“She got a lot of attention,” the Bravo star recalled of Raquel, who didn’t become a main cast member of “Vanderpump Rules” until 2022’s Season 9.
Andy Cohen is sharing his thoughts on Raquel Leviss following her role in the “Vanderpump Rules” cheating scandal.
While appearing on a recent episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, the Bravo producer revealed what he believes led Raquel to have an affair with Tom Sandoval, who, of course, was in a long-term relationship with Ariana Madix and was Leviss’ best friend.
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Lisa Vanderpump Says She Hasn’t Had ‘Any Contact’ with Raquel Leviss
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“[Raquel] was barely on the show. … Maybe two seasons ago or more, she was having a puppy party,” Andy began, referencing the Season 7 episode. “That was her first kind of event that she was having on the show. She was very upset ’cause none of the girls wanted to come. They’re like, ‘We’re not coming to your f-ing puppy party.'”
Raquel first appeared on the show as James Kennedy’s girlfriend on Season 5 back in 2016. She had a recurring role until Season 8, before becoming a main cast member of the Bravo series in Season 9.
Production in Season 10 began in July 2022, with Andy pointing out to “Chicks in the Office” podcast hosts Maria “Ria” Ciuffo and Francesca “Fran” Mariano that last year Raquel “somehow got the attention” of two principles of the show, Sandoval and Tom Schwartz.
He added that in addition to the two Toms, she became entwined in the girls’ group, including Katie Maloney, Lala Kent, Scheana Shay, and of course, Ariana. “She’s in the mix in a very big way,” Andy said.
“So, is there a part of you that could consider that maybe she became intoxicated by now being a principal on this show and being considered as such?” he continued. “She got a lot of attention. Maybe she became intoxicated by being such a part of the show, and maybe that made her lose her sense of herself.”
“Chicks in the Office” co-host Ria brought up a moment from last week’s explosive finale, in which Ariana told Sandoval during their heated confrontation that Raquel was “searching for identity in men” and has “no identity of her own.”
In March 2023, Raquel and Sandoval’s months-long affair — and the latter cheating on Ariana, his girlfriend of nearly 10 years — was exposed to the entire world, with the scandal becoming known as “Scandoval.”
The Season 10 finale — titled “#Scandoval” — chronicled the dramatic fallout after the news broke. Production of Season 10 had wrapped last fall, but filming started up again just two days after Ariana found a compromising video of her longtime partner and good friend on his phone in early March.
While the finale featured the cast reacting to the scandal, it didn’t include a confrontation between Raquel and Ariana. Viewers will have to wait for that until the three-part reunion, which kicks off on Wednesday on Bravo.
