After news broke on Friday of Tom Sandoval’s recent cheating scandal, the Vanderpump Rules star gave his own statement.
As Season 10 of the hit Bravo show is airing, the real-time drama of Sandoval and fellow cast mate Raquel Leviss’s affair has been taking the Pump Rules world by storm over the past few days.
Tom and her girlfriend, Ariana Madix, had been together for nine years before she found out about the affair this past Wednesday.
Over the weekend, Sandoval took to Instagram to give his official statement, turning off all comments in the process.
“Hey, I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz my friends and family out of this situation,” Sandoval started.
He continued to explain that Schwartz, his longtime BFF and fellow business partner, only recently found out about the affair and did not “condone” his actions.
Tom Sandoval asks fans to only point anger toward him amid the Vanderpump Rules cheating scandal
After calling the situation a “very personal thing,” Sandoval shifted the focus to Schwartz & Sandy’s, the new restaurant he co-owns with Tom Schwartz.
“Schwartz & Sandy’s might have my name on it, but also there are 3 other partners and 20 employees, who especially rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families,” he wrote. “Please direct ur anger towards me and not them.”
Sandoval apologized to his business partners and employees of his restaurant, further claiming that he would be “taking a step back” and “taking a hiatus” to “address everything else.”
As Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules has been airing for the past few weeks, viewers have seen Sandoval and his (former) girlfriend Madix still in a relationship as Sandoval and Schwartz attempt to get their new bar/lounge ready to officially open.
This season seems to be focusing on Tom Schwartz’s recent divorce from fellow cast mate Katie Maloney, along with the narrative that Schwartz and Raquel Leviss have a “thing” — constantly bringing in the idea that they are going to make out, which they allegedly did at Scheana Shay and Brock Davies’ wedding last year.
However, was the whole Leviss and Schwartz “makeout” storyline just a cover-up for what was really going on with her and Sandoval?
Tom Sandoval caught cheating on Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss
Although Leviss and Madix have been friends over the past few years on the show, with Madix even being there for Leviss after she ended her engagement with fellow cast mate James Kennedy, everything turned upside down last week.
Loyal Pump Rules fans saw Madix and Sandoval start their relationship on the show nine years ago as they watched them fall in love, move in together, buy their first house, and even release a cocktail book together.
On Friday, People confirmed that Madix had found a sexually-explicit video on her boyfriend’s phone recently sent by Leviss.
Moments after Madix had watched Sandoval’s band perform on Wednesday night, a selfie video of Leviss had popped up on her boyfriend’s phone, which led her to scroll through a text thread and see a slew of inappropriate texts between the two.
Social media has been ablaze ever since, with the Vanderpump Rules cast all claiming to be “Team Ariana” and showing support for their friend after hearing the devastating news.
Luckily, fans may not have to wait too long to see the real-time drama on the show. Although Season 10 has already finished filming, Bravo has allegedly picked the cameras back up to capture the fallout, hoping to add the footage to the current season.
Vanderpump Rules airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.