'Vanderpump Rules' star Ariana Madix holds hands with Daniel Wai after PDA sightings

Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix was spotted holding hands with fitness coach Daniel Wai in the aftermath of her breakup with Tom Sandoval and his affair with Raquel Leviss.


Ariana, 37, recently celebrated Daniel's birthday with him in New York City.

Daniel posted a sweet photo via Instagram Stories on May 3 -- one day before his birthday -- that featured him and Ariana holding hands during a dinner date, Us Weekly reported.

Daniel and Ariana also apparently attended the New York Yankees baseball game together on May 2.

Ariana reposted a photo from the Yankee's game on her own Instagram Stories and wrote, "Biggest thank you ever to @yankees for an amazing night and a WIN!"


Ariana, originally from Florida, was on the East Coast at the time because she had attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 29.

Tom and Raquel had a secret affair that lasted for over six months and resulted in Tom and Ariana apparently ending their nine-year relationship in early March.

Ariana and Daniel dating rumors then sparked last month, when the pair was caught packing on the PDA at Coachella on April 16.

Ariana appeared to move on from Tom and their longtime romance pretty quickly.

A source told Us on April 17 that Ariana is "definitely open to seeing where things go" with Daniel but she "isn't totally ready to jump into a serious relationship" -- although she had "an amazing time at Coachella with Daniel."


On April 18, Ariana was spotted dropping Daniel off at the airport in Los Angeles. They reportedly had a steamy kiss before Daniel headed back home to New York.

Daniel reportedly told his followers on social media that he'd take care of Ariana and treat her like a queen.

Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent said of the potential new couple, "[Ariana's] like 'Heartbreak what? Like, I'm solid. I'm banging a fine-looking man.'"

Lala continued on the April 26 episode of her "Give Them Lala" podcast: "She's looking at everything] like, 'Look at my life. I'm happy.' She said [to me], 'Wow, I don't have anxiety anymore. This is strange.'"

Ariana and Daniel also may have hung out on May 1. Daniel hinted at another date night with the reality TV star by posting a picture of himself and a mystery person posing in sneakers.


Meanwhile, Tom told TMZ in late April that he was "really happy" to see Ariana doing well and moving forward with her life from their failed relationship.

Tom -- who claimed he had officially broken up with Ariana on Valentine's Day in February -- insisted last month that he really wants Ariana to find love again.

The demise of Tom and Ariana's relationship will continue to be shown on Vanderpump Rules' tenth season, which airs its highly-anticipated finale on May 17 followed by its reunion.

"It's going to be long. It's going to be very long," Lisa Vanderpump recently told Extra of the reunion, which filmed on March 23.

"I mean, normally, the maximum they do is three [parts]. I think they could do three, four weeks of it [because] there's so much stuff that goes down."


Lisa said she believes viewers will be satisfied with the footage that airs of Tom and Raquel's scandalous affair as well as Ariana's reaction to it.

"There [were] a lot of feelings that needed to be worked out," Lisa explained. "I can't say it's the end of that story. Maybe it's just the beginning of another one but... it's complicated."

Bravo executive Andy Cohen also called the reunion "really confrontational" in late March. He teased that "nothing was left unsaid."

In mid-April, Raquel checked into a treatment facility to check her mental health after her affair with Tom made headlines.

Raquel's representative told the magazine that Raquel had checked into rehab, but not for substance abuse issues.


"Raquel had planned to admit herself before the [Vanderpump Rules Season 10] reunion was taped on March 23," the rep explained.

"She was scheduled to go in pre-reunion but decided she wanted to finish her filming commitment. Bravo and production were aware and in support of her journey towards better mental health."

Raquel and Tom both issued public apologies for their actions in March, but they were spotted together several times after filming the Vanderpump Rules' reunion.

A source told Us on March 3 that Tom and Ariana had been "having problems for a while." The insider claimed the pair's relationship "only came to a breaking point" the day prior to their split on March 1.

"We're really good friends. We are not putting any label on it," Tom reportedly said of Raquel on the April 11 episode of the "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast.

Tom also shared how his romance with Raquel started with a kiss in August 2022 that felt "magnetic."


"I felt something that I hadn't felt in so long emotionally," Tom explained.

"The feelings were something very, very strong. Those feelings that I had started to take over in a sense. Logic went out the window. Because I wasn't experiencing that [with Ariana] -- I hadn't experienced that [before]."

Tom claimed that he had attempted to break up with Ariana once he realized he had strong feelings for Raquel.

"Like many relationships, it felt like it became more of like a best friends, family [thing] -- sometimes roommates," Tom continued.

"There were a lot of ways where the relationship was just lacking the intimacy, the connection. We would travel more by ourselves than we would together. I would go to weddings by myself."

Tom said his communication with Raquel was frequent and their connection was pretty strong.


"I was seeing Raquel as often as I could. I know that sounds horrible," Tom admitted.

"And FaceTiming her all the time. And Ariana didn't even notice because that's just how separate our lives were. I had to actually tell her, 'How have you not noticed how distant I've been lately?'"

Ariana joined the cast of Vanderpump Rules in November 2013, and then she and Tom announced they were officially dating during the Season 2 reunion that aired in February 2014.

Raquel began dating James Kennedy in 2016, and the pair got engaged in May 2021. However, the couple broke up in December of that year.

Raquel proceeded to go on dates with Peter Madrigal in Summer 2022 before hooking up with Tom Schwartz, who had split from Katie Maloney, during August of that year.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski