Ariana Madix: The Vanderpump Affair [VIDEO]

Daddy Gang I am so excited because Ariana Madix is our guest on Call Her Daddy today. If you are a fan of the reality show Vanderpump Rules, you know exactly who Ariana is. You don't need any preface to this interview you're ready to dive in. But for those of you who may not be familiar and have never watched the show, I got you.

Awful.

This affair has been secretly happening the entire time season 10 was being filmed and no one knew. But now, as we've seen, the news has leaked. Everyone is dying to see how this drama continue to unfold. Somehow, a new story is new every fucking week on this shit.

Hi hi.

Ariana Maddox Welcome to call her daddy.

Hi, thanks for having me.

How are you doing?

I'm okay.

Can you explain what the past few months have felt like to you?

A roller coaster, I mean, truly, like the lowest lows, I think, maybe ever, maybe since my dad died, that I've experienced, and then I wouldn't say the highest highs. But I would definitely say that there's been some really amazing bright spots.

Something I want to talk about is like, I think so many people have had something to say for so long about this scandal. And like, we haven't really heard from you about, like, start to finish, in long form, your thoughts, everything that's gone down. So today I'm hoping we can, like, put it all into one. You're like, Okay, let me just let's take a little rosé. Cheers.

Necessary.

Tom is moving on, Tom is moving on.

Can you take me back to the night that you found out that Tom was cheating on you with your at the time best friend? Raquel? Like, I know you were at a concert of Tom's. His phone fell out of his pocket. Someone handed it to you to just take your boyfriend's phone and hold it, take us from there.

So they had like one more song after that. And so I was holding like my phone and his phone, just kind of as a stack and had no. Like, there's nothing weird about that. I mean, we were together for nine years, like me. Holding onto his phone, his, you know, his laptop, his, you know, whatever is not weird. So they had like one more song. And then afterwards, um, I got up to go over to him and tell him, like, Good job.

Okay, pause for two seconds. Yeah, I feel like no one is saying specifically what the video is. Are you guys not legally allowed to be talking about what the video is?

I don't know, Axie can, I don't know.

Can I say what? I'm speculating? Yeah, I can say I think the speculation is in the camera roll. There was a screen recording that he screen recorded while they were on FaceTime of them having FaceTime sex.

I was like, shaking, like, full body like, just like. I don't know if it's anger, shock, like, I think shock is a big part of it. Because, I mean, I've been cheated on in my life before, and I've, you know, caught somebody before like that and like way in my past. And I guess it's like that feeling I hadn't felt in, like we're talking like 15 years and like, it's hard to describe. But it's literally like a combination of shock and anger, and somehow disbelief that this is like, truly what you're seeing. Um, and yeah, and then, like, there's just, I don't know, it's. It's really like a huge mix of emotion.

It is, and like, did you think this was a one-off or did you immediately think this has been a relationship?

I mean, there's no way that it could be a one-off, given the closeness of, like all of our relationship to her, you know what I mean? So there's there's no way. And also to feel so comfortable doing that on a FaceTime, you know, there's no. There's just no way of of it being like a one time. Oh, we just decided one day to FaceTime.

Well, I'm going to call Raquel and just like, Yeah, yeah, no.

Right, yeah.

So you start confronting him, What does he say?

He was very, he wanted us to get into a car, he wanted us to get into an Uber and leave immediately. He was starting to call a car. And then he took my phone and then I was trying to get my phone back. And he ended up walking down San Vicente with my phone. And I was in like boots with a peeled so I was like, like freaking Usain Bolt, being like, I need my phone back.

Like, why did he take your phone?

Because he thought, cause I was like, Oh, I'm going to tweet about this. I mean, obviously I'm not, but you know what I mean, like, you say things like that in those moments, you're not like, of course, I'm not calm about it, you know, I was freaking the fuck out. Um, and he was very concerned about people hearing us, because obviously we know, we know a lot of people in West Hollywood. We know a lot of people at all the different bars and we were in the back of all these bars. And he was very concerned about people finding out.

So do you both get in a car together and where do you go home?

Home.

What happens in the car and when you get home?

So in the car, we were, so I called Rachel during all of this, um, after I got my phone back on San Vicente, um, I called her. And that's when I was like, if you ever gave a shit about any woman, ever about me as your friend, about literally anything. You need to tell me, like, when this started, whatever, like, tell me, I was hysterical, um, and she said, that's when she said the part about like, after the girl's trip, and I was like, you mean, when my dog died, like when Charlotte passed away, is what the girl's trip was like.

So you get home, and this is the part I think I've seen the world be so fascinated. Because you guys live together, you own a home together. So you both go home that night, and is it just like a screaming war till like you fall asleep?

Essentially, yeah.

Do you sleep in the same room?

No, no, not at that point, no.

So you sleep in a different room and, like, when you're by yourself, like, what were you thinking?

Oh, I mean, well, I made sure to text um, close friends of mine and of his. Because I was like, I am not going to be in a position where. And luckily, because of the sheena of it all, like, at least, I was like, No, we're not keeping this a secret.

