Ariana Madix, 38, “did not listen” to Raquel Leviss‘ interview with Bethenny Frankel, but she read about the things that were said, and she has some thoughts. The Something About Her co-founder went on her Vanderpump Rules co-star Scheana Shay‘s podcast on August 25 and revealed that she was “upset” over Raquel (who is going by her birth name Rachel again) and Bethenny’s conversation about the Tom Sandoval affair. Ariana said that the podcast interview “impacted” her mental health in a negative way.
“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with or anything bad about Rachel going on anything to do any interview,” Ariana said. “As she should. Obviously, she was going to at some point. But some of the things that were said made me really sad, made me really angry.”
Ariana blamed Bethenny, 52, for how she conducted the interview with Raquel, 28, and said the Real Housewives of New York City alum “actually upset me more in the things that were said.” Ariana noted that Bethenny claimed Ariana has “forgiven” Tom, 40, for cheating, which isn’t true. “I’m like, ‘Why are you speaking for me?’ I don’t know you,” Ariana said. “You don’t know what the f*** you’re talking about, lady. There were a lot of things said by her that made me more angry. Because I feel like she should know better.”
Furthermore, Ariana clapped back at Bethenny saying that she was too hard on Raquel at the season 10 reunion. “I believe that my response to what was done to me in that moment was exactly what I would think any person would respond with in that moment,” Ariana explained. “If I sat down and had a conversation with her [Raquel] today, would I say the same things? Probably not. But I was only going to speak to her that one time and never again. I didn’t have any other communication with her and I’ll never have any other communication with her.”
Ariana also addressed how Raquel downplayed their friendship and insisted that they weren’t close when she was having the affair with Tom. “That was very hurtful. I thought we were friends,” Ariana said. “That’s a very obvious lie. I don’t know if she’s doing it on purpose or she really understands that that statement could be so easily refuted with photographic evidence. The Saturday night before the Wednesday night that I found this out was an example of her and I hanging out off-camera.” The Bravolebrity continued, “If she feels otherwise, that sucks because I was very much under the impression that we were, like, really good friends. And I didn’t come to that impression lightly. It takes a lot for me something to really let people into my inner circle. If all of that was fake to her, that really sucks. It wasn’t fake to me.”
Raquel’s interview with Bethenny marked her first time speaking out after she spent two months in a mental health facility in Arizona following the “Scandoval.” After the interview came out, Entertainment Tonight confirmed that Raquel isn’t returning to Vanderpump Rules for season 11, which began filming in late June. Raquel has revamped her Instagram page by deleting most of her posts about the show — including her original apology to Ariana about the affair. She also updated her bio to say she’s “becoming a better person… one day at a time.”