Raquel Leviss and Ariana Madix.Photo: getty (2)
It seemed as thoughTom SandovalandRaquel Levisswere teaming up to place doubt insideAriana Madix’s mind before news of theiraffairbroke.
On Wednesday’s episode ofVanderpump Rules, the TomTom bar owner sat down with his then-girlfriend to discuss how he had been feeling about their relationship.
“It just sometimes feels, lately, we haven’t been as connected,” Sandoval, 40, began. “There’s been a lot of things that have been bothering me and stacking up, and sort of swept under the rug.”
He added, “My very presence f—ing annoys you.” However, Ariana noted, “Your ‘very presence’? I don’t think those are words that I say. Just being honest.”
But this only furthered Sandoval’s next point. “And that’s another thing is you snap at me and you belittle me in front of people. That really hurts my f—ing feelings,” he said.
Ariana, 37, then claimed this wasn’t the case and tried to explain her side of the situation.
Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix.Robin L Marshall/Getty
“But yet you’re the only person that I’m constantly wanting to hang out with more, and I never get to hang out with you and have it be us,” Ariana told Sandoval. “I’ve said that for months. You peacocking on a night out, everybody else gets that, and then I get the leftovers.”
Sandoval responded: “I feel like sometimes obviously, with all the things you’ve been going through and s— I’ve been dealing with, I don’t feel like we are connected the way we should be.”
“We didn’t even take a f—ing picture together atScheana [Shay]’s wedding. That’s f—ing crazy,” he continued.
“You don’t need to feel bad about that,” Ariana reassured him. “I don’t think taking pictures together is a marker for if you’re connected to somebody.”
But Sandoval argued back, “OK, dude. But yes it is. Everything that I say, are you gonna disagree with?”
“No, I agree with what you’re saying about us not being connected,” Ariana said. She then recalled how close they used to be and all the activities they would do together, like listening to music while cooking dinner together.
Growing emotional, Sandoval shared with her, “I just want to f—ing be better. I want us to be more intimate. Having sex four times a year, that also affects me.”
RELATED VIDEO:Vanderpump Rules: Ariana Madix Confronts ‘Stranger’ Tom Sandoval After Split and Says She Wants Him ‘to Die’
That didn’t sit well with Ariana, who responded, “OK. Well, maybe you need to spend time with me because I cannot have sex with somebody who feels like a stranger.”
She further explained in her confessional: “To me, quality time is one-on-one, no distractions. No other people – really focused on each other. I want that emotional and physical intimacy. You can’t telepath your d— into a vagina from The Abbey [the club in West Hollywood.]”
Sandoval asked Ariana what she considers to be quality time, to which she said, “Doing an activity. Going for a walk around the neighborhood. Making dinner together, not us necessarily going out and getting drunk together.”
But he argued, “That is your definition of quality time.”
However, his comment sounded suspiciously similar to what he toldHowie Mandelin hisrecent interviewabout howhis first kiss with their costar Raqueltranspired. (“We literally talked ‘til the sun came up,” he recalled to Mandel of the night he and Raquel first crossed the line in their friendship.)
Sandoval then questioned why Ariana goes out with her other friends, and the two went back and forth a bit about whether or not they share the same interests. Growing tired from this, Sandoval took a moment to sip from his coffee cup.
He ultimately told Ariana, “I love you. I want us to be better.”
“I do too. You have just as many guards and walls up as I do. It’s different,” she added.
Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss.Amanda Edwards/Getty; Emma McIntyre/WireImage; Charles Sykes/Bravo/Getty
Later in the episode, after Ariana and her costarKatie Maloneypulled off their first successful tasting for their sandwich shop,Something About Her, things got heated when Raquel confrontedKatie Maloneyabout the rumors that she and Katie’s ex-husband, Tom Schwartz,had made out again.
But before that, Raquel, 38, caught up with Ariana at SUR to ask how she and Sandoval were doing.
“We had a big argument last night,” Ariana told her. “He feels like he’s not being heard, which is why he’s always the loudest person in the room.”
Raquel then wondered: “Do you think because I remember when I opened up to you about [my ex-fiancé]James [Kennedy]and I not having sex. And you told me, ‘Yeah. Sometimes Sandoval and I go through dry spells.'”
“Yeah, we do,” Ariana admitted to her. “You come home after working all night. And you think you’re just gonna like whip your d— out and I’m gonna be like, ‘Yeah, let’s f—.’ That’s never gonna happen. You have to spend time together.”
Raquel then gave her two-cents: “I feel like in a relationship you should want to have sex.”
“OK, but you have to be emotionally intimate before you can be physically intimate,” Ariana explained.
Trying to understand her friend’s point of view, Raquel said, “You guys were emotionally intimate at one point, obviously right?”
“Yeah, when we’d spend time together. If you want to connect, you have to work on your connection,” Ariana elaborated.
Raquel then asked, “Do you feel like you’re sexually attracted to him?”
“Oh my God, I think he’s so f—ing hot,” Ariana stated. “But then I’m like, ‘I’m not hot.’ [Sandoval doesn’t] don’t look at my body and go, ‘Yeah, that’s what I want. I want cellulite, fat thighs and a big ass and bingo arms.'”
“Stop, Ariana. I feel like a lot of it is in your own head,” Raquel began, growing teary-eyed. “And that makes me really sad because I do that to myself too. We’re a lot prettier than we think we are. We’re our own worst critics. I think that that translates into our sexual lives.”
RELATED VIDEO: Signs of Sandoval and Raquel’s Affair, Including 1 A.M. Dirty Dancing, Emerge onVPR: ‘Where’s Ariana?’
In a confessional, Raquel speculated, “I’m sure Ariana’s body image insecurities have a role in the issues that Tom and Ariana are having. If you’re not feeling good about yourself, there’s no way that you can be having good sex.”
Back in their conversation, Raquel told Ariana, “Clearly, you want to stay in this relationship.”
“Yeah, I do. I would not be having this conversation if this wasn’t who I want to be with,” Ariana confirmed.
“My point is that not everyone is that way,” Raquel said, to which Ariana added, “I think we’ll talk it out, and it’ll be fine.”
But as fans know, things turned out to not be fine as it was revealed in March that Raquel and Sandoval were engaged in amonths-long affairat the time Wednesday’s episode was filmed.
PEOPLE confirmed Sandoval and Ariana had broken up on March 3. At the time, a source said the pair “had been having problems for a while” — as indicated on Wednesday’sVPRepisode — but his months-long affair with Leviss, 28, was “the final straw” for Madix.
“She put up with a lot over the years, but she won’t sit back and be disrespected this way,” the insider added.
Both Sandoval and Raquel have issued apologies for their involvement. All parties will appear at theVanderpump Rulesreunionto speak about the fallout of their affair.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Vanderpump Rulesairs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
source: people.com