Other people knew, yeah.

So I was making like texts were slowly trickling, like, What is what is happening? are you kidding me? I mean, I didn't sleep, I mean, I didn't lay down to sleep until maybe like 6am.

That's also I. When I've been cheated on, it's like when someone that has been keeping a secret for so long gets called out. All they've been doing is lying, and so I feel like their natural response is lean in harder to. Like trying to gaslight you, trying to distort your reality, like trying to make you feel crazy somehow, and like not take accountability. And somehow you're like, how are we fighting? how are you yelling at me like you fucked my best friend?

And I'm like, screaming, crying, throwing up in this moment and you're just like annoyed at the whole thing.

So that night ends. And what we do know is like, when this happened, you guys were not filming anymore, so how long after this happened, did the cameras finally get in there?

So this was Wednesday night, yeah, and so it was Friday morning that cameras were at my house.

Because what I could notice, because we've all been through a breakup like that, is like the conversation in the finale that we watched felt more like a breakup than like, post-morning. Like, literally, go fuck yourself, like, fuck you.

Because there had been that little bit of that space back and forth, yeah.

The final conversation between you guys. It was infuriating, I think, for the nation to watch, because he's blaming you. Being like, I lost my mojo. We never had sex, like I wasn't myself, I wasn't happy.

It was awful, it was brutal. But it was also what he had been doing for that past 48 hours up until that moment. So I almost kind of, like, knew that that's where he was headed.

You were very vocal this season about defending Tom and Raquel when people would come to you and you, like, had their backs. If someone would have come forward, and I know this is a hypothetical, but if someone would have come forward and told you about the fair, do you think you would have believed them? Or do you think you had to, like, see it yourself to believe it?

I think I would have believed it if it was told to me off camera, or if it was told to me. You know what I'm saying? Because I think, to some degree, a lot of what I felt was rumors and rumblings was, which has happened before, people being like, Okay, I heard a little something about something. But I'm going to bring it up. Because that's our job is, you know, we bring up everything that we hear about. And a lot of times it's nothing. And I was like, Well, if it's nothing, I'm not going to have. Like my friend and my boyfriend be like, dragged through the mud.

I get what you're saying. It's almost like being on reality TV for so many years, you become almost more accustomed to. This is obviously for content, this is for the show, this is for the show, this is drama.

Right, or it would have, yeah, it would have been a friend who's like, I'm going to end up bringing this up on camera.

But I need to tell you first.

But I need to tell you first, because I think it's actually really real. And I think that that's something that, like my close friends, would have done. Okay, I got it.

Okay, I do want us to take a step back, because as much as we're talking about, like, in the weeds of like this affair. You were in a relationship for nine years with this man and you guys were friends before you got into a relationship. What was it that first initially attracted you to Tom?

I just thought he was so earnest in everything that he did. And I found it really like endearing that he would be over the top in making a cocktail, or over the top in just everyday parts of life. Like, I thought it very endearing and sweet almost. And I also thought he was a really good friend to the people close to him.

Yeah, how would you have described your relationship with Tom to someone?

I would have described it as like we used to call each other like apocalypse buddies, you know, like the person that all shit goes to hell. And this is the person that you can rely on that you want with you. Who's going to continue to, like, make you laugh and get through all of what life has to throw at you? And like, honestly, even right up until me finding out about this affair, like, even during while the affair was going on. We were still like laughing together, you know, having like our little. We had so many like little inside jokes and things like that.

What was your sex life like in the beginning and then like as your relationship progressed?

I mean, in the beginning I was definitely struggling with. I was very excited that someone was like, really, I thought really into me because the relationship I was in previously. Um, that sex life was fine, but at the same time I was being like, criticized very heavily about my body and my personality, just everything. Um, and so I was like, Oh my gosh, this is somebody who's like, really into me, and so that was very exciting.

Yeah, it's like you lose the connection almost, and I think that's something because there's so many things you just said. First is from your past relationship. Going with someone that was very vocal about things they didn't like about you or your body, or your personality. Like that takes a toll on your self-confidence.

It felt like, you know, he would complain about frequency of sex, and it felt like he wanted to have sex. But I was like, But do you want to have sex with me? Is it about me or is it just about the act? And that's where I was like, Okay, so, but what is it about?

Like, what do you like about me?

Yeah, like, I need to know those, like, I want to know those things, or I would be like, Okay, well, do you like, you know? People have said that they think I have a nice ass. I don't know if I agree with that, but do you agree with that?

I get what you're saying, but I also to any fucking guy listening to this. It's like when your partner is so clearly being like, I need some reassurance. I don't know the last time you've given me a compliment that's also like, a hey, wake up, like, you want sex? Well, why would I have sex with someone that I don't know?

I'd be like, Can you objectify me? maybe like, call me fucking hot, right? or like.

