Rachel Leviss Suggests Tom Sandoval May Have 'Masterminded' Affair to Boost Ratings

The former reality star, who opted out of returning to the Bravo reality series after she was caught cheating on her then-bestie Ariana Madix with the latter's longtime boyfriend Sandoval, opened up about her theory on the latest episode of her Rachel Goes Rogue podcast.

"The thought has crossed my mind, like, 'Did Tom mastermind this?'" Leviss said of the affair which Madix explored shortly after filming had ended, leading Bravo to rush the show back into production and set the stage for an explosive reunion special.

"He is known to self-produce, and all he has is this show, and the success of this show equals longevity in his career," Leviss continued. "He's over 40 now, and this is his life. This is his main income."

She even recalled conversations they would have during the affair, trying to figure out how it was all going to play out. After all, all three players were cast members on the show, along with a whole group of shared friends.

"He said, 'We can be together next season,'" Leviss recalled. "I think he had his motivation behind it that really escalated the situation. Whereas if it wasn't a reality TV show and we weren't all filming, I wonder if it would be like this."

In other words, was it just an affair, or was Sandoval also thinking of it as a juicy storyline to continue to propel the show forward. She even thinks Sandoval faked the night that turned into their first hookup.

It happened when she and fellow cast member Charli Burnett thought they'd crashed a guys' night out earlier in the season. Later, though, she said she was told that producers had told the guys about the ladies coming before they showed up, so his surprise and excitement in seeing her, she believes, was "acting."

"Like, he was ready for that scene," she said. "I thought he was actually genuinely happy to see me. I was like, 'Oh my God, this is what it feels like to actually be appreciated and feel like you're welcomed in a room and feel like somebody wants you there.' Like, the stark contrast."

Now, after therapy, Leviss said that she's come to realize that it was a "younger" version of herself that chose Sandoval "to get some wound healed."

"When it all played out, a lot of his character came forward and the way that he would talk to my parents, it just seemed like a James [Kennedy] 2.0 situation," Leviss said, referring to her former fiancé and fellow cast member "I won't allow that in my relationships anymore. I think family is really important."

Whether it was an orchestrated plan by Sandoval or just a coincidence, VPR producer Alex Baskin told Deadline in August 2023 that the "Scandoval" did play a role in helping to save the series, calling the timing "perfect."

"We were coming off a really tough ​ninth season and we had the cast firings before the season and there was a low energy season during the pandemic," Baskin explained. "To the network's credit, they gave us another run at it and we had a resurgence anyway."

Now, it's all about whether or not that renewed interest can carry into Season 11, which kicked off Tuesday night. Even as Leviss has departed the show, both Sandoval and Madix remain part of the mix as the entire cast deals with the aftermath of the scandal that (inexplicably) rocked the world.

New episodes of Vanderpump Rules air every Tuesday at 8pm ET on Bravo.