Getty Daniel Wai and Ariana Madix at Coachella.
Ariana Madix is living her best single life – and she may be keeping it that way for a while. One month after her split from Tom Sandoval amid his affair with her then-friend Raquel Leviss, the “Vanderpump Rules” star was spotted with a new man during the Coachella weekend, which ran from April 14-16, in Indio, California.
But while Madix appeared to be very cozy with her new guy, that doesn’t mean she’s jumping into a serious romance just yet.
Here’s what you need to know:
Ariana Madix is Not Seriously Dating Anyone
Getty ImagesAriana Madix at Coachella.
Photos of Madix hanging out with fitness trainer Daniel Wai were all over social media following the Coachella weekend. But a source told Us Weekly that the 37-year-old “Fancy AF Cocktails” author is still very much a single lady and having “the time of her life” with her newfound freedom.
“She’s enjoying her freedom and being single for the first time in years,” the insider said of Madix. “She is allowed to date whoever she wants and was having an amazing time at Coachella with Daniel.”
The source added that the former SUR bartender is “definitely open to seeing where things go with Daniel,” but “isn’t totally ready to jump into a serious relationship.”
Another source confirmed that Madix is “still healing” from her breakup after 10 years with Sandoval and is “not looking for anything serious” so soon after her split.
A source told People that Madix was “completely blindsided” and “devastated” by Sandoval’s affair, which she uncovered after looking through his phone. But Sandoval painted a different story while speaking on the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast on April 12, 2023. “You know, like many relationships, it felt like it became more of like best friends, family, sometimes roommates. There was a lot of ways where the relationship was just lacking, you know, the intimacy, the connection,” he said.
The Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner also claimed that he broke up with Madix on February 14, more than two weeks before she found out about his affair on her own, and that she refused to accept it. “She’s like, ‘I’m not letting you leave me. You’re gonna have to force me out of this relationship,’” Sandoval claimed in the podcast interview.
Ariana Madix Made Out With Daniel Wai at Coachella
Sandoval’s former friend Jax Taylor has said that Madix is thriving post-split. “She’s a completely different person,” Taylor told “Access Hollywood’s Housewives Nightcap.” “She seems like she’s glowing. She seems like she’s a lot happier.”
And Madix was definitely glowing at Coachella, where she attended several parties over the weekend of April 14, 2023, with Wai by her side, according to TMZ. In photos posted to social media, Madix was seen dancing and holding hands with Wai and later kissing him during the three-day music and arts festival in Indio, California.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that Madix met Wai in March when she traveled to Mexico for a mutual friend’s wedding days after Sandoval’s affair was uncovered. Wai lives in New York, where he owns DW Fitness.
Following the long weekend, photos of Madix saying goodbye to Wai at the airport — and kissing him once again– surfaced online.
READ NEXT: Inside Tom Sandoval’s Unusual Living Situation With Ariana Madix