Something that really pisses me off is when men try to justify their cheating by being like, but we weren't having sex. Like, I need to get my fix somewhere. And like, it's so often that women are deemed as the problem, and, of course, a guy went and cheated.

I mean, I think in the past I would have been inclined to do that, but because I was had been in therapy and for years. At that point, I knew. And couples therapy with him, by the way. And the couples therapist literally sat across from both of us and said, This is a him problem, this isn't a you problem. You know, there's certain things I have to take accountability for in the relationship. But when it came to stuff like that, it's like, No, this is something that he's going through, that he's dealing with.

Right, this actually has nothing to do with you.

Yeah.

I know hindsight is obviously 20 20 and it's like you can look back and try to. But like, were there any signs of red flags in the beginning of the relationship that you now see?

I think in the beginning it was like, you know, he likes to go out a lot.

When you look back, I know a huge conversation on the internet is your relationship with Tom started by him cheating on his girlfriend. Kristen, you guys kissed, he lied to you and was like, I'm not with her anymore. But then it turns out Kristen was like, we were fully together. So, and people are like, Oh, you lose them.

Well, to be very clear, I didn't lose him, he lost me, so that's right there. Sorry, um, but I think that I trusted in him so much, even like as a friend back then.

When you look back, I'm just thinking, like, do you think he's a pathological liar?

I mean, it's hard to say. I mean, clearly, in the last seven months, he was a pathological liar.

Yeah.

It's now hard for me to look back at nine years. And if I tell myself he's a pathological liar, then I means that the last nine years of my life were potentially a lie. But he did say stuff on that finale episode to Sheena, like, we weren't happy and we bought the house. As a band-aid, I'm like, a band-aid to WHO? Because that wasn't where I was at at all.

Right, and also we're in a relationship. So you should have shared that to me because I would have loved to known that because I probably wouldn't have bought a house with you. If you were like, just to be clear, babe, this is a band-aid, you'd have been like the fuck.

I would have been like, Okay, well, maybe we should fix our relationship then now and do that and not do, yeah.

Couple therapy.

After he started the affair, it was full-blown. At that point, I didn't know that.

So when you got into couple therapy, you had no idea about the affair you go in. And he claims he initiated it. Is that true?

Initiated couple therapy? Yeah, yes, but it had been brought up by one or both of us over the years of being together.

Yep, and it's since been revealed that he got you both into couple therapy as part of his eventual plan to end the relationship. What explanation did he give you as to, like, why he was so gung-ho? Ready finally for couple therapy?

I mean, he was just, we got into an argument one day. Well, you saw, on the show, we had that conversation on the couch.

Right, like, it's almost like a little counterintuitive that if he actually had the intention of ending it with you, why the fuck are you going to couples therapy?

I remember even saying, after one of them, I was like, Okay. So there was a session where it was, it got really intense. It felt like maybe we were ending. And at the end of the session, she was like, Okay, so is this, you know, a breakup are you guys? And he was like, No.

Can you do you mind sharing? Like when? When you guys are fighting, like, because obviously you're not fighting about the affair, what were your issues in the relationship?

My issues is that I felt like he was not choosing me over like random nights out, or that he just wasn't coming home. Like he would want to just be at Schwartz's for no reason.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Just, you know, having beers and whatever, or coming home. And then, you know, I'd wake up and I'd be like, Where are you? And I would like go down. He's just downstairs, like having face time sex, smoking cigarettes, and probably. But like, you know what I mean?

Right, it's almost like you both couldn't. It was a circle. It's like, No, but come home earlier. He's like, No, but like, I'm miserable, cause we don't have sex.

Like what I said on the show, I was like, I can't teleport your dick into my vagina from the bar. Because if you're at the bar and I'm at home, like, I'm here, you know, maybe I'm ready and you're just not there. So how do we do this right?

Like, we can't actually physically do this if you're never present.

So yeah.

So Tom did mention on that Howie Mandel podcast, Like things did shift, you started to make an effort, like, what did you making an effort in his mind do you think look like?

I think I just was doing my best to be present and going out with him more and trying to be more fun. Party time gal.

Dude, and like, how the fuck did you feel when you were doing that?

I mean, part of me was just like, I mean, this is fine, because again, I was still doing like that inner child work. And it was, you know, I felt like that was really helping me. You just be like, I love myself and I'm, you know, doing, I mean that, like, really changed the game for me.

Yeah, when you say doing inner child work, like, obviously share what you're comfortable with. But like, what was something that you were like, really struggling with? Like, that was clearly like you felt bleeding into your relationship, that you were like, I'm going to work on this shit because, like, I want to be whole and good with myself.

I think like this sense of perfectionism, because I mean, I love my dad, but my dad also, like, didn't come home after work and stuff. And I was always like, straight a student, super overachiever. And I think, like, going back and looking at it. A lot of times I did those things, I mean, maybe because I wanted people to be like, I'll be there.

Isn't it so fucked? When you get into therapy? Also, you're like, Oh my God? Like, is it this obvious of? Like, I'm dating a version of my dad? or like, I'm dating a? You're like, How did this happen? Like my dad didn't come home, Tom's never fucking home.

