Tom Sandoval, 39, and Raquel Leviss, 28, are not hiding their romance after news broke on March 3 that the Vanderpump Rules co-stars have been hooking up for months, according to Page Six. An insider close to production claimed to the outlet that the pair “kissed on camera” amid Tom and Ariana Madix‘s breakup that resulted from the cheating scandal, which Andy Cohen confirmed was being filmed on the March 6 episode of his Sirius XM show, Radio Andy, as he addressed the split. The kiss took place as they were filming on Saturday, March 4 in Raquel’s North Hollywood apartment, per Page Six.
Tom was photographed arriving at Raquel’s apartment on the evening of March 4, which TMZ reported was after filming hours. However, his rep said he was there for filming purposes in a statement to E! News. “Tom had a call time to shoot at her place,” the rep said in a statement released on March 7. “He left through another exit after the scene.”
However, after the scene was filmed, Tom reportedly got cold feet. “Tom wasn’t happy with how the scene went with Raquel and felt like it was going to paint him in a negative light. He told producers he’d like to re-film the scene, but producers weren’t having it,” an insider told Entertainment Tonight on March 7. “Tom told production that he would no longer shoot Vanderpump Rules if they don’t listen to him.”
Former Vanderpump Rules star Jax Taylor, 43, also claimed that Tom is refusing to film in a since-deleted tweet from March 7, which can be seen below. “Funny he’s now refusing to film as he did the exact same thing when the miami girl was in town..,” he slammed. In the third season of VPR, Tom’s ex and former co-star alum Kristen Doute warned Ariana, 37, that she thinks Tom might have hooked up with a woman during a trip to Miami. The woman became known as “Miami Girl”. Ariana said she was “not worried” about the situation, but Kristen pressed on.
WHAT pic.twitter.com/V2b3pXIZA4
— samantha bush (@takeyourzoloft) March 7, 2023
The now 40-year-old reality star brought Miami Girl onto the show in an attempt to get Tom to admit his supposed infidelity. However, he denied any wrongdoing. “There are no texts between me and this Miami girl that prove anything more than a social hangout in a group setting went down,” he argued. “The obvious reason is because absolutely nothing happened! Kristen is lying or at the very least reaching for something that doesn’t exist.”
Kristen showed her support for Ariana amid the heartbreaking time for her by sharing a video of her on Instagram in which she kissed Ariana on the lips and cheek. “I stan Ariana. This is in real time. I love you so much,” she said in the clip before going in for a smooch. “I love you more than anything in the whole wide world, and I’ll kill people for you.”
Rumor has it that Kristen may make a brief return to the show to discuss her past relationship with Tom and his cheating on Ariana with who people thought was her good friend. “Vanderpump Rules producers have approached Kristen to come back on the show to talk about this,” an insider told PEOPLE on March 6. “She’s had her fair share of ups and downs with Sandoval over the years, but right now she’s completely supporting Ariana.”