Tom Sandoval Says Ariana Madix ‘Punched’ Him When He Tried to Break Up With Her

VPR scandal

Heavy/NBCUniversal Tom Sandoval said Ariana Madix would not accept his decision to break up.

Tom Sandoval said he tried to break up with Ariana Madix multiple times amid his  shocking cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss — and he claims she got violent at one point.

The “Vanderpump Rules”  star broke his silence on the scandal on the April 11, 2023, episode of the “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” podcast. When he was asked about trying to break things off with Madix, he said he did finally break up with her on Valentine’s Day 2023, more than two weeks before she found out about his affair.

“She was very upset. She freaking punched me and all this s***, but after she calmed down, we started talking,” Sandoval claimed.

“A couple days later, I sit down and talk with her again, and she’s like, ‘I’m not letting you leave me. You’re going to have to force me out of this relationship,”  he added. “And I was like, ‘Ariana, I don’t think I could be faithful in a relationship with you right now.’ I was saying all of these things. I hadn’t told her about Raquel yet. She was like, ‘If you break up with me, you will effectively be ending my life.’”


Tom Sandoval Said Ariana Madix was “Completely in Denial” About Their Relationship

Vanderpump Rules stars

BravoTom Sandoval, Ariana Madix and Raquel Leviss are embroiled in a love triangle.

Elsewhere in the interview, Sandoval claimed he and Madix were living totally separate lives for months.  He also admitted that while the breakup was “inevitable,” he did not handle things well with his longtime girlfriend. “There is never a right time… and what is the right time to end like 9-year relationship,” he said.

The Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner said that before the Valentine’s Day breakup, Madix heard things about him and Leviss but was “very much turning a blind eye” or just “trusting” him. Sandoval also claimed that when he tried to prepare Madix for his decision to break up with her, she made a series of threats.

“[She said] ‘I’m definitely not going to the reunion, I’m quitting the show, f*** the sandwich shop… We’re selling the house, I’m deleting all social media and I’m moving away,’” Sandoval alleged. He also said that Madix began to scare him with the “threat of self-sabotaging.”

Once he did break up with her, Sandoval claims Madix just wouldn’t accept it. “She was trying to, like convince me not to be broken up … but that was not the case,” he said. “She was completely in denial.”

Madix ultimately found out about Sandoval’s affair when she looked through his phone and saw an intimate video of Leviss on it.


Ariana Madix Says She Doesn’t Care What Tom Sandoval Does Anymore

Ariana Madix

GettyAriana Madix of “Vanderpump Rules.”

Despite their breakup, Sandoval and Madix still have a lot of loose ends to tie up in their relationship. They still own a large home in Valley Village, California, together, and they are still both main cast members on “Vanderpump Rules.” In the interview with Mandel, Sandoval said that while it will be “hard” for him to go back to filming next season, he plans to continue on with the show.

In a video obtained by Page Six in March 2023, Madix said she has no idea what her ex’s relationship with Leviss is following the scandal.

“I don’t know what they do,” Madix said. “At this point, I don’t care about anything that either of them does.”

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