Like, my, Yeah, I mean, I hate to speak ill of my. I love my dad, he's a great person in so many ways. But he would, you know, sometimes just be like, Okay. Where there's a random dive bar down the street, I'd go do that instead of coming home and helping with homework.

But it also makes sense, Ariana Because, weirdly, we are attracted to things that are familiar to us. So it's like, if that is what you were growing up with, weirdly, you're like, Oh, I fucking got this with Tom. Like, I know how to deal with this, I know how to.

I can do it the right way, like, Oh, I can do it right this time, I can kind of do it all over again.

And be better and be better. And actually, he'll come home, watch, and then it's like, actually, you deserve so much better than that.

It's actually not on me, it's on them.

No, no, you want someone that actually wants to come home and you don't have to beg them to be like, come on, like, show up, be there.

Right?

You said that you hadn't considered ending the relationship before all of this came out. Were you truly happy in this relationship?

I don't know, I think I was a version of happy that I thought was, I don't know what I wanted. And I also felt like the bones of the relationship were good, and I felt as though the potential for the relationship to be just incredible was there. And I think it was the potential and the okay if we can make it through this time.

But it's it's must be such a mind fuck where you're like, which I also want, cause I know I've done it too. Where? Like, I remember when I was getting cheated on and I didn't know it at the time. And you're making such an effort and you're like, I feel so fucking stupid, like, how dare? And it's like, No, no, no, you're not stupid. You were trusting the person you were in love with.

I feel like things would kind of they would, they would wax and wane, they would be ups and ebbs and flows, and I feel like we would have so many amazing times. So then if there was like a couple of weeks that were like, not great. Or if I was like, unsure about something, there was so much other stuff that was great. Or I would be like, laugh.

Right, like a fucking decade, decades.

You know, things are going to be hard sometimes.

I get that I actually think that's like, really relatable of, like you try to see the good because there is good. Yeah, but when it's ebbing and flowing, you have to be like, we just have to stay strong through the hard times.

People say that who have been together for 50 years, you have never cheated. And you have like, they're like the greatest love story of all time. And you think like, Okay, yeah. They said that we had some hard times, like, sometimes you have a year that's hard.

He had a full other relationship going on, right this season. We found out a lot about your relationship there. You had talked about, like how at times you would go through his phone and he was open with you and he would hand it to you. Or then we found out on Watch What Happens Live, you were like, I have the iPad password, you fucking idiot.

Yeah, but no, because I had my best friend, so he would be so jealous of me hanging out with my best friend. Logan, right? And he would be like, I feel like a third wheel. When I go out with you guys and I'm like, Well, because you, you go outside and you are on the phone, or you're doing, you know you.

Yeah.

And so it's like, I don't want that for you, right? So I filled that, I filled that absence of him not coming home and not wanting to do the same things that we wanted to do. I filled that absence with the most incredible people I know, which are my friends.

Which is like, such, like, also a beautiful thing that you had great friends, but also kind of like, clearly a deflector of like. Instead of being like we, why are we never hanging out? I'm just going to hang out with my friends, which is great. We love your friend.

Right, because he was going and doing that, you know, and it was just like. But honestly, though, the separate Lives comment, Yeah, to me is just so not true. I mean, to some degree, maybe.

No, I get it. You obviously mentioned you went through a rough year, you lost your grandmother, you lost your dog. I'm so sorry.

Yeah, I was full grieving because my concern. Well, with Charlotte, my dog, he was there with me, he held her as we said goodbye.

When you were grieving your grandmother, isn't that when Tom and Raquel apparently were, like, at your house or something, having sex, potentially?

Potentially.

Potentially.

I mean, he has maintained that that's not my case, but I don't trust what he says.

Of course.

They facetimed me, the three of them, they facetimed me that next morning, like before any filming or whatever. So I was already aware that she had stayed the night because she it was like, Hey, good morning guys, stay the night like it, like, it was just no big deal.

Is that one of the most painful things for you, aside from the actual fact that they were having an affair? Like the casualness of just like, Hey girl, we're going to facetime you together and they're your best friends, so you're like, Hey guys, and they like, literally just fucked.

It's the duplicitousness, it's like the, it's the backstabbiness, it's like less about, like an affair. You know what I'm saying? It's so layered, and it's just really bizarre as well.

It's really twisted and sick.

It is actually.

Tom claimed he tried to break up with you multiple times and your response would be, I'm not going to let you leave, you're going to have to force me.

That there was only one, Okay, so we tried. Okay, he's talking about those conversations that we filmed.

So like, so to, also to confirm to everyone that's not following all this drama. It's like Tom really honed in, being like I was really trying to break up with her, like I was trying.

But you're like, sleeping in my bed and buying me flowers and we're going on an anniversary dinner and like, yeah, going to couples therapy and all of that. So the the Valentine's Day thing that he has referenced, yeah.

