Rachel Leviss — who was formerly known as Raquel — is opening up about her decision to leave Vanderpump Rules following her affair with Tom Sandoval. Although most viewers assumed that the fallout from the scandal led to her exit, Rachel, 29, revealed that her breakup from ex-fiancé James Kennedy actually spurred a “pattern” in her choices.
“I started noticing a pattern in my behavior, and I wanted to change those things,” the former pageant queen said a teaser for her upcoming “Rachel Goes Rogue” podcast. “I have completely removed myself from the filming environment that is Vanderpump Rules, and you will not see me [on] season 11.”
While reflecting on season 10, Rachel noted that it was a “mistake” for her to be on the show following her split from James, 31. “Looking back at that season, I was at my lowest of lows,” she admitted.
“Filming Vanderpump Rules after breaking off an engagement with James — that was my first mistake because I should have taken the time to heal and find a therapist,” she explained. “When we’re working together and filming together, and he’s flaunting his new girlfriend that he met three weeks after I ended the engagement, that hurt, and there were so many questions running through my mind like, did he ever really love me? How is it possible to love someone and then get over them so quickly?”
Rachel then revealed in the teaser that she “was drinking a ton [while filming] season 10 and this is not an excuse. I’m just point blank, like, I was not in a good mental space.” She later added that returning to the cast for another season would be “catastrophic” for Tom’s former girlfriend Ariana Madix. Tom and Ariana, 38, were together for nine years until they split in March after his affair with Rachel came to light.
“Looking back and seeing how much pain I was in interacting with James on camera and seeing his new girlfriend, I could only imagine the pain I would cause by filming in the same environment with Ariana,” the former reality TV star pointed out. “Because being involved with somebody’s boyfriend while they’re still in a relationship is a huge betrayal and so painful as it is, but then to continue working with these people and interacting with them — maybe not even speaking — but, like, hearing about what they’re doing and and seeing your person that you loved so much and thought that they loved you just as much as you love them be conversing with this other person. … It would just be so catastrophic and I didn’t want to do that to Ariana. I didn’t want to put her in that position.”
As for her current relationship to the VPR cast, Rachel noted that she hasn’t “heard from any of them, and I don’t really necessarily want to hear from any of them.” However, she referred to Tom’s public “Happy birthday” Instagram comment for her, which she said he “could have DM’ed me instead of making a public comment, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”
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