In perhaps one of the most cringeworthy moments in Bravo history, Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss declared their love for each other on the season 10 finale of Vanderpump Rules … after he accidentally mixed her up with Ariana Madix.
The twosome came together on the Wednesday, May 17, episode of the Bravo hit after Sandoval, 40, filmed a heated confrontation with Ariana, 37, about his affair with Raquel, 28.
“[Our romance] just came out of, like, f—king left field,” Sandoval told Raquel. “Trying to hook you up with, like, [Tom] Schwartz, saying, ‘Dude, you’re sleeping on Ariana like a f—king idiot, like, she’s amazing.’”
With a smile on her face, Raquel, who made out with Schwartz in August 2022, replied, “You just called me Ariana.”
They recovered from the awkward moment by dimming the lights and Raquel subsequently opened up about telling her family about the affair.
“Your mom f—king hates me,” the TomTom co-owner said before she asked about how Sandoval’s parents took the news.
Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss. Courtesy of Raquel Leviss/Instagram
When he responded, “They love you,” Raquel thought he said, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she replied.
“I said they love you,” he clarified. “But I love you too.”
The twosome got close as Raquel noted, “I know we always said, like, we wouldn’t f—king do this if we didn’t think it was worth it. I just think that the way that it imploded, it’s … this is not ideal, at all.”
Us Weekly confirmed in March that Ariana learned about the affair from a video on Sandoval’s phone, leading to the end of their nine-year relationship and Bravo to resume filming season 10.
In a confessional on Wednesday’s episode, the former beauty queen — who was very close to Ariana when she started hooking up with Sandoval in August 2022 — gushed about their sex life.
“I was just so curious what it would feel like to be physical with someone that you love because I already knew that I loved him as a friend. And I never, like, had sex like that before,” Raquel told the cameras. “I should have removed myself from the situation but I didn’t have the willpower to not see him.”
Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss. Todd Williamson/Bravo; Eugene Gologursky/Bravo
The pair opted not to kiss in front of the cameras before Raquel got real about their future.
“Am I really going to put my life on the line for someone who would cheat on someone that they loved so much?” she asked Sandoval. “Because then that makes me think you could be capable of doing that to me and I don’t want to get caught up in this whirlwind romance where I am blind to these things.”
Sandoval said he would “never do this if there wasn’t something here.” In an interview, he added, “I can’t predict the future. Who’s to say? Maybe things will work out between Raquel and I and maybe they won’t, but when I kissed Raquel, I felt hope. I felt like, ‘Wait a minute, you aren’t washed up [and] your best days aren’t behind you.’”
The twosome concluded that they “f—ked up,” and would do things differently if they could.
The screen then cut to black with a message that read: “After filming this scene, Raquel turned off her phone and was not seen or heard from for weeks.”
While Raquel checked into treatment following the season 10 reunion taping, Sandoval hit the road with his band and told Howie Mandel in April that he and the SURver were “on a break.”
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The three-part Vanderpump Rules reunion kicks off on Wednesday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.
