Heavy/NBCUniversal Ariana Madix.
Ariana Madix opened up about her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval’s shocking cheating scandal in a new way. The “Vanderpump Rules” star released a tell-all cocktail book, “Single AF Cocktails” Drinks For Bad B******” on December 5, 2023.
Madix previously teased the book on an Instagram post, telling fans, “Now is the time that I’m fully telling my side of the story.” The former SUR bartender added that her story would be told “through drinks.”
In the book, Madix opened up about early issues in her relationship with Sandoval as well as his betrayal with her former friend Raquel Leviss. And while she has shared most of these stories before, they pack an extra punch paired with her written word and cocktail recipes.
“I just hope that through my story other people are able to relate,” Madix told Page Six in December 2023. “There’s things that I’ve learned a lot about, like myself and in my journey, and I just want us all to kind of feel empowered. …It’s not just about me; it’s about so many other people.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Ariana Madix Found Out About the Affair Via a Graphic Video on Sandoval’s Phone
In her book, Madix shared the recipe for the Stormy Like a Hurricane drink. In the description, she described the inspiration for the rum-based drink. She revealed that she was supporting Sandoval’s band during a show at his bar, TomTom, when his phone fell out of his pocket.
“Our mutual friend got up and grabbed it and gave it to me to hold,” Madix wrote. “After the show, I felt a bolt of lightning shoot down my spine. A flash of intuition that I need to look at his phone. I went to the bathroom and started looking at stuff and that’s when I found the screen recording of him and his affair partner having sex.”
Madix then confronted Sandoval and called Leviss, who was in New York City at a “Watch What Happens Live” taping.
Sandoval Used a Code Name For Raquel in His Phone & It Hit Heartbreakingly Close to Home
While describing the “Dirty as Hell Martini,” Madix shared the story of Sandoval’s alleged “code name” for Leviss. Per an excerpt posted by People magazine, Madix wrote that her ex “was so committed to his double life that he used ‘Jamie’ as a code name for her in his phone.”
But it was the name that Sandoval used that really upset Madix. “The worst part is that my dad’s name was James, may he rest in peace,” Madix shared in her book. “Imagine seeing a screenshot of a text in which he tells a friend how he ‘took Jamie to the mile high club.’ For him to use my dad’s name for her was a level of disrespect I didn’t realize was possible.”
Ariana Caught Sandoval Creeping Out of a Guest Bedroom Leviss Stayed In
BravoTom Sandoval with Raquel Leviss and Ariana Madix.
Madix’s recipe for her “Smoke and Mirrors” cocktail includes the most shocking backstory of all. Per an excerpt shared by Just Jared, Madix wrote that she believes Sandoval and Leviss had sex in her house while she was sleeping in another room. A red flag went up after Leviss spent the night in the guest room at Madix and Sandoval’s Valley Village home following a late night of partying.
“In the middle of the night, I woke up and couldn’t find him anywhere, so I went downstairs and checked almost every single room,” Madix wrote of Sandoval. “As I was walking down the hallway I saw him leave the guest bedroom. He said he heard her walking around and just wanted to check if she needed water or anything.”
“A part of me instinctively knew that wasn’t the truth,” she added. “I told him I believed him anyway and we all know what came next.”
Madix previously teased the story when she was a guest on “The Call Her Daddy” podcast earlier this year. “They had sex in my guest room while I was sleeping in my own bed that he and I went to bed in together. And then he left the bed and went to the guest room and f***** her,” Madix told host Alex Cooper in May 2023.
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