Vanderpump Rules’ Raquel Leviss has checked herself into a mental health treatment facility – amid the lingering fallout of her affair with Tom Sandoval.
The 28-year-old reality star, whose affair with Sandoval, 39, ended his nine-year romance with Ariana Madix, 36, in March, decided to enter the voluntary facility before their affair was discovered, reports ET.
A source said: “Raquel and her family decided before the relationship was discovered that she would enter a voluntary mental health counseling facility.
“She was supposed to leave before the reunion but decided she wanted to end her filming commitment. Bravo and the production were aware and supportive of her journey to better mental health.
Leviss’ rep added that she was not in a facility for substance abuse.
Treatment: Vanderpump Rules’ Raquel Leviss has checked herself into a mental health treatment facility – amid the lingering fallout of her affair with Tom Sandoval Love triangle: (LR) Explosive: The 28-year-old reality star, whose affair with Sandoval, 39, ended his The nine-year romance with Ariana Madix, 36, opted to enter the voluntary facility before their affair was discovered (pictured November 2022).
Last month Leviss issued a statement revealing that she analyzed her own behavior and spoke to an adviser after the affair was exposed.
She said: “I’m reflecting on my choices, talking to a counselor and learning things about myself like my patterns of codependency and addiction to being loved and feeling loved.
“I have sought emotional validation through intimate connections that are unhealthy, with no regard for my own well-being, sometimes negative impacts on others, and often I have prioritized the intimate connection over my friendships. I am taking steps to understand my behavior and make healthier choices.”
This comes after Sandoval revealed he and Leviss put the brakes on their sexual relationship after their months-long affair was revealed in March.
After recently ending his nine-year relationship with Madix over his infidelity, the bar owner revealed they’re “taking a break of sorts.”
“We don’t put a label on it,” the reality star said on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast.
When asked if they were still friends “with benefits” of the 67-year-old comedian, Sandoval denied they were still romantically involved.
“Not now,” the rocker, who is in cover band Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, told listeners after insisting he and the former pageant queen are still “good friends.”
betrayal” Sandoval and Madix pictured just days before split in March A source said: “Raquel and her family decided before the relationship was discovered that she would enter a voluntary mental health counseling facility; seen with Madix (left)
As their relationship blossomed from platonic to intimate, Sandoval opened up about his attraction to Leviss as he and Madix, 37, drifted apart after nearly a decade together.
“We were at my house and I’m locked out of my house and we were talking and we kissed,” he recalled. “It was magnetic. We got closer and as we talked time passed and we talked closer and closer and suddenly we were kissing. I felt something I hadn’t felt for so long, emotionally.’
He went on to explain how he and Madix had started to live their own lives and the romance between them had sunk.
“We were together for nine years and obviously we had built a house and a business together and everything. We were a brand. And like many relationships, it became more of a best friend/family/sometimes roommates situation,” he explained.
The Missouri native said their relationship overall “just lacks intimacy” and “connection.”
He felt they stayed together to maintain the look [they] were solid’ for her reality show and other business ventures.
“We certainly turned our backs on each other, and that was nice. It had security and stability,” he said of Madix.
Before he turned 40, he recalled that his life was “looking very bleak” and began to think his “best years were behind him.”
“I started to lose my optimism in life and my drive. I felt like I had to change something, to feel alive again, to feel motivated, to be upbeat again,” Sandoval confessed.
Before his affair, he said his “confidence was drained” and that any sexual experience with him would be tantamount to hooking up with “a 19-year-old” “on his second time” when he lost his “game.”
‘I’m not saying that [Ariana’s] Mistake, we just didn’t have that intimacy,” Sandoval claimed.
After hearing his guest’s side, Mandel urged fans to have “empathy and compassion” for Sandoval, who previously said he felt like “one of the most hated people in America” for betraying Madix.
