'Vanderpump Rules' star Ariana Madix: I was "deprived" of intimacy with Tom Sandoval beyond just sex

Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix has claimed she was "deprived" of intimacy -- aside from having sex -- in her nine-year relationship with Tom Sandoval.


Tom and Ariana split in March after Tom's six-month affair with their co-star and Ariana's former best friend, Raquel Leviss, came to light.

Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules wrapped filming in Fall 2022, but once Tom's affair and split from Ariana made headlines in March, cameras began rolling again to capture the drama and aftermath. The show's finale aired on May 17, and its three-part reunion wrapped last week.

Looking back on her long-term romance with Tom, Ariana shared with Glamour magazine, "I feel like I'm someone who craves intimacy outside of just penetrative sex, and that was something that I was deprived of for so long."

"As women, we might bring something up a bunch of times and then we just stop," Ariana continued.


"That's where I was at. I was like, 'I cannot keep nagging this man to want to come home and spend time with me.'"

Ariana went on to vent about how "so many men" in general feel "entitled" to a woman's body.

"[They act] entitled to sex because you're in a relationship with them," Ariana said. "I am not your Fleshlight. I spelled out what I needed, but hello. It's a two-person situation."

Ariana broke her silence about her breakup with Tom on NBC's Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen late last month and revealed, "We do not interact on any level."

While Ariana and Tom are still living in the same $2 million Los Angeles home, temporarily, Ariana said they only communicate through "go betweens" and that her family "hates" him and Tom is "dead" to her brother.


Ariana also previously told Raquel -- who entered a treatment facility to check her mental health in April, shortly after the Season 10 reunion taped -- that she's "dead" to her and their friendship is over. Ariana said Raquel seems "lost and empty" and she doesn't know who Raquel is anymore.

When asked what it would take for her to forgive Tom and Raquel, Ariana bluntly announced, "That's not happening."

But Ariana had apparently moved in, and she's currently seeing someone new.

Ariana has been spotted, multiple times, packing on PDA with fitness coach Daniel Wai in the aftermath of her breakup with Tom. Ariana and Daniel apparently began seeing each other in mid-April.

While Ariana played coy about her love life on Watch What Happens Live, she teased to viewers, "I'll just say that I am very happy and very satisfied."


A source recently told Us Weekly that Ariana is "definitely open to seeing where things go" with Daniel but she "isn't totally ready to jump into a serious relationship."

Ariana told Glamour that while she hasn't taken marriage off the table, she "still wouldn't want a wedding" once she chooses to settle down with the man of her dreams.

"For me, it's about the marriage," Ariana shared. "There's something about weddings, and the fanfare, and the bachelorette. I just don't want any of that. And I think that's a big part of it for me."

Meanwhile, Tom told TMZ in late April that he was "really happy" to see Ariana doing so well.

After all, an insider source claimed to 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.


But Tom claimed he officially broke up with Ariana on Valentine's Day in February.

Tom also shared on the April 11 episode of the "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast 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."

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 he was seeing and FaceTiming with Raquel "as often" as he could," even though that "sounds horrible."

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

Ariana apparently believes Tom even had sex with Raquel in one of their guest rooms while she was sleeping in their bed.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski