Rachel Leviss Swears Off Dating for a Year Following Scandoval Drama

During the latest episode of her iHeartRadio podcast, Rachel Goes Rogue, Leviss invited psychologist Dr. Hillary Goldsher to discuss the behavior on Vanderpump Rules, and provide her with tools to help her move forward as she navigates life post-Scandoval.

Examining some of her more talked-about moments on the show, Leviss said she's looking forward to having a professional help her understand why she's done some of the things she's done, and why even in the most painful of moments, she was "smiling" through the pain.

"Like what is this thing that my body does without me even knowing?" Leviss questioned. "Honestly, I'm excited to have a professional tell me why this is happening, because, yeah, it's not normal. The average person isn't smiling through their most painful traumatic memories."

Quick to correct the misconception that she is not taking things like her affair with former VPR costar Tom Sandoval seriously, Leviss said she found her behavior on-camera to differ from the way she acts in front of close friends and family.

"It doesn't work for me any longer," she said, telling listeners that she learned during her stay in a trauma therapy center last year, that what some termed "bizarre behavior," has actually been a coping mechanism.

"There's a term called 'wall of pleasant' and it's a wall that you have up which keeps you from being intimate with other people, and therefore you're not as relational and people can't connect to you on a deeper level," she explained. "And so I recognize that I have that 'wall of pleasant' that I can't seem to help but to come up."

She also discussed her decision to take a year off from dating following her messy affair with Sandoval, which was exposed on season 10 of the series -- thereby ending the TomTom co-founder's decade-long relationship with Ariana Madix and causing a major rift amongst the cast.

"I'm not dating for a year, and in doing that, I'm just focusing on myself and after this talk, focusing on my emotions that come up for me, like what are my own needs that I need met, and not adding an additional person into the equation, so that it is just focused on me and other people as well my friends and family and the people that are in my inner circle that are safe friends," Leviss explained.

While she will not be returning to the show, which is set to premiere it's eleventh season next week, Leviss has been using her new podcast to tell her side of the story following what she called her "hardest" year yet.

"2023 hands down has been the hardest year yet," Leviss wrote December 31. "My life had become completely unmanageable and I was so far down the rabbit hole of making bad decisions that I NEEDED help."

"I'm so blessed I was able to get the help I needed," she continued. "Now, I finally feel like I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel... As we set intentions into the new year, I vow to be a better friend to the ones close in my life. To those that have stood by me through my darkest days, I will always remember and cherish you."

Leviss added, "Eternally grateful for a second chance. Here's to an epic 2024! 🦋."