Like, not only is it not crazy. Ariana That was going to be my next question of, like, I think the whole world watching it. When Tom looked at Sheena and was like, I can't break up with her because she's threatened to kill herself. First of all, my problem with that, even if you had said that, which I appreciate you clarifying, but again, you didn't need to, because it's like, number one. That's a huge fucking allegation to make about someone's mental health. And to just casually say on a show when that's not the truth or it was the truth, shut the fuck up.

And I have dealt with suicidal ideation before, and I have been in very, very deep, dark places before. So to then be flippant about it, as if that's also something about me that makes me like, deserve to be treated poorly? Is is pretty awful, I think.

I couldn't agree more. I also am, like, when you saw that clip, how how did you feel?

I mean, it made me angry, obviously, and then what Sheena said was like, such a great thing. Like, even if that was exactly word for word what I had said, which no. But if it was, why did you do absolutely nothing to help at all, like, why didn't you call my mom, my brother, my friends?

Right, instead, you fucked my best friend.

Right?

Tom knows you have shared that you have struggled with your mental health. I have, yes, you have. He has clearly been next to you while you're going through things.

And purported to be my supporter and my partner in that.

Why? If you were going to break up, why do you think you would leave everything and move like, Do you still well now? You did break up? You're not going to do that, right? Are we going to the French countryside? Like, Where are we going?

Where are we going? Where are we going? I'm down.

But like, when you said that to him, you really were like, I'm out.

Because I didn't want to do, I didn't want to do all of this on my own or without him. And I didn't want to. Like, just kind of like, be like, all right, I guess I'll move into an apartment in Studio City. And, you know, I just was like, that's not what I want. And I was like, if this is going to change my life dramatically, not being in that relationship, then I want to change it.

Dramatically, I get what you're saying. It's like, I also appreciate, and I think a lot of people can relate to this randomly. Sometimes, when you have the worst fights of your life with your partner, it does feel like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because you're like, we have never been this candid.

That is literally where I was at, I was literally where I was at. Because I'm also thinking to myself, a nine-year relationship is not a relationship that ends with a drunken Valentine's Day. By the way, we were wasted when we got home that night, so I'm like, you don't just have one wasted conversation.

And end a nine-year relationship.

Right?

Right?

But to him, he was clearly and obviously in that conversation, there was nothing brought up about him having an affair with anyone, right? So it's almost like the whole thing, the whole thing was nonsense. And I remember asking him. I was like, Why did you get me flowers? if you were like, I'm going to break up with her? and he was like, Well, I really, I wanted to get you flowers.

He really, it really feels like he really wanted to have both.

I think so. I think he was very committed to the double life.

I agree, because do you actually believe he was going to end it before the reunion?

I don't know, honestly, it's like, hard to know. I do think that I've seen, I've seen some things, I've learned some things, even after filming the reunion.

Tell us, come on, give us the tea.

One of those things is a text message from Rachel to Tom, saying I just talked to a mutual friend. I won't name them. And they said that you should be honest with Ariana. Maybe not so much about all the details, like sleeping in the house together, but that she deserves to know about this. And then it's like, I love you, you got this.

So kind, just so, so generous.

So I think it was only in that last little bit there, right before I found out that it was even that it was being workshopped.

Right, that's when, like, when I saw that. They were like, we were going to do it before the reunion because we could never sit in front of her and let her defend. I'm like, Bro, that's what you've been doing, you've been sitting in front of her and letting her defend you and Raquel and everyone. It's like, why would the reunion be any fucking different?

Right?

I hate this shit, okay? Throughout this season, there were numerous comments from castmates about the dynamic of your guys relationship again. Before the affair came out in January, you had to set the record straight that you and Tom were not in an open relationship.

Honestly, I think it came from him, I think that, which it's been denied, I'll say that, but I think that. So it came out that day that all everyone was at my house. Um, that you see on the show, that I mean, obviously these conversations that are two minutes on the show are like two hours plus. And sometimes there are things that are said that are way worse than what is on Bravo.

Give it to us.

Like his and I my our conversation, there were things that were way worse, and then in that conversation with all my friends, I think it was. Sheena was like, Um, so, one of our friends. Back when this stuff started coming out and rumors were rumbling, it was apparently. Rachel told a mutual friend that she thought me and Tom were in an open relationship. Because apparently he told her that at one point. And then when that got brought up, he was like, absolutely not, I never said that.

Weirdly, I do think in a strange way. That is helpful to know, because that narrative, now, knowing what we know. It's like that didn't get put out into the world by like, no happened. Like, it's not like, everyone's like, Sheena and Brock are in an open, and it's like, you know what I mean?

It's like, now knowing there's like a kernel of something that was planted somewhere that turned into something else.

Like, someone fucking knew it was an open relationship, but it was one fucking side.

There's one person cause the other person's like, right, absolutely not.

Like, I would have loved to have known, I would have been like.

Let me know.

