If Scandoval were a scent, it would invoke feelings of betrayal and zero culpability. Apparently, Katie Maloney could smell it a mile off. Even in the months leading up to March 3, 2023. The now infamous day when Ariana Madix broke up with Tom Sandoval for cheating on her for months.
The Vanderpump Rules cast recovered from their initial shock. Now they are comparing notes and aligning recollections as to who saw what and when. During her recent interview on the Viall Files podcast, Katie explained the affair was more apparent because she was looking from a “birds’ eye view.”
Page Six reported Katie noticed Tom and Raquel Leviss became “very close.”
“I started realizing … when Ariana [Madix] is not around, they’ll still be hanging out,” Katie explained. “If Ariana chooses not to go to a party or an event, Tom and Raquel will just go together.”
One could have chalked it up to innocent friendship or “platonic friends.” Yet Katie felt that wasn’t the case. The VPR star said, “There was something off about the situation. Something reeked of [cheating] to me.”
Something that the You’re Gonna Love Me podcast host would have noticed was the matching lightning bolt necklaces that Tom and Raquel wore. Yet Katie was never that close with the pair.
“I notice things my friends are wearing, especially something all the time, [and ask], ‘Is that new? What’s the significance?’” Katie claimed. The unusual symbol would have caught her eye. She said, “A lightning bolt [is] not, like, a heart or a butterfly. It’s not like it’s cute.”
Yet Katie credited the view from “the cheap seats.” Because of the distance and impartiality, she “could see everything that was happening.” Perhaps there is something to Katie’s theory that Ariana was too “close.” Tom’s ex-girlfriend had no idea he was cheating on her with Raquel until she found an explicit video of the former pageant queen on his phone.
Raquel has invoked the wrath of Katie and the rest of the Pump Rules cast due to her betrayal of Ariana. Katie called her “thick-skulled” and “soulless.” She added that she had “poor judgment” and “no shame.”
Scheana Shay had her suspicions after Raquel turned off her location on her phone. While Raquel’s bedroom galaxy lights were “a dead giveaway” for Lala Kent.
The cast aired their grievances during an “aggressive” reunion. Raquel showed up without any remorse. And in more recent news, Raquel seemingly spent the weekend at the house Tom bought with Ariana while she was away. He even drove her to the airport Sunday, a sure sign of intimacy.
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF KATIE’S COMMENTS? DID SHE KNOW ABOUT SCANDOVAL AHEAD OF TIME? WOULD YOU HAVE GUESSED IT FROM TOM AND RAQUEL’S MATCHING NECKLACES? WAS IT EASIER TO SEE BECAUSE KATIE WASN’T CLOSE TO THEM?
[Photo Credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images]