Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix opens up about the intimacy or lack of intimacy she shares with ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval.
in a new interview with FascinationThe 36-year-old reality star spoke candidly with Sandoval, 40, about what went on behind closed doors before it was revealed that he had a nine-year love and an affair with them for months. VPR starring Raquel Leviss.
“I just feel like I’m someone who wants intimacy outside of penetrating sex, and that’s something I’ve been deprived of for a very long time,” Madix explained. “As women, we can bring things up a few times and then we stop. I was there too.”
Madix finally realized that she couldn’t “nag” her then-boyfriend for wanting to spend time with him.
“A lot of guys treat you like they have a right to your body and sex because you have a relationship with them,” she said. “I’m not your fleshlight. I spelled out what I need, but hello. It’s a case for two.”
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“When the cheating scandal, called Scandoval, finally broke out in early March, Madix announced that she was in so much “shock” that she didn’t need to be upset right away.
It was as if my lungs had been deflated. It was a shock, a degree of disbelief, but then also anger,” he recalled.
He said the revelation was particularly difficult because he assumed that he – and others – had a relationship that would last forever. He also explained why he felt many viewers could connect with the situation.
“It has layers. The best friend layer actually [he] and I was together for a very long time, and a lot of people, including me, saw us as endgame,” Madix said. “It’s a hoax, trying to manipulate a narrative, so many people have experienced it personally and recognized parts of it.”
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In episode 3 of the season 10 reunion on Wednesday, Sandoval sparked outrage when he made a shocking comment about his and Madix’s sex lives. When host Andy Cohen asked if she had slept with anyone else since she started her relationship with Leviss, Madix responded to her ex.
Do you know who you slept with after him and Raquel? “Me,” said Madix. Her response prompted Sandoval to comment on “how she kept her shirt on” during the candid moment, which she sarcastically described as “really hot”.
Madix later left her and her co-star Katie Maloney’s site with merchandise that looked like she was embracing diss: a T-shirt with a cartoon version of herself smashing a grilled cheese and text that said “fuck me with this shirt.”
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It was a journey for Madix to get to this point. When Scandoval first broke out, it was overwhelming for the star, who revealed she was worried about the news.
“At first my anxiety was over the top,” he told PEOPLE in May. “Those first few weeks… just stomach ache, not being able to sleep, not being able to eat and not feeling sick at the thought of wanting to eat. It was really bad.”
Ultimately, things are now starting to look for the reality star. “I definitely feel this sense of freedom,” Madix said. Fascination. “I feel like I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself anymore.”
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Vanderpump Rules It can be watched in full on Peacock.