “it would just be so catastrophic.”
“I didn’t want to do that to Ariana,” Leviss said on her podcast’s inaugural episode. “I didn’t want to put her in that position.”
Rachel Leviss Vows to Be ‘Better Friend’ After ‘Hardest Year Yet’
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What’s more, is after spending time at a trauma therapy center last spring, Leviss says she has whole different understanding of her relationship with Sandoval, telling listeners she has “a lot of clarity” about the whole situation.
“The story I would tell myself about our relationship that we had, it seemed so special and it seemed so real, but when you look at the cold, hard facts and write them down on a piece of paper and see all of those red flags clear as day, that will break you out of your denial,” she said.
“Once I was broken out of denial and realized how manipulative he is,” Leviss added, “I couldn’t put myself in a situation where, at my most vulnerable state, it would probably get me back to those old patterns that I’m trying to break free from.”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules premieres January 30 at 8pm ET on Bravo.
