Bravo Raquel Leviss.
Oliver Saunders spoke out about Raquel Leviss’ headline-making “Vanderpump Rules” cheating scandal with her co-star Tom Sandoval. In March 2023, the “Vanderpump Rules” stars admitted to a long affair behind Sandoval’s live-in girlfriend Ariana Madix’s back. Leviss was also close friends with Madix.
Saunders, who made a cameo on “Vanderpump Rules,” had a minor makeout session with Leviss while she was on a girls’ trip to Las Vegas in 2022. Their encounter was featured on the 10th season of the Bravo reality show. During a March 2023 appearance on the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast, Saunders defended the former pageant queen.
“From all of our encounters, which weren’t many, she seemed like a sweetheart to me, you know what I mean?” he told Yontef. “And, and I mean, it is, she’s 20 years old, you know, 20 years old, beautiful girl on a TV show.”
“I mean, I guess it wasn’t the right thing to do to one of her friends,” he continued. “It’s not the right thing to do to somebody, but it’s like, you know, she’s living her life. Everybody makes mistakes, you know, it’s crazy that, it’s crazy that so many people wanna try to crucify her for this or say this about her. ”
Saunders added that everyone makes mistakes and that it’s a “human thing.”
“Yes, she shouldn’t have been hooking up with her friend’s dude,” he said. “You know what I mean? But like I said, we all make mistakes. So I don’t think that you could really judge somebody’s whole character by just one action that’s happened. “
He added that people should “give her a break.”
Oliver Saunders Said He Has Not Kept in Touch With Raquel Leviss
Saunders only met Leviss a few times. After first meeting her at his place of employment, Vanderpump a Paris, he met Leviss and her co-stars Katie Maloney, Lala Kent, and Kristina Kelly at a nightclub. He ended up kissing Leviss on the dance floor.
Saunders said “Vanderpump Rules” viewers will see him go on another date with Leviss in a future episode.
“Me and Raquel went out to dinner in Beverly Hills,” he said. “So we spoke a little bit after that. We haven’t spoken. There’s been, I mean, she has a lot on her plate right now, you know what I mean?, … I wish her the best, you know, through all of our endeavors and everything like that. But we haven’t stayed in touch. No.”
Saunders admitted that he doesn’t know Leviss enough to comment on how she is handling the scandal. “I just [know her] from the dinner and then the night at the club,” he said. “I really don’t know her as a person enough to say [how she’s doing].”
Oliver Saunders’ Mom, Garcelle Beauvais, Said His “Vanderpump Rules” Scenes Were Hard for Her to Watch
When Saunders kissed Leviss at the club, he made headlines after his then-wife claimed they were still married. Saunders has repeatedly stated he was single at the time.
In October 2022, Leviss told Page Six that she was unaware that Saunders was still married when she met up with him. “I would like to clarify that I did not know Oliver had a wife. He misled me,” she said. “I was getting ready to go on a date with him when I found out he had a wife, so it completely changed the dynamic of the day and my mindset going into that.”
In March 2022, Saunders’ mom, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Garcelle Beauvais, spoke out about his connection to the “Vanderpump Rules” scandal. Beauvais told Entertainment Tonight that her eldest son told her he wasn’t sure about being on reality TV. “He was like, ‘I don’t think reality’s for me,” the RHOBH star said. “‘And I go, ‘Good. It’s not.'”
She added that her son is a “grown-a** man” and she doesn’t agree with everything he does. She also admitted that she watched his kissing scene “through her fingers.”
“You don’t want to see your kid make out,” Beauvais said. “And it felt like it was the entire episode. Felt like it slowed down to a crawl. I couldn’t take it.”