So I can, like you would have loved to known like many times earlier. So you're like, Oh, let me get on the same page, you're fucking recalled, got it, I'm out.

Bill Then they must have some sort of trust, some rule, and so I'm not going to bring it up to her. I mean, that sounds fairly likely to me.

Katie at one point said something along the lines of Ariana doesn't care, she just cares when people talk about it, and she doesn't want to look dumb. Comments like that insinuating you and Tom had a different relationship and understanding off camera than on camera. And those comments were pretty heavy throughout the season of, like, they've got this thing on the side that no one talks about.

I mean, to be honest, and I do love Katie and I do love Lala. But those were people who were not really in our inner circle like whatsoever for the last many years. And I don't think anyone within our inner circle would ever say anything like that. Um, if you were to interview Logan or Brad, or even Sheena, they would not say that. And those are people that we spent like a lot of time together with trips, with things like that. So, I mean, I get to them.

Prior to this scandal, there had been other rumors of Tom cheating with other women. And it was disclosed in the final finale that you did know about one of them. In Miami, you guys weren't official, you talked about that. Now, knowing who Tom really is, how many people do you think?

I don't know. There was one years and years ago that I, I got a DM that was like, Tom hooked up with my friend in San Diego. And I was like, and I brought it up over and over, and over and over again. Cause I was like, I'm drilling, I'm drilling, and it was like, No, absolutely not.

Like, what?

Like, bringing Rachel home to St. Louis.

When did he do that?

Um, apparently, more than once.

While you were dating, yeah.

Yeah.

So his family knew.

It's hard to say, like, what exactly they knew, or when they knew. I think they at one point they knew. But they were like, definitely not condoning, and he wasn't. He was like putting her up in like a hotel.

Like, how diabolical to bring your side chick to your home, like, Mhm, like, and were they not afraid of Papa? Like, what?

I guess, I mean, it's St. Louis, I don't know, I don't know. I'm like, do they have those there?

Okay, what do you think about the Billy Lee situation?

I do not think that anything happened there.

You don't um.

I don't, and I the reason I don't is because I mean, Billy Lee. Okay, I understand that this sounds crazy because Raquel was someone I loved and trust. You know what I'm saying?

Have you asked?

She has, we've talked about it, okay, okay, based on people saying things online, she's been, yeah, right.

Has anyone reached out to you since? To be like, I also hooked up with him.

Um, they have not. Okay, I haven't had anyone do that.

Okay, that's good for your mental health.

Or are they scared?

Are they scared? You'll be like, on call, her daddy like, Yup, Britney from Fucking Australia said that.

No, dude, honestly, I would not if a girl, if any women, did do that.

Yeah, you're not.

I would not put them on blast because, honestly, at the end of the day, as much as I think that they suck for doing that. Because they knew we were together. Um, it's the responsibility, in my opinion, of the person in a relationship.

I also think, weirdly, now, knowing the drama of like, the open relationship rumor, he may have been putting out what I've always said. Like men, when they want to put their penis in something, they will say, like, a married man will be like, No, we're in the middle of a divorce. Later, he goes home to his wife, like they will say, sadly.

She passed, she passed away.

Like, literally, like, she's not here, like he, we don't even know how he's. It's already so diabolical, how crazy it's gotten that. It wouldn't be surprising if every room he walked into in order to get a girl like. It was like, we're on a break, or we're like, it just it's, it's I fucking hate men, okay?

Um.

Does being completely honest with yourself do you think you ever subconsciously turned a blind eye?

Yes, yeah. But I think I was given a lot of assistance in doing that because I would bring things up and I would be shot down. And or I again with the Oh, let me see your phone. I think that I was given a lot of assistance in that, you know what I mean?

I get what you're saying, and I think also to women listening like, we talked about you going through his phone and there are no texts. So it's like, at what point? You have to just trust your partner, cause then you start to actually feel crazy of like, Am I being just like, so untrusting?

And you're like, Am I just like a fucking bitch? Because now I'm being, you know, that person that's just so like, So what? No, am I their mom now?

And then you start to feel like the psycho and they become the more normal one that's like, you're so crazy. Like, well.

And then they get to use that against you later on. So it's like, you're either not psycho enough to like, not figure it out, or you're so you're too psycho, and they're like.

They know how to hide that.

Now I'm going to break exactly, they're like.

You're so crazy. Here's my phone look, and it's like, Well, then open the iPad. If you didn't delete those messages, did were his messages connected to his iPad?

No.

Oh, you're.

And you know why? Because at one point they were. And it was just like we just get so many and it would just be dinging, ding, ding. So it was like, we got to turn that off. This was years and years ago, it was just like the amount that I know. But the find my iPhone app.

How much of the affair do you think happened at Schwartz's house?

I think more than Schwartz is willing to let on, cause the recording was at Schwartz's and he apparently felt real uncomfortable there. Ah, yeah.

In that sad, sad location. Yeah, yeah, that's fucking gross.

Yeah, um.

