Ariana Madix, Bethenny Frankel, and Raquel Leviss. Getty Images (3)
Ariana Madix is speaking out about how Bethenny Frankel‘s bombshell interview with Raquel Leviss “impacted” her mental health.
Madix, 38, sat down to discuss the three-part interview on the Friday, August 25, episode of BFF Scheana Shay‘s “Scheananigans” podcast. While Madix confessed that she “did not listen” to Frankel’s conversation with her costar, she acknowledged that it was difficult to read about what was said.
“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with or anything bad about Rachel going on anything to do any interview,” she explained, using Leviss’ legal name. “Obviously, she was going to at some point … but some of the things that were said made me really sad, made me really angry.”
Despite her bumpy history with Leviss, Madix was left feeling more upset with Frankel and claimed: “I feel like [she] should’ve known better.”
Madix slammed the former Housewife for alleging that she had “forgiven” her ex Tom Sandoval for his affair with Leviss. “I’m like, ‘Why are you speaking for me?’ I don’t know you,” she said. “You don’t know what the f–k you’re talking about, lady.”
Shay reminded her listeners that Frankel admitted she hadn’t watched the majority of Vanderpump Rules — apart from the season 10 reunion — before the sit-down. She asked Madix how she felt about criticism of her behavior toward Leviss and Sandoval during the reunion, which was filmed just three weeks after news broke of the cheating scandal.
Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss attend the “Vanderpump Rules” Party For LALA Beauty Hosted By Lala Kent at Beauty & Essex on June 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Amy Sussman/Getty Images
“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,” Madix argued.
While speaking to Leviss on her “Just B” podcast earlier this month, Frankel read aloud some of the insults hurled at her by the Pump Rules cast — mainly Madix — during the season 10 reunion special. Frankel got emotional and said her experience as a mother made her empathize with Leviss. (She shares daughter Brynn, 13, with ex Jason Hoppy.)
“Hearing Bethenny say something about like, ‘If that was my child, I would’ve murdered someone,’ based on some words that were said in response to what I endured … I would like to say that I have a mother who feels pretty strongly about what was done to me for seven months behind my back,” Madix said on Friday. “[My mom] certainly doesn’t think that me responding to all of the with some harsh and warranted words is the worst thing that could happen.”
Madix, however, acknowledged that she would “probably not” say the same things to Leviss now that she did in the immediate aftermath of the scandal. “But I was only going to speak to her that one time and never again,” she explained.
Leviss’ appearance on Frankel’s podcast marked her first interview since she left a mental health treatment facility, which she checked into in order to cope with the backlash of Scandoval. Along with confirming that she would not be returning for season 11 of Pump Rules, Leviss attempted to downplay her friendship with Madix pre-affair.
“That was very hurtful … [and] a very obvious lie,” Madix alleged, noting that Leviss’ comments “could be so easily refuted” by photos and other examples. “I was very much under the impression that we were, like, really good friends. And I didn’t come to that impression lightly. … It wasn’t fake to me.”
Pump Rules personalities of past and present — from Stassi Schroeder to Lala Kent — have weighed in on Leviss’ interview since it debuted last week. While many focused their responses on Frankel, Madix also noted that Sandoval’s influence on Leviss was still noticeable.
“I feel like she’s still going along with some things that were told to her over the last year or so from the other party in said affair, and I think that made me really sad,” she noted. “She put a lot of weight onto what was being told to her. … The two of them, they didn’t care about me at all.”
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Sandoval, for his part, has not publicly reacted to Leviss’ interview.
