The reality star told Bethenny Frankel she questions if Tom Sandoval "fabricated" their affair to keep the Bravo series alive.
Bravo is stepping in to shut down Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss' claims that the intense Scandoval drama in season 10 of the reality series was "fabricated" to keep the Bravo series alive.
"Tom Sandoval was never offered a producer credit on Season 11 and had absolutely no creative control over editing during any season of Vanderpump Rules," a Bravo spokesperson tells ET of Leviss' claims that her estranged lover may have been pulling strings behind the scenes of the recent season.
In an interview with Bethenny Frankel, the 28-year-old reality star shared that she felt betrayed by Tom Sandoval after their affair was revealed in the season's explosive tenth season. Sandoval had been seeing co-star Ariana Madix since 2013 when she first joined Vanderpump Rules, and it wasn't long after they announced their split in early March that news broke that Sandoval was cheating on Madix with Leviss.
The cheating scandal, dubbed Scandoval, was a significant plot point in season 10 of the Bravo reality series. It all went down after Madix discovered a NSFW video of Leviss on Sandoval's phone.
"I felt very betrayed. I felt like I couldn’t trust this person," Leviss said of learning Sandoval recorded her. "I felt like my privacy didn’t matter to him and he didn’t really give a good excuse besides he wanted me to see it later on to see how beautiful I was. But if he would have asked for permission I would have said no."
Leviss went on to claim that an alleged scene of her confronting Sandoval about filming her never aired in season 10 of Vanderpump Rules, saying, "he ended up boycotting filming the rest of Scandoval so that he could have editing rights to that scene to take out that specific piece."
"Is he a producer?" Frankel asked.
"He’s not technically a producer, he’s been on the series from day one, season one. I don’t know if I’m even able to disclose this information, but he did tell me that for negotiations for season 11, he was offered a producer credit for season 11," Leviss answered. "I think he was being rewarded for the Scandoval of it all, and to me, that's just kinda gross because it seems, it makes me skeptical. Was this really just something that was fabricated for this end result?"
Leviss referenced Vanderpump Rules executive producer Alex Baskin's recent interview with Deadline, where he claimed Scandoval saved the future of the show.
"Alex Baskin, our executive producer, went on record and said the show was going to be canceled after season 10 and if it wasn’t for Scandoval there wouldn’t be a season 11," she told Frankel.
Soon after the interview aired, ET exclusively learned that after much back and forth, Leviss decided she will not be filming the new season. The news comes after the cast of Vanderpump Rules -- including Sandoval, Madix, Tom Schwartz and Scheana Shay -- resumed filming season 11, sans Leviss. Last week, ET exclusively reported that Leviss wasn't currently filming the Bravo series because she’s prioritizing her mental health and enjoying a slower life in Arizona.
"Rachel will not be returning for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules. There was a possibility up until recently she'd be returning for the new season, but ultimately decided against it," a source told ET. "Rachel is focused on her mental health journey and knew going back to the show would open her up to trauma she's been working on healing. Rachel is looking forward to what the future holds for her."
In April, ET exclusively reported that Leviss checked into a mental health treatment facility. At the time, Leviss' rep told ET, "[Rachel] and her family decided before the relationship was discovered that she would enter a voluntary facility for mental health counseling."
Her rep added that Leviss had planned to admit herself before the Vanderpump Rules reunion was taped on March 23. "She was scheduled to go in pre-reunion but decided she wanted to finish her filming commitment," her rep told ET. "Bravo and production were aware and in support of her journey towards better mental health."
Since then, Leviss has been spotted running errands in Tucson, Arizona, while wearing a vintage Pink Floyd shirt, black biker shorts, sandals, gray socks, a backpack and glasses. Her hair was in a ponytail and she opted for the makeup-free look while hitting up her local drug store, where she picked up a few fancy water bottles.
"Rachel has been spending time with her family in Arizona since leaving the mental health facility. Rachel has been receiving letters from people opening up about their own mental health journey and applauding her for taking time away from filming to focus on her mental health," a source previously shared with ET. "Rachel is in a really good place and has been enjoying a slower pace of life. She's been doing Pilates and often goes hiking."
Meanwhile, it seems exes Madix, 38, and Sandoval, 40, aren't opposed to being in the same room together -- especially if it's for a good cause. On Tuesday, the two were both at Lisa Vanderpump's charity fundraiser event -- held at her restaurant, Sur -- where Vanderpump Rules' cameras were reportedly rolling amid production on season 11.
However, despite both showing up to support the charity event -- which raised money for Maui Wildfire Relief -- Madix and Sandoval did not actually seem to converse and didn't appear together in any photos at the event.
Madix stunned in an all-black ensemble for the party and reportedly arrived with a male friend. She was all smiles as she spent time with some of her other Vanderpump Rules co-stars, including Shay, Katie Maloney and Lala Kent.
A source recently told ET that Madix has been laying into Sandoval since the cameras went up.
"Filming is underway for Vanderpump Rules and Tom and Ariana have filmed together. She has been laying into him while filming and doesn’t have time for any of his nonsense," the source said. "She's becoming more and more detached and isn't affected by him as much."
For more on Scandoval, check out the links below.
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