Do you think you kind of touched on this a little bit earlier, but do you think you were so quick to defend Tom? Not just about this, like through seasons, you've always had his back, you've always been ride or die. And I think so many people, including myself, respected you for always being like, I'm going to stand by my fucking partner. But do you think that you would be so quick to defend him? So that people wouldn't think less of him, or so that people wouldn't think less of you for being with him?

Both.

Yeah.

Definitely both, because I didn't want people. I always saw a side of him that I felt like wasn't apparent on the show or on social media or whatever. I always felt like I saw a side of him that was like the home side. And so I always felt like if people could just see that part of him, they would like they would get it, you know? And then, in turn, yeah, I mean, for people to think less of me, I mean, I don't. I don't want them to be like, Oh, this girl sucks at picking guys a date.

No, we're, we're leveling up. ARIANA Okay, like, it's getting better, I've seen, it's gotten a lot better. When you look back on your time together, are you able to see any good?

I don't think I'm there yet. Although some of these edits on TikTok that come on my for you page that have like ceilings, that ceiling song is playing and it's like, cute clips of, Um, like, like, I can't, because I feel like, I mean, in that regard, I'm like, Oh, that's maybe almost getting me there, but I feel like, I mean. He even said, Oh, because I've done this, then, that negates everything else.

It's also again, like the level of, like, truly lying and actually having what seemingly no remorse, almost between the two of them. You can't help but wonder. And I think the whole world was like, What else has this motherfucker done over these nine years? It's like, this is the one we know about. And then, oh, there was one in Miami, and then there was one in San Diego.

And it also makes it feel like you look back on on the relationship. At times that you did think that were good, that were happy memories, and you think, like, well, did. They didn't really like me or respect me during those times, right? Because I don't know.

What do you miss about the relationship?

Um, I would say inside jokes.

That like comfortability of like you'd like the same language.

Yeah.

Like, we know each other.

That one in particular.

That's the big one. He's like fingering her in the hot tub and you're like, don't even I'm like.

This is hilarious, you guys like, I'm so drunk, I'm like, this is so funny. And by the way, his whole thing about like, skinny dipping and and hang gliding, I went hang gliding, and I clearly went skinny dipping. Like, I don't know what the hell you're fucking talking about.

It's not his fault, right? The owner's fault, yeah.

Anyways, we would have people that would come over, stay in the guest room, stay on our couches like it was. It's a very normal thing and sometimes I'd be like, all right, well, it's like, two, I want to go to bed. Can we, like, turn the music off?

Do you think they ever had sex while you were upstairs? Yes.

I do I think they had sex in my guest room while I was sleeping in my own bed. That he and I went to bed in together. And then he left the bed and went to the guest room and fucked her. Yes, I believe that.

God bless you, God, God bless you, Ariana.

Fuck.

Fuck him. Because how do you even begin to, like, trust someone after like that level of, like, nine years with someone? And they're that fucking comfortable in the home that you co-own?

Yeah, oh, yeah. And like, when people say Tom's house, I'm like, excuse me, it's my house, uh huh.

In one episode, you said Raquel is kind, sweet and loyal and has just been a delight since the day I met her. How would you describe her now?

Oh, my God, lost, lost. I mean, I don't know her, yeah.

Yeah, I think a lot.

It's hard to say, cause it's like, I don't really know what's going on. Some of the behavior has at times seems sociopathic, yeah, but at the same time, I'm not really sure.

It just sucks that you were kind of in the middle of something. That someone that has clearly no remorse was involved in the destruction of also your relationship, sure?

And I at the time was like, I kept telling her like, it's okay to be to make mistakes, it's okay to like, fuck.

You were so nice to her, Ariana. Do Raquel and Tom make sense together to you?

No, no, I mean, unless he has changed everything that he has ever said that he's looking for in someone. Um, then no.

How did you feel watching them on screen together in Raquel's apartment? Like that was the first time we all kind of see them able to romantically interact with her. Like, Oh my gosh, this is so weird, we can't kiss on camera together. Like, how did it feel watching your partner of nine years?

And by the way, after he filmed that scene with her, he came back to to my house, right? And it was essentially, I mean, you saw how many flowers were there? So I. There were probably like 15 people there. I still had not slept, still not eaten.

Can you imagine?

If he's willing to do that to me, is he willing to do to you?

Exactly.

Diabolical, I can understand. So he walked in the house after filming that scene, yelled at everybody, This is his house, too. He. He referred to it as a party, that I was having a party.

You were called a party, we were having a funeral. Thank you exactly, you're done.

Oh, but that scene was very cringe on so many levels, and I think it was that scene and that that conversation that I watched, that made me. When you asked me, like, does it make sense to you? I was like, No.

It was awkward.

Yeah.

The whole thing of her being like, I love you, and he was like, No, I said, they love you, but I love you too. Like, how did you also feel knowing that they said to each other that they love each other?

I mean, I kind of knew that before watch. I mean, I knew that before watching it. That was like, where they're at? Yeah, but it was cringe.

