Credit: Bravo
Raquel Leviss isn’t happy with the way in which her Vanderpump Rules castmates, particularly Lala Kent, have profited off “Scandoval,” especially when her own brand is “shot.”
As she targeted Lala, 32, not only for monetizing off her affair with Tom Sandoval, 40, but also for her and Kristina Kelly‘s “sick” behavior amid their girls’ trip to Las Vegas on Bethenny Frankel‘s podcast, Raquel, 28, accused Andy Cohen, 55, of violating HIPPA law and opened up about her regret and the silver lining of the scandal.
“I regret a lot. I would do everything differently if I had the chance to go back,” Raquel admitted on the August 18 episode of Just B With Bethenny. “A lot of people were believing in me, and I feel like I was a disappointment to those people. I know that there was a lot of trust that was broken between friendships, and betrayal that happened, and I look back at my actions and I’m disappointed in myself as well.”
According to Raquel, her decision to enter into a months-long affair with Sandoval was prompted by her own unhappiness.
“I wasn’t happy, I was really hurting. I don’t ever wanna be in a place like that again, and I will make sure that I don’t put myself in that position again… That is not the person that I want to be,” she shared.
Still, Raquel believes there’s a “silver lining.”
“I’m able to learn about myself and give myself this forgiveness and hopefully share with other people the knowledge that I’ve learned, and help to broaden a perspective on all of these things that have happened and that I’ve experienced and if somebody’s going through a similar situation, that there’s still hope,” she explained.
While she and Sandoval kept their affair hidden from their friends and co-stars for months, Raquel told Bethenny she appreciated it when they finally got caught.
“I needed to get caught, I needed to, because it would have just continued and that’s not who I want to be,” she noted. “This was the biggest wake-up call for me.”
In March, weeks after the scandal was uncovered, Raquel attended the Pump Rules season 10 reunion, after which Andy told Variety she seemed “really medicated.”
“I mean, I am medicated. I’ve been on antidepressants for several years now. And it makes sense looking back, probably around the time that I started filming Vanderpump Rules. But to say that I must be heavily medicated because my behavior was erratic, or I didn’t have emotions, is not OK in my eyes,” she said in response to his suggestion.
She then added, “I feel like that violates some sort of HIPAA law. And to make assumptions like that, it’s damaging to a person.”
And Bethenny agreed, saying, “An employer cannot say that a person that works for them is medicated … That’s a private piece of information … Something about this jumped off the page to me, like, ‘This is where the line is crossed.’”
Andy also admitted to being concerned for Raquel’s mental health ahead of the taping and said he was concerned she’d walk off. Still, as Raquel recalled, that didn’t keep him from requesting her presence when she did walk away temporarily.
“I did walk offstage, and then he summoned me back,” she recalled.
Although her co-stars were quite harsh with her throughout the taping, slamming her as “diabolical” and “subhuman” for her secret romance with Sandoval, Raquel said they were “doing their jobs to make money.”
That said, while looking back on her girls trip to Vegas, Raquel, who broke down amid the trip, admitted the getaway “was really traumatic.”
“Obviously, [I was] drinking a lot to numb my anxiety and awkwardness that I felt around these girls that haven’t had the best history with me,” she shared of Lala, Kristina, and Katie Maloney, 36.
While Raquel and the ladies were at odds on camera amid the trip, mainly because Raquel had made out with Oliver Saunders, 32, (after Lala expressed interest) and been flirting with Tom Schwartz, 40, whose divorce from Katie wasn’t yet finalized, Raquel said things were different off-screen.
“The following day, Lala and Kristina came into my hotel room, and they were like, ‘Oh my God Raquel, that was amazing. Last night, you were reality TV ratings gold. You killed it. Like, so funny. I can’t believe you. You’re so… You did it, you’re the best.’ And then as soon as cameras were on, like, ‘Raquel, how could you? I can’t believe what you said last night,’” she revealed. “So that was already a mindf*ck. I know that they’re doing their job, and their job is to make ratings, to create something that people will be engaged with, and it’s sick.”
Also sick, according to Raquel, is the fact that Lala was able to put a downpayment on a house in Palm Springs (right next to Scheana Shay) after cashing in on “Scandoval.”
“I think the most disturbing thing… is when I sent out that cease and desist from my litigator to all of the cast to not share the video that was taken without my consent, Lala decided to use that and be like, ‘Oh my god, don’t contact me directly, contact my attorney, Darrel.’ … And then she started making these sweatshirts that said ‘Send it To Darrel,’” Raquel explained. “I guess she has made enough for a downpayment on her new house in Palm Springs.”
Raquel then suggested that Lala purchased the property out from under Scheana’s husband, Brock Davies, 33.
“Brock was interested in buying that house, but it just happened so quickly,” she alleged.
Also, during the interview, Raquel noted that while many have profited off “Scandoval,” she’s “broke” with a dead brand.
“So many people are using this opportunity and this scandal to monetize for their own benefit, and I’m left here broke, and my name has been raked through the coals. I don’t have business opportunities. My brand is shot,” she complained.
Vanderpump Rules season 11 is expected to start airing on Bravo sometime later this year or in early 2024.