Ariana Madix breaks silence on Tom Sandoval's and Raquel Leviss affair

Vanderpump Rules star  has finally broken her silence about ex  and  after , which sent shockwaves across the internet last week.

The 37-year-old reality star – who recently – took to Instagram to share a stunning snap of herself with a lengthy caption addressing the scandal while thanking her friends including her castmates for their support during what she described as her ‘darkest hours.’

She wrote on Wednesday night: ‘ hi.where to begin? i want to express my most sincere gratitude for the outpouring of love and support i have received from friends, family, and people i’ve never even met in the last two weeks. 

 ‘when i have felt like i couldn’t even stand, you all have given me the strength to continue and seen me through my darkest hours.to say i have been devastated and broken is an understatement. however, i know that i am not in this alone.’

As many of her Vanderpump Rules co-stars of the past and present have publicly supported her including Scheana Shay, Kristen Doute,  and even Leviss’ ex James Kennedy, she made sure to thank those who have been there for her.

Madix continued: so many of my closest friends are also grieving this loss right now and reeling from this betrayal on so many levels.i am so f***ing lucky to have the best support system in the world and i hope i can repay every single person for the love you have shown me.

‘what doesn’t kill me better run. love, ariana’

Days ago,  after reactivating her Instagram account following a brief hiatus on the platform,, 39, and his mistress, 28, who are no longer under her following list or tagged in previous photos. 

When someone blocks a user from their account on Instagram, their tag on a photo will disappear, leaving only the person’s face or likeness in the image. 

While Sandoval and Leviss are no longer tagged in her posts, Madix has not deleted past birthday and anniversary tributes dedicated to Sandoval, who she dated for more than nine years. 

The TV personality, who worked as costumed characters such as Ariel and Aurora at Disney World in college, also unfollowed Sandoval’s close friend, Tom Schwartz, who allegedly found out about his pal’s cheating ‘a month ago.’

Sandoval, who is also business partners with Schwartz, wrote on his Instagram that his costar only learned of his infidelity ‘very recently’ and ‘did not condone’ his actions.

On Saturday, Sandoval apologized for cheating on Ariana Madix with Leviss on social media.

‘Hey, I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave [Tom] Schwartz, my friends, and family out of this situation…’ he wrote. 

He continued: ‘This was a very personal thing.Also, 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,’ Sandoval said, nodding to his new bar and TomTom, which opened back in 2018.

The actor went on to say he was a ‘small part of a much bigger thing’ and pleaded with his 961,000 followers to direct their ‘anger towards’ him and not his associates.

‘They did nothing wrong.

I’m so sorry that my partners, Greg, Brett, and Schwartz and our employees have to suffer for my actions. I will be taking a step back & taking a hiatus out of respect for my employees and partners. I need some time to address everything else,’ he concluded.

‘Sorry for everything.’

A source has now informed that Sandoval and Leviss had been meaning to inform Madix about the affair ‘for weeks.’

They waited so long, though, that Madix wound up discovering their secret herself Wednesday night when she saw Leviss’ texts on Sandoval’s phone.

Sandoval’s apology post, which has received 21,881 likes in just two hours, comes less than 24 hours after he addressed his cheating scandal for the first time while performing with his band Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras.

‘Have you ever been one of the most hated people in America?’ the TV personality asked the audience, according to , alluding to the backlash over his affair.

In a taken at the concert, a woman in the crowd could be heard screaming: ‘Ariana!’ to which Sandoval said: ‘We love her.’

Madix, is said to have found out about Sandoval’s alleged cheating with Leviss, 28, in the last couple of days, ending their nine-year romance shortly afterwards.

A production source told DailyMail.com: ‘There is more to this story that will be revealed in the coming weeks but all is not what it seems, however, it is true that Tom and Raquel have been hooking up.

‘We should change the name of the show to Raquel Rules as she has certainly become the star of the show this season, giving it her all.

‘The cast should be thanking Raquel and Tom as Bravo are already talking about renewing the show for an 11th season. This is the mess that viewers live for.’

‘Production has switched the cameras back on and they are catching all of the fall out as the cast react to this news.This will be the best season of Vanderpump Rules yet.

Madix has since deleted her Instagram account.

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Sandoval, Madix, Leviss and Bravo for comment.

A source informed the alleged affair ‘has been going on for upwards of six months – all the while, Tom was sleeping next to Ariana in bed.She was completely blindsided by this; devastated doesn’t even scratch the surface of how she feels.’

The insider added: ‘This is someone she thought she knew; someone she planned to spend the rest of her life with.You can’t even put into words that betrayal.’  source has alleged that Leviss and Sandoval were ‘communicating inappropriately for months’ and ‘want to be together’ now that he is single. 

Meanwhile a People insider asserted that Leviss told her co-star Scheana Shay about the alleged affair Wednesday night when they were in New York to tape an appearance on Watch What Happens Live.

Per the source: ‘Scheana was furious.She and all the Vanderpump Rules costars have rallied around Ariana during this time. They can’t believe Raquel would do something like that.’

Madix is said to feel ‘heartbroken’ and ‘betrayed,’ according to a Page Six source who noted that she had been ‘there for’ Leviss during the latter’s breakup with their Vanderpump Rules co-star DJ James Kennedy. 

‘Do you want to make out?’ Leviss propositioned Schwartz, 40, while ‘s band played on stage.

‘I would love to,’ Schwartz said.’I can’t. It’s a trap. You’re too good for me anyway.’

Schwartz grabbed her hands and told her to not walk away.

‘Are we filming still?’ Schwartz said, looking back and seeing the cameras.

‘You are f***ing gorgeous,’ Schwartz told her.

Schwartz said his ex-wife Katie, 36, would be really upset and he couldn’t do that to her.Raquel responded that she wasn’t that close to Katie. 

Days later, Raquel confessed to Katie about how she propositioned her ex-husband.

‘He completely turned it down,’ Raquel said. ‘He is completely respecting your boundaries.’

‘Well, I know, but you’re not,’ Katie said.

Raquel said she was sorry but that Scheana Shay, 37, put the initial thought in her head.

‘This is why she is dead to me,’ Katie said.

Katie said in a confessional that Raquel was not smart enough to come up with this on her own.

In January Sandoval and Madix- who began dating since 2014 – were  that they were in an ‘open relationship.’

The rumors were featured in a season 10 preview released in January that shows co-star Scheana Shay telling Sandoval on the beach that, ‘Katie (Maloney) said you and Ariana have an open relationship,’ to which Tom replies, ‘Oh my God.’

Madix took to  after the trailer’s release, squashing the suggestion in a self-deprecating way.

‘We don’t have an open relationship.I’m really not that cool. Thought that was obvious,’ Madix tweeted, adding the #pumprules hashtag.

While the supposed ‘open relationship’ isn’t brought up more in the trailer, Sandoval was seen hugging Leviss while shirtless. 

Madix also responded to a number of fans on Twitter, including Emerson Collins, who praised, ‘Absolutely here for cutting the nonsense off from literally the first second it’s heard.’

Madix responded, ‘sometimes you gotta just,’ and a GIF of Anjelica Huston from The Addams Family movie snipping the head of a rose off.

She also responded to a fan who asked if Madix was, ‘no longer bi,’ as the actress stated, ‘bisexual ≠ polyamorous.’Madix also responded to a fan named Jessi Yuknek, who joked, ‘I hate people.Why would I want another one?’ as Madix said, ‘lmao exactly.’