Jax Taylor wasn’t surprised when he learned Tom Sandoval had cheated on his girlfriend of nearly 10 years, Ariana Madix, with mutual friend Raquel Leviss.
During a new interview, the Vanderpump Rules alum pointed to Sandoval’s alleged infidelity of the past as he slammed Raquel as “easily controlled” and “easily manipulated” and looked back on his and wife Brittany Cartwright‘s most recent encounter with their former co-star.
“I don’t wanna say I predicted it, but I predicted it. I mean, I’m just not surprised,” Jax revealed to Entertainment Tonight in a joint interview with Brittany on March 21. “He’s done this before and nobody believed me. It’s just not his first time.”
According to Brittany, who said she was surprised to learn that Sandoval cheated with Raquel because she thought they were just “good friends,” her husband was referring to the season three drama surrounding Miami girl, who Sandoval was accused of cheating on Ariana with early on in their relationship.
“Nobody was believing me,” Jax recalled. “I was the villain … Everybody could kind of slide through and get away with things [but] now you can’t hide behind me anymore, so now all the demons are coming to the surface.”
Following the reveal of Sandoval and Raquel’s affair, Brittany reached out to Scheana Shay and Lala Kent.
“I was like, ‘Is this true?’ And they just wrote back yes, like, all caps and then I was like, ‘Oh my god, how’s Ariana?’ Because, like, having to go through this so publicly is so mortifying,” Brittany said. “Having to live this publicly and being so embarrassed by it and, like, having to go through it, like, I just feel so bad for Ariana having to go through this so publicly.”
While Brittany has checked on Ariana a couple of times, she hasn’t gone to see her quite yet.
“[I’m] just trying to be there for her as much as I can. I know that she hasn’t been alone for a second so that’s good,” Brittany revealed.
And as for Jax, he said he was the only male from Pump Rules to reach out.
“I guess [Ariana] said with all the guys, I’m the only one that’s checked in with her, me out of all people. She was like, Jax Taylor’s the only guy who’s checked in, you know, who checked up on me,” he claimed.
As Brittany and Jax remain in touch with Ariana, neither has spoken to Sandoval. And, while looking back at their last run-in with him, they revealed Sandoval was with Raquel.
“Last time I saw [Sandoval] was at Labor Day, we were at an event in Orange County, which is a couple hours drive from our house, and he was there with Raquel, which kind of makes sense at the time,” Jax recalled. “I just didn’t think of it at the time and now looking back, it’s just kind of like, oh, I just didn’t I didn’t think about it.”
According to Jax, Sandoval never had “control” of Ariana. But, when it comes to Raquel, it’s a different situation.
“[Ariana]’s a very strong, independent woman and I feel like he couldn’t control her, and he can control Raquel very easily,” Jax explained. “She’s very easily manipulated, and you can control her like that just by looking at her … She’s easily controllable, you can just tell she’s very co-dependent. She’s the definition of co-dependency.”
In addition to appearing on the March 22 episode of Watch What Happens Live, where they will surely speak more on “Scandoval,” Jax and Brittany are preparing for the debut of their new podcast, When Reality Hits, which premieres on PodcastOne on March 28.
“It’s been in the works for the whole year, so yeah, we teamed up with Podcast One, just getting everything together and we knew it was going to come out March 28 with our first episode and this just happened,” Brittany shared.
“We’re going to have guests on, we’re going to talk parenting, we’re going to talk reality TV. I want to talk to other villains on reality TV. I want to talk about a little bit of everything,” Jax explained.
In closing, Jax offered some advice to Sandoval.
“I think it’s gone to his head a little bit, the nine-person cover band and the little bar in a strip mall, like, that’s getting to his head a little bit and he’s gotta, like, come down to earth and realize what he’s done … Just humble yourself a little bit, and show some sympathy,” he encouraged.
“[Ariana]’s put up with a lot. He’s not the easiest person to be around,” Jax added.
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.