It may be out with the old and in with the new for Raquel Leviss, who surely needs a new strategy amid her current situation.
On Friday, Monsters and Critics reported the alleged affair between Leviss and her Vanderpump Rules castmate Tom Sandoval, who has been in a committed relationship with Ariana Madix for the past nine years.
While Season 10 of the hit Bravo show is currently airing, the shocking news has been unraveling over the past few days, with both parties admitting to the scandal and Sandoval giving his public statement on Instagram.
Leviss, who has been on Vanderpump Rules over the past few years as James Kennedy’s girlfriend and eventually a server at SUR, has still continued on in the show despite the two ending their engagement shortly after filming Season 9.
With her newfound reality television fame came a new PR team, which has allegedly been fired amongst the allegations.
DeuxMoi, a popular celebrity gossip account, recently obtained information that Raquel has hired a new crisis PR team, which has advised her to play the “victim card.”
Raquel Leviss allegedly hires new PR team amidst Tom Sandoval affair
The account was sent a message from an insider who revealed Raquel’s new team is “on the offensive” and “crafting a narrative” that Raquel is a victim in the situation — putting all the blame on Sandoval.
On Wednesday night, Sandoval’s longtime girlfriend, Madix, allegedly uncovered a sexually-explicit video and inappropriate texts on her boyfriend’s phone that were sent from Leviss.
The insider’s message said that Leviss will soon be filming a new segment with Sandoval and is advised to “break things off with him.”
The PR team plans to handle the situation by focusing on Sandoval screen recording his FaceTime conversation with Leviss without consent, which is the video Madix had found on his phone.
While Leviss plans to not take any responsibility or accountability for the affair, she will apparently still go on an “apology tour” to show remorse for Madix, who is one of her closest friends.
The message ended by saying Leviss didn’t originally plan on distancing from Sandoval or blaming him entirely until her new PR team advised her to do so as a strong attempt to “save her image.”
As of this writing, Leviss has yet to make a public statement on the matter.
One castmate who has not kept quiet about the situation is Lala Kent, who has been showing her support for Madix since hearing of the affair.
VPR fans know that Kent and Leviss have surely had their beef in the past, and although they seem to be friends on Season 10, Kent recently gave her opinion on Leviss’ new PR strategy — basically saying she had been right about her “I’m dumb” persona all along and that she believes it won’t work.
Vanderpump Rules OG Tom Sandoval addresses his cheating scandal
Sandoval, who has been on the hit Bravo spin-off since the premiere episode in 2013, chose to address the situation shortly after the news broke on Friday.
Taking to Instagram, Sandoval asked his followers to direct their “anger & disappointment” solely towards him, rather than his best friend Tom Schwartz, his family, and his businesses.
Sandoval and Schwartz are part-owners of Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurant TomTom, as well as owners of their new bar Schwartz & Sandy’s, which Season 10 viewers are currently watching them attempt to open.
In Sandoval’s statement, he asked his fans to leave both TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s out of the situation, explaining that there are many employees who rely on the businesses and should not suffer due to his actions.
Sandoval also said that he will be “taking a step back” to respect his business partners and employees, leaving followers with an apology and a promise that he will be addressing “everything else.”
Vanderpump Rules airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.