(L-R) Tom Sandoval, Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.Photo:River Callaway/Variety via Getty Images; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
River Callaway/Variety via Getty Images; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Tom Sandovalis getting real about where he stands withRachel “Raquel” Leviss.
During Tuesday’sVanderpumpRulesafter show, Sandoval revealed that communication between the two stopped “shortly before” he appeared onSpecial Forces: World’s Toughest Test, whichhe filmedjust before production onVPRseason 11began last summer.
Sandoval said cutting ties was “really hard” since he had been doing “everything” possible to support her following herstay at The Meadows, a mental health facility in Arizona that she entered at the height of theScandovalto address hertraumaandlove addiction.
Rachel “Raquel” Leviss and Tom Sandoval.Vivien Killilea/Getty
Vivien Killilea/Getty
Leviss, 29, checked into The Meadows after filming the show’s brutalseason 10 reunion, where she and Sandoval, 41, were taken to task for theirmonths-long affairbehind the backs of the friendship group and his then-girlfriend of nine yearsAriana Madix.
“It was so defeating. I was doing everything I could to be there with her,” Sandoval said of Leviss. “That’s whyI quit drinking. That’s why I quit smoking because I knew she couldn’t do that. I wanted for when she got out [for us] to be on the same page. Maybe we could have our first drink together.”
Tom Sandoval at the “Vanderpump Rules” Season 11 Premiere.MediaPunch/Shutterstock
MediaPunch/Shutterstock
When asked why Leviss chose to stop talking to him, he said that he believes there are “a lot of reasons.”
Sandoval added that he believes “a lot of it had to do with her parents not liking me and being mad that she ended up in this situation and blaming me for that.”
“Obviously, it’s partly my fault; it’s partly her fault,” he continued. “You know, definitely not blameless, but her publicist would constantly say ‘optics, optics, optics.’ And I think the optics of the situation became the priority over anything else.”
Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty
Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty
“It was a very difficult time for me,” theRachel Goes Roguepodcast host told PEOPLE. “I felt like I wasn’t going to get through it at some moments, and so I’m just so happy that I’m able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and finally reintegrate into the real world.”
Leviss added that she feels like she has “overcome a lot of difficulties this past year” and has started “living life again, so it feels really good.”
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Vanderpump Rulesairs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
source: people.com