Do you think Tom misses you?

Um, yeah, I do.

Do you know that, like, has anything been said?

No.

You just know.

I just feel like as someone that he would go to for advice on mostly everything, um, up until, like that moment. Or I just think that there's no way that he doesn't. Because he's been making a lot of, like, very questionable decisions the last two months. And he doesn't have that like sounding board or that advisor anymore.

What is the extent of an apology that you've received from each of them at this point?

Hers was.

It's like someone told you to say these exact lines, like nothing is inside here.

Nothing had clicked. I didn't feel like it was genuine.

Also, that kind of text message you're like, that is the kind of text messages you send. When, like, you were a bitch the night before, cause we were drunk and you said some things and you're like, I'm really sorry, I don't know what to say.

Well, obviously you saw how well I told you how that night went, um, the next day, not much better. And then that scene that you saw, which was two hours. And there was a lot of like, way worse things that he said, um.

Like, what, like, what does he think?

Like, at one point, he was like, Oh well, I'll keep taking care of the house like I always do.

What is his obsession with? Like the batteries and the fucking toilet paper? He's like, I take care of this house.

Like, he has an assistant.

Like, right?

She goes and gets that like, he says, Hey, we need this, and she goes and gets it like, it's not like.

No, I saw, I literally saw a tick tock of a girl being like, how to not get cheated on one-on-one? And she's stocking the house with, like batteries and toilet paper, I'm like, if only Ariana had stocked the toilet paper. Like. He acted as if like that was a huge point of contention, and like, why he cheated, he's like she would never stock the house.

Bro, I noticed, yeah, like over the last few months, I've noticed like there was one day I was doing. I think I was shooting Spawn Con like downstairs. At one point. And all of a sudden he's like, as his assistant, like, does she know where the ladder is? And it was by me.

I am the man of the house. It's like, chill.

Yeah.

So it's so cringe.

Um.

Would you go back and change anything you did?

Honestly, I want to say no, because I feel like, listen, I've seen people online be like she wasn't perfect. Well, obviously, who is person? She's not innocent? Okay, I don't know.

So do you think that had you not caught him, do you think you guys would still be together?

It's hard to say in this moment because, you know, there was this, there was a plan. Um, still together.

Can you explain what the plan was to people?

The plan was, I think, to end the relationship under the guise of, like that Valentine's Day conversation. Um, for that to eventually stick eventually, that would be the that was the end game. To break up with me without any mention of any sort of affair or cheating or anything. Um, whether that was pre reunion or not, or pre going to film Winter House or not. And then, you know, go about whatever, and then they would just start dating.

Yeah, it's a little wild to see, like how much he was working it towards the end there, like, you guys weren't really in this season that much. And then to watch like halfway through, or even a little bit farther than halfway through. He just is coming out of the woodwork complaining to Tom, Oh my gosh, we're not connecting.

No, I'm actually like, there was at one point, um, I think it's him or. Schwartz had said to me at one point. Like, I'm so sorry that you found out this way. And I was like, I'm so glad that I found out this way. Because if I had found out the way that y'all had planned, it are like, Are you kidding? Like it would have been, I would have been just a cog in the machine of of this whole narrative, this whole thing.

Do you ever think back to, like, that night with the phone and you're like?

Thank God, yeah. And I also think, what the what was it? It felt like like a beam, like, I hate to say, a lightning bolt.

Thank God, a woman's intuition is never wrong. Um, what have you now uncovered that repulses you about this whole situation?

Um, the flying her to different places, um, I know that she was that Watch What Happens live appearance where Schwartz was covering his mouth and acting all weird. Yeah, cause she was in the hotel room.

Yeah, like this was a whole fucking operation that he started to get running. Where it's like the credit card here, have someone book her in the hood, like it was like.

Sure, and having the band and the touring and stuff like that, I feel like it was a very easy way to be. Like, well, I have to be at a town. And then she could then be flown to wherever that show was. And I would have no idea because he's coming home exactly when he's supposed to come home, of course, he's out late, he's playing a show like there's nothing about it.

It does start to make you wonder, was the is this band just a whole cover for this affair? Cause? Like, objectively, I know you were in love, Ariana, but like, it's not great.

The band's not great, I feel like it's gotten well. Wait, has it gotten worse?

Or did you just open your eyes?

Yeah.

And now we flicked them off and you're like, Hi, yeah, don't need to watch that anymore. Do you know if there was a night ever that you had sex with Tom the same day he had sex with Raquel?

I don't know that, I don't know that. Oh, that would be, yeah.

Extra therapy sessions for that week, yeah.

I would love to know.

Do what you.

Well, well, I've already, I've already had my pan, I'm I'm good, okay.

Um, right, so now it would just be like, Oh, of course, like an LOL moment. Yeah right, we've already gone through the worst.

I feel like sometimes it makes me laugh, because at this point it's like, it is so. Again, you ask that question, and I'm like, like, I don't, maybe so, but it seems like.

Right, right.