Rachel Leviss, one of the women at the center of the Vanderpump Rules cheating scandal, known as Scandoval, has spoken out about her experience with Real Housewives royalty Bethenny Frankel.
In the first 40-minute installment of their tell-all interview on Frankel’s ReWives with Bethenny Frankel podcast, the pair discuss becoming a villain on reality television, the minimal pay she got for being on the show, changing her name back to Rachel from Raquel and hints at leaving Vanderpump Rules altogether.
But in case you somehow missed the huge, overwhelming Scandoval tea from earlier this year, here’s what went down.
Basically, there was this couple on Vanderpump Rules, Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, who were dating for nine years. During Season 10 it was revealed that Sandoval and Leviss, who was part of their friendship group, had been having an affair.
As you’d expect, the internet went absolutely wild. People came for both Sandoval and Leviss, siding with Madix who was blindsided by their sneaky relationship.
While it’s awful for all involved, it made for great TV with Bravo clearing raking in viewers and cashola from the scandal and the highly publicised three-part reunion episode.
Now, speaking to Frankel, Leviss has now spoken about her experience of becoming a villain on international reality television, claiming that Bravo has exploited her.
“The network is running to the bank—like laughing, running to the bank with this scandal, and I haven’t seen a single penny,” she said.
“I feel like it’s not fair. And I feel like a toddler saying ‘it’s not fair,’ but it really isn’t. I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I’ve made on camera live on forever.”
Naturally, Frankel lends a sympathetic ear. She is no stranger to being the villain on television after her time on The Real Housewives Of New York, commenting that she believes Leviss took the brunt from appalled audiences after the episodes went live.
“It occurs to me that you are the villain. Ariana is the hero,” Frankel said.
“Tom is another character who doesn’t take the hit as much as you in this scandal of all. But you’re right, the realm is making a lot of money and now it took three of you in a recipe to create the scandal.”
The thing is, there’s no question that the scandal on the show created an insane amount of buzz for the show with endless press, TikTok commentary and higher ratings for Vanderpump Rules. Because of that, Frankel believes that Leviss wasn’t paid sufficiently for her role on the incredibly popular season.
“It’s my understanding that you get paid in a year less than my interns get paid,” Frankel told a shocked Leviss.
“One of the things that producers also told me is that you get paid based off of your performance from the season prior,” Leviss claimed.
“So that already set me up to want to perform well going into Season 10. I was like, ‘OK, this could be my season. I could really stand out and I’m single for the first time. Like, I wanna embrace that.’ And I took direction well.”
But despite Frankel’s claims, a source told TMZ that Leviss made upwards of $540,000 AUD ($350,000 USD) for Season 10 of the show. While some may say that’s not fair compensation to make up for the hate she received, it’s certainly more than an intern’s salary. However, these claims are advantageous to Frankel, who is currently calling on reality stars to band together to strike against low pay and for better residuals from Bravo.
Want a cheeky explainer on the residual payment situation? Check out our TikTok below.
During the chat, Leviss also explained how she changed her name from Rachel to Raquel as a kid because there were a bunch of Rachels in her school class. Now, she’s keen to be referred to as Rachel.
“I feel like most of my life, I’ve been afraid. I’ve struggled with social anxiety; I’ve struggled with judgment from other people. So having a fear of vulnerability makes sense,” Leviss explained.
“So I’m really just trying to come back to my roots, and I am introducing myself as Rachel.”
There are still more parts to come from the tell-all interview. We’ll keep you posted if any more tea comes from the next installment of the chat.
