Lisa Vanderpump defends supporting cheater Tom Sandoval after finale backlash
Lisa Vanderpump won’t apologize for showing compassion toward Tom Sandoval as he deals with the fallout from his affair with co-star Raquel Leviss.
“I didn’t take sides with Tom, I definitely condemned what he did,” Vanderpump, 62, told E! News on Thursday of their heated sit-down where she comforted him over the scandal on the Season 10 finale this week.
“You know, I can’t write him off as a person because he had an affair. The way he handled it, yes, of course.”
Vanderpump added that she doesn’t need to “pile on” since Sandoval is getting enough hate for his action as it is.
“That’s not what I’m not trying to do. I’m trying to tell the truth,” Vanderpump said. “Also, I feel like a mother to some of these children. So, when he’s been lambasted by the whole world, what am I going to do pile on?
“No, I’m going to try and have a modicum of—not empathy, I don’t have empathy—but a modicum of hope. Maybe for the future.”
And the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum says that unlike some of her “Pump Rules” co-stars, she has no problem filming with him for the show.
“It’s going to be complicated,” she said. “But ‘Vanderpump Rules’ has never been a fairy tale. Let’s be honest.”
The restaurateur’s brutal honesty with Sandoval, 40, was captured in Wednesday’s episode of the show when the Tom Tom co-owner had a full-blown meltdown after the affair came to light.
At first, Vanderpump didn’t candy-coat her feelings, telling Sandoval, “It looks terrible in retrospect” and that she didn’t understand how he could sleep with one of Madix’s best friends.
But she was much kinder when he started hyperventilating and broke down in tears.
“It’s going to get better,” she said while embracing him. “It’s been all too much, I know.”
In March, Bravo fans were shocked when Ariana Madix, 37, discovered that her partner of almost 10 years had a months-long affair with the former beauty queen after discovering a sexually explicit video of Leviss on his phone.
And as more information came out, Madix discovered that Sandoval and Leviss, 28, had been secretly hooking up since last summer.
Madix swiftly dumped Sandoval and their relationship drama has continued to play out in front of cameras on Season 10, which is currently airing.
While Wednesday’s episode showed Sandoval professing his love to Leviss, Page Six confirmed this week that the duo broke up two months after the affair made headlines.
“Raquel dipped out,” an insider told Page Six on Wednesday. “Sandoval is not the one for her.”
Madix reacted to their breakup news, telling Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live” on Wednesday night, “I don’t buy it at all.”
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“She was sending letters to my house like four days ago,” Madix — who shares a $2 million modern Valley Village, Calif., home with Sandoval — told Cohen. “I just brought in the mail, saw it, put it on the table and walked away.”
While they both still reside in the farmhouse-style abode they purchased in 2019, Madix clarified that she and Sandoval “do not interact on any level.”
Leviss, for her part, has shown little remorse over the affair but checked into a mental health facility last month.
Madix confronted her ex-boyfriend and former friend in the Bravo show’s upcoming explosive three-part reunion.
