Ariana Madix's “VPR” Costar Fears Her Prolonged Bitterness Toward Sandoval 'Will Eat You Alive'
Tom Sandoval's affair exploded his relationship with Ariana Madix — and her bank account — as the 'Vanderpump Rules' star revealed she was down to $2,000 before opportunities dropped in her lap amid the scandal
Ariana Madix is drawing a line in the sand when it comes to Tom Sandoval.
On Tuesday’s episode of Vanderpump Rules, the Dancing with the Stars alum, 38, made it clear there was no forgiving the Schwartz & Sandy's co-owner, 41, following his affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.
“My position has not changed that he doesn't get any sort of access to my life via me or via mutual friends,” she told Lala Kent. “I'm not down with him being around. You know, I can quietly remove myself from situations that make me uncomfortable.”
She added, “I'm not the person to come to with the Sandoval sympathy train.”
After Scheana Shay appeared to crack open the door to Sandoval last week, Ariana worried that she will lose her spot in the friend group if Sandoval is accepted again, explaining, “I mean, I'm trying to be compassionate. But I also know that Scheana is very easily walked all over.”
“He knows that Scheana is the easiest route to go to try to get people back in his corner,” she added. “And he knows that if he can get Scheana to come around, LaLa to come around, James [Kennedy] and then Ally [Lewber], then he can ice me out of the friend group.”
During drinks with the girls, Scheana reiterated that she is grieving the loss of her friendship with Sandoval, saying, “I'm finally, five months later, going through an actual grieving process. Ariana has already grieved the loss of this. Making millions of dollars and living her best f---ing life. I'm not there.”
After hearing Scheana’s side, Katie Maloney became upset and said she doesn't have “any sympathy” for Sandoval, adding in a confessional, “I wish Scheana would just wake the f--- up, look at the situation for what it really is. Sandoval never really gave a f--- about your friendship. Cut ties, move on, be a good friend of Ariana.”
Katie further explained that her stance about Sandoval was about more than just his affair, telling Scheana, “With all due respect, I simply wish you would get over it. That man has never offered me a sincere apology since the day I met him… and he’s been awful to me. He interfered in my marriage. He made everyone think I was a monster, my own ex-husband, I think. And the fact that anyone is having trouble getting over this trash bag of a human, it's fathomless because this person is, they’re a demon.”
At the girls’ astrology night, Ariana opened up about her financial situation before the scandal broke on March 1, 2023 and explained why she hasn’t moved out of her shared home with Sandoval.
“The internet thinks I've made millions of dollars. That is not true,” she explained. “And it's like, on March 1, was I financially prepared to move? Literally the week before all of this happened, I remember emailing my agent and my manager and being like, ‘Guys, let's start really trying to do some s— because I am not in a good place financially.”
She further explained in a confessional, “When I first started making decent money. We decided we wanted to buy a house and then I was playing catch up all the way up until Katie and I found the great location for a sandwich shop. Then, a bunch of my money went towards that. And now I was at a point where in March I was literally on like my last $2,000. I'm not kidding. He created this situation and now I'm scrambling trying to get my f---ing s--- together to be able to in a financially responsible way move onto the next step.”
Later in the conversation, Ariana held firm on her stance that she won’t have mutuals friends with her ex. After discussing James’ decision to hang out with Sandoval at guys' night, Lala realized that their friendships with Ariana were all “at risk” if they hung out with Sandoval.
“This is exactly what I was afraid of. I was trying to have a conversation with Ariana tonight, from Dancing with the Stars to losing Sandoval, but seeing her reaction to James hanging out with Sandoval, I'm just gonna sit back and keep my mouth shut,” Scheana admitted in a confessional.
Lala commented that Ariana was getting “very heated” over James’ decision and Katie, once again, came to her defense. Katie and Lala then argued whether Lala’s opinions stemmed from her situation with ex Randall Emmett.
Lala clarified that she is worried that Ariana is holding onto the same type of resentment she had for Randall, saying, “Nobody knows what it's like to deal with a s---ty ex more than I do. I'm never rid of this person that I had a child with and this is why I know that harboring resentment towards your ex like Ariana is doing with Sandoval, it will eat you alive.”
“It's like drinking the poison and expecting it to kill the other person. It doesn't. It kills you,” she added. “I don’t want that for my friend.”
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Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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