Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval Gregory Pace/Shutterstock; Lisa O’Connor/Shutterstock
Happier times. Ariana Madix praised her ex Tom Sandoval right before she discovered his affair with Raquel Leviss.
According to Page Six, the Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras musician, 39, did a Q&A with the audience ahead of the group’s show at TomTom in West Hollywood on Wednesday, March 1.
When asked whether Vanderump Rules accurately portrays him, the Missouri native began to answer before passing the microphone off to Madix, 37.
“In some ways, yes; in some ways, no,” she explained. “I think the way that they show how dedicated and extra [he is], because I’m looking at the word ‘extra’…”
The actress continued: “But when I say dedicated to everything that you do and the way that you commit to everything that you do — that part is accurate.”
The outlet reported that someone in the crowd then shouted, “Give her a kiss!” to which Madix replied, “Yeah, give me a kiss!” before her then-beau obliged.
The sweet exchange came two days before Us Weekly confirmed that the pair had split after nine years of dating in the wake of Madix learning that Sandoval had cheated on her with Leviss, 28.
“They were having problems for a while,” a source exclusively told Us of the exes, noting that tension between them “only came to a breaking point” on Thursday, March 2.
Two days before news of the affair broke, Leviss hinted at her attraction to Sandoval during a Wednesday appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. When host Andy Cohen asked the former pageant queen and her fellow guest Scheana Shay, “Who’s the hotter Tom, [Tom] Schwartz or Sandoval?” Leviss answered, “Sandoval.”
The reply came as a surprise to both Shay, 37, and Cohen, 54, as Leviss and Schwartz, 40, previously hooked up at Shay and Brock Davies’ August 2022 wedding.
The WWHL host commented on the exchange during the Monday, March 6, episode of his Radio Andy show.
“I’m going through my cards and … Scheana said to Raquel, ‘You know, I only picked Sandoval because I knew that you were gonna pick Schwartz.’ And Raquel said, ‘Well, Sandoval has abs,’ and kind of shrugged. So, you know, that was interesting. And again, I didn’t think twice about it,” he explained.
The radio personality also said of Leviss and Sandoval: “It is my understanding that they are still [seeing each other]. But I can’t say that as fact — that’s what I’ve gathered from my intelligence.”
Amid the controversy, Sandoval was seen arriving to Leviss’ apartment on Saturday, March 4, per photos obtained by TMZ. The Missouri native addressed the scandal via Instagram that same day, apologizing to his business partners and noting that he is taking a leave of absence.
“Hey, I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation … Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently, and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing,” he wrote.
Several Pump Rules stars slammed the post.
“Where’s Ariana’s apology in this? It’s called narcissism … & and it’s terrifying,” Lala Kent wrote via Instagram Stories alongside the restaurant owner’s statement.
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Leviss’ ex-fiance James Kennedy, for his part, added in a since-deleted post, “Where’s Ariana Madix mentioned? Make sure y’all unfollow this clown RIGHT NOW GO.”