Hold the presses! Someone has given Tom Sandoval a platform to explain himself. And unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to share his side of the story. Yet he had little to say in terms of personal responsibility.
Tom was invited to appear on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast. Page Six reported that Tom shared that the first kiss between the disgraced Vanderpump Rules star and Raquel Leviss was “magnetic.”
Tom explained that the kiss happened after he and the former beauty pageant contestant “had hung out two nights … like, one night, and then a couple nights later, we hung out again.” The VPR cast was filmed earlier that evening at the “guys’ night at the Mondrian” hotel. Raquel crashed the LA event in early August 2022. She left Katie Maloney’s divorce party in Las Vegas early after Raquel clashed with Lala Kent.
After the guys’ night, Bravo cameras left. Tom and Raquel ended up deep in conversation. “We literally talked ’til the sun came up the first night with my friend Brett,” Sandoval said.
Enough disrespect occurred towards Ariana Madix that night. Yet the illicit duo got together for another round. The second night ended in a kiss. The Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner and Raquel got together after a See You Next Tuesday, the event her ex-fiancé, James Kennedy, deejays at SUR.
Tom had the misfortune of being “locked out” of his and Ariana’s house that night. As a result, Tom and Raquel ended up “in the backyard” talking. The Sandoval & The Most Extras frontman was swept up in the moment. With no thought of Ariana, the woman who co-owned the yard they were standing in, Tom kissed Raquel.
RELATED: BravoCon Heads To Las Vegas In November 2023!
“We just kissed. It was magnetic,” he said. “We were talking, moving closer, and as we were talking, as time went on, we would just start talking closer and closer, and then all of a sudden, we’re kissing.”
Sandoval has taken a lot of heat for this interview. Not once did he take accountability for cheating on his girlfriend of nine years. To the contrary, Tom suggested he was entitled to the affair due to the alleged lack of intimacy with Ariana.
“I felt something that I hadn’t felt in so long, like, emotionally,” Tom revealed. He called Raquel, “so awesome,” “so kind,” “smart,” “witty,” “fun,” “beautiful” and “f–king amazing.”
Tom claimed Raquel was “a source of strength” as he stewed miserably in a supposedly unhappy relationship. Perhaps he got some PR advice. Maybe suggesting the duo started as “really good” friends would soften the blow to Ariana.
Yet Ariana felt more betrayed because of her friendship with Raquel. Ariana was “heartbroken” and “blindsided” when she found a sexually explicit video of Raquel on Tom’s phone.
An emotional betrayal is a betrayal regardless. As much as Sandoval wants to diminish that fact. Despite not being intimate in the beginning, the two were “communicating inappropriately” for months.
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TOM’S EXPLANATION OF THE FIRST KISS? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE INTERVIEW? WERE YOU SURPRISED TOM AND RAQUEL HUNG OUT AFTER BOYS’ NIGHT?
[Photo Credit: Nicole Weingart/Bravo]