“They need to be heard because the narrative is heard by everyone but you,” the America’s Got Talent judge told the audience. ‘I don’t understand the hate and irritation.’
While the father-of-three declared he would not “condone cheating on a partner,” he raised an eyebrow as he said the amount of backlash Sandoval has received has been bewildering.
Leviss’ life has been turned upside down since the affair was exposed – with an explosive show reunion set to air in the coming weeks.
Leviss obtained a protective order against co-star Scheana Shay, who she claims punched her in the face and gave her a black eye.
Shay has vehemently denied her co-star’s assault allegations.
Madix admitted to being “devastated and heartbroken” but grateful for her supporters in a post last month.
The reality star took to Instagram to share a stunning snap of herself with a lengthy caption addressing the scandal and thanked her friends, including her castmates, for their support through her “darkest hours”.
She wrote: “Hello. where to start I want to express my sincerest gratitude for the love and support I’ve received over the past two weeks from friends, family and people I haven’t even met.
“When I felt like I couldn’t even stand, you all gave me the strength to keep going and guided me through my darkest hours. To say I was devastated and heartbroken is an understatement. I know, however, that I am not alone in this.’
Since many of her Vanderpump Rules co-stars past and present have publicly supported her, including Scheana Shay, Kristen Doute and even Leviss’ ex James Kennedy, she has thanked those who were there for her.
Madix continued, So many of my closest friends are grieving this loss right now and reeling from this betrayal on so many levels. I am so damn lucky to have the best support system in the world and I hope I can repay every single person for the love you have shown me.
‘what doesn’t kill me, better run. love, Ariana’
Sandoval, who is also a business partner to Leviss’ love interest Tom Schwartz, wrote on his Instagram that his co-star found out about his infidelity “very recently” and “didn’t condone” his actions.
On March 11, Sandoval apologized for cheating on Ariana Madix with Leviss on social media. He vowed to “reflect and work on myself” in the face of the infidelity.
He then asked his followers not to take their anger out on his business partner Tom Schwartz, as well as his family and friends.
“Hey, I understand and fully deserve your anger and disappointment towards me, but please keep Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation…” he wrote.
He continued, “It was a very personal thing. Schwartz & Sandy’s could also bear my name, but there are also 3 other partners and 20 employees who rely particularly on the restaurant for themselves and their families for their income,” said Sandoval, nodding his new bar and TomTom to 2018 again opened.
A source recently told Page Six that Sandoval and Leviss have wanted to let Madix know about the affair “for weeks.”
However, they waited so long that Madix ended up discovering her secret herself when she spotted Leviss’ text messages on Sandoval’s phone.
Insiders claimed Madix saw a salacious selfie video of Leviss on Sandoval’s phone while she was at the concert venue.
Reviewing his texts, she saw that Sandoval and Leviss had corresponded in a way that People called “inappropriate.”
Sandoval and Madix reportedly met Friday after finding out about the affair and had a dramatic confrontation about their breakup in front of Vanderpump Rules cameras, as reported by TMZ.
A production source told DailyMail.com: “More will be revealed about this story in the coming weeks but all is not as it seems but it is true that Tom and Raquel have gotten together.
“We should change the name of the show to Raquel Rules because she certainly became the star of the show this season and gave it her all.
Cooling down: Vanderpump Rules star Sandoval revealed he and Leviss have put the brakes on their sexual relationship after their months-long affair was exposed
“The cast should thank Raquel and Tom as Bravo is already in talks about renewing the show for an 11th season. This is the mess that viewers live for.”
“The production has turned the cameras back on and they’re capturing all the fallout as the cast respond to this news. This will be Vanderpump Rules’ best season yet.
A source told People that the affair “has been going on for more than six months – the whole time Tom has been sleeping in bed next to Ariana. She was completely taken by surprise; devastated doesn’t even scratch the surface of her feelings.
The insider added, “This is someone she thought she knew; someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. You cannot even put this betrayal into words.”