Ariana Madix addresses Tom Sandoval’s split and Raquel’s affair

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by Nikki Cox And Nika Shakhnazarova

March 16, 2023 | 2:27 a.m

Ariana Madix has broken her silence after her longtime boyfriend, Tom Sandoval, struck up a relationship with co-star Raquel Levis on Vanderpump Rules.

Madix spoke for the first time on instagramsaying she was “devastated and broken” since finding out about the news, but thanked her friends and fans for their “outpouring of love and support”.

“Hi. Where do we begin?” she wrote to her 1.4 million followers on the platform along with a photo of herself in Mexico.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude for the outpouring of love and support I have received from friends, family, and people I’ve never met in the past two weeks.”

She added, “When I felt like I couldn’t even stand up, they all gave me the strength to keep going and saw me through my darkest hours.”

“To say I was devastated and broken is an understatement,” wrote Madix, who dated Sandoval for nearly a decade.

“Many of my closest friends are also grieving this loss right now and are experiencing this betrayal on so many levels.”

She continued, “I am so lucky to have the best support system in the world and I hope I can repay everyone for the love you have shown me.”

She concluded her lengthy comment, “Better what doesn’t kill me than running.”

Her comments came after Page Six confirmed on March 3 that Maddix, 37, and Sandoval, 39, had split once it found out that he and Levi’s, 28, had been “inappropriately communicating for months.”

A source told us at the time that Madix was “shocked” by the dalliance and that she had “no idea there were any issues” between her and Sandoval, whom she’d been dating since 2013.

Not only that, but Madix and Levi’s have grown close in recent months, leaving something about her co-owner feeling “betrayed by her friend.”

We heard Madix “find out” about the couple’s “complete” relationship on March 1 while attending Sandoval’s band cover show, where he talked about “respecting” his now ex-girlfriend.

When asked how their relationship has stood the test of time, Sandoval said he and Madix were “really good at respecting each other.”

Noting that while they had their “up and downs”, the bartender said that they both “were supportive of each other in a reasonable way”.

As news of the full case broke, both Sandoval and Levis released statements on social media, respectively.

“I want to apologize to Ariana. I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made rash decisions that hurt someone I love,” Sandoval wrote last week.

“No one deserves to feel this pain so shockingly and publicly. I can only imagine how devastating this was for Ariana and everyone around us.”

“I feel really terrible about it,” he continued. “My biggest regret is that I insulted Ariana. I never meant to disappoint so many people, including our loving families and friends… I owe it to Ariana better.”

For her part, Levis issued Lengthy statement to which she blamed her “addiction” on love and vowed to do better from now on.

“I’m reflecting on my choices, talking to a counselor and learning things about myself like my codependency and addiction patterns and feeling in love,” she wrote.

“I have sought emotional validation through unhealthy intimate relationships regardless of my own personal happiness, sometimes negatively affecting others and often prioritizing intimacy over my friendships.”

While this is the first time Madix has spoken out about the case, her brother, Jeremy Madix, was quick to defend her — and criticize Sandoval — on social media just hours after the news broke.

In cast member James Kennedy’s Instagram post about the matter, he described Jeremy Sandoval as having “tried really hard to weather a midlife crisis with his awkward band” before taking pictures at Leviss, which he said had “faked its way to the top.”

Amid the controversy, Sandoval publicly apologized to Madix on March 8, writing in part on Instagram that he had “made mistakes” and “reckless decisions that hurt someone” he loved.

“No one deserves to feel this pain so painfully and publicly,” he continued. “I can only imagine how devastating this was for Ariana and everyone around us. I feel really terrible about it.”

For more reality TV Page Six updates

Levis also issued a guilty plea to Maddix, blaming this entanglement on her “addiction” to love.

“There is no justification. I am not a victim and must own up to my actions and feel very sorry for hurting Ariana,” the former pageant queen said in a statement.

“I started counseling to end my cycle of unhealthy behavior, learn to set stronger emotional boundaries and learn to protect my mental health.”

Producers have been filming the aftermath of the case for the tenth season, which is currently airing.

However, a source close to the situation told Page Six EXCLUSIVELY that “nobody” from the “Rules of Pumping” team talks to Leviss while the cameras are rolling.

“Vanderpump Rules” airs every Wednesday at 9 PM ET on Bravo.