VPR S10 Reunion: Why Raquel Leviss Heartbreakingly Confessed It All
As Bravo promised, the last five minutes of the "Vanderpump Rules" Season 10 reunion revealed something new: specifically, that Rachel "Raquel" Leviss and Tom Sandoval had been lying about the timeline of their affair. After news broke in March that the two were carrying on despite Sandoval's nine-year relationship with fellow cast member Ariana Madix, "Scandoval" has been all that fans can talk about, and in an individual interview at the end of the reunion, Leviss just dropped a few bombshells: namely, that she and Sandoval spent the night at the house he shared with Madix while she was away for her grandmother's funeral, and that the two were carrying on for some time.
Producer Alex Baskin spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about exactly why Leviss would admit this ... and he said he thinks she needed to let this secret out for her own good. Asked if she seemed worried about betraying Sandoval or this affecting their relationship, Baskin said, "I don't think she knew where that was headed. I think she did this for herself and felt like she had to do it. And it's kind of heartbreaking. She says she knew that, obviously, he was going to be really upset, and she said he is kind of all that she had at that point. But I don't think she felt she had a choice, so her feeling was that she had to get it off her chest, and if that ended up costing her what was going on between them, this was still something she had to do. She just had to unburden herself."
Alex Baskin says there's nothing else that came out of Raquel Leviss' interview
This reveal from Leviss was as shocking as it was surprisingly emotional; after staying stone-faced throughout the reunion itself even as everyone around her wept, Leviss seemed to actually feel the weight of all the lies she's been telling during her private interview. If you're looking for more out of Leviss, though — including any more timeline reveals — you're out of luck.
Baskin told THR that what we saw is what we get, and that was the extent of Leviss' revelations. "We aired it all. There are no plans for any additional episodes or a release of anything. There is no 'Vanderpump Rules: The Raquel Tapes.'"
Tempting as that sounds, Baskin thinks this will lead to an incredible eleventh season: "And that's because this is really what she had to say. More questions will of course arise from this. To me, it's a fitting end to the season in the way I sort of teased, which led conspiracy theories to go ablaze; a twist on top of a twist on top of a turn, right? And that's where that ends and kind of where we pick up for next season."
What did Raquel Leviss specifically say in her one-on-one, and how did it happen?
Just in case you missed what exactly Leviss said in the first place, here's a quick refresher. After a reunion where she was torn apart by her former friends who felt totally betrayed by her behavior — and during which she showed no emotion and stormed off the stage at one point — she sat down with producers six days later, which Baskin says was because production reached out after not hearing from her since the reunion.
Speaking to the show's executive producer Jeremiah Smith, Leviss said, "I think it's important to me to tell the truth. I think that I've been lying and so deceitful this entire time that I don't want to lie anymore and it's all out there anyway." From there, she unloaded, saying that Sandoval encouraged her to lie about the specifics of the timeline concerning their affair, including that the two were intimate multiple times during fellow cast member Scheana Shay's wedding. (Madix was, notably, also there, and she and Leviss were both bridesmaids.)
"[Sandoval] feels like it would be less hurtful to say that this wasn't going on for so long," Leviss said, and when confronted further by Smith, Leviss first denied and confirmed that she visited Sandoval's hometown of St. Louis to meet his family. It was only then that she broke down and admitted to staying with Sandoval at his and Madix's house, saying it was a "bad look" and that keeping the secret was "killing [her] soul."
Why producers didn't contact Tom Sandoval after Raquel Leviss' confession
Baskin acknowledges that he didn't speak to Leviss after that interview and that she did check herself into a facility for mental health treatment afterwards, saying that perhaps she timed all of that so that she could get everything out in the open before seeing help. So what of Sandoval, the "worm with a mustache" who also got eviscerated at the reunion, and who was the reason why Leviss continued lying to everyone even through the reunion?
According to Baskin, they did not reach out to Sandoval, and he's not even sure they would have wanted that. "If we were still continuing the season, then perhaps we would have," he said. "But really this was her one-on-one interview that she directed after we were supposed to be done. He had his chance to tell his side of the story at the reunion, and he said what he said. After that, she had more to say and that became kind of the final word."
The way Baskin puts it, Leviss did, in a bizarre way, take back some power with this interview, and Sandoval more or less missed his chance: "And by the way, if he had come to us and said, 'There's more that I want to say,' I don't know what we would have done. But, he didn't do that. Otherwise, it could sort of continue on forever, but we let her have the final say on the matter because she sort of demanded it and took it."
Have fans' views of either Tom Sandoval or Raquel Leviss changed post-reunion?
Baskin, for his part, thinks this final interview could shift how fans view Leviss: "I think this might change viewers' perceptions. I don't think that it changes what she did, but I do think it might change perceptions about her accountability and about her emotional connection to what she did." In his eyes, it's brave that Leviss came forward and did tell the whole truth, but doesn't think the cast will exactly welcome her back with open arms. "And I think this might be a small first step, but I think there's a long way to go for the cast to reconcile with her," he concluded."
As for Sandoval, it definitely doesn't seem like he can come back from this one. To say he behaved abominably during the reunion is a huge understatement, considering he scoffed and screamed his way through it, doing crude impressions of other cast members and even lashing out at Madix. In perhaps his lowest moment (which is saying something), Sandoval claps back at Madix when she says they were still intimate when he was with Leviss, sniping, "Yeah, [Madix} kept her T-shirt on, it was really hot." This move drew scorn both on-screen and off, with fans clamoring for Sandoval's head and even his best friend Tom Schwartz hanging his head in shame in the moment.
Baskin definitely doesn't seem to see a way back for Sandoval. "I think that Sandoval was more defiant than remorseful," he said after the fact, and it's pretty easy to agree with that.
What does the future of Vanderpump Rules look like now?
"Vanderpump Rules" has already been renewed for its eleventh season, and Baskin is definitely ready to pick cameras back up and revisit the series in a post-Scandoval world. With Leviss and Sandoval ostracized from essentially every other person in the cast, how will that even work? Madix has been crystal clear that she will not film with her ex-boyfriend, and it's hard to imagine anybody else would want to either, based on how strongly everybody reacted towards Sandoval at the reunion.
"I anticipate that the group is going to return next season because I don't think that anyone wants to end here," Baskin said. "There are a lot of difficult questions raised. We certainly don't know what the trajectory is, but I think this group has been through a lot, and I don't think now is the time for anyone, including and especially Sandoval, to duck out." Asked about how long the show could go on, Baskin spoke to the fact that going forward, the show's central relationships will have to find some way back to a stable place... and that journey in and of itself will be fascinating. "This show has always succeeded because it's been a real show about a real group of people who go through life together and hold each other relentlessly accountable, and that's what it will continue to be about," he concluded.
"Vanderpump Rules" is streaming on Peacock now.