Kristen Doute has been doing her part to shed light on the cheating scandal going on within the Vanderpump Rules cast.
The TV personality, 40 — was fired from the series with Stassie Schroeder back in 2020 along amid a racism controversy involving former costar Faith Stower — has reportedly been ‘Team Ariana’ from the start and is officially returning the to show, per Bravo’s Instagram account.
On her Sex, Love and What Else Matters podcast, Kristen shared what she could about the details behind the split, claiming she was with Ariana Madix, 37, the night she found out Tom Sandoval, 39, was cheating with fellow castmate Raquel Leviss, 28.
‘I was actually with Ariana and Tom that night. We were watching the band play at TomTom,’ she said.
‘He’s done playing and we’d all gotten up to just kind of chatter and grab a drink. And all of the sudden I realize Ariana’s gone for like, it had to be like 20 minutes or something, because she left her coat and her purse on the chair.’
Speaking up: Kristen Doute shed light on the cheating scandal going on Vanderpump Rules . ‘I was actually with Ariana and Tom that night. We were watching the band play at TomTom,’ she said on her Sex, Love and What Else Matters podcast; seen in January 2020
Phone: Kristen revealed that Ariana’s gut told her to check out Tom’s phone and that’s when she reportedly discovered photos from an intimate FaceTime call between Tom and Raquel; Seen in Los Angeles in December 2019
She’s back! Kristen, 40, is officially making a grand return to Vanderpump Rules as Bravo confirmed the news on its main Instagram page on Friday
Neither Kristen nor the friend could find Ariana, who later, according to Kristen, filled her in on what happened.
‘So what had happened was during Tom’s performance his phone fell out of his pocket or something and a mutual friend of theirs picks up the phone, hands it to Ariana.’
‘So the real truth is that Ariana had his phone and she told me that she just had this gut intuition to look at it.
‘They are a trusting couple… and she just felt like she had to look,’ she explained, claiming that when she did, Ariana found photos from a screen recording of an intimate FaceTime with Raquel.
‘They (Tom and Ariana) left the show pretty quickly, got in a car, gone. She called Raquel and Raquel and Scheana were together at some bar after ‘Watch What Happens Live.’ The truth of what happened was, Raquel was f—ing dumb,’ Kristen continued. ‘Scheana’s like, “Who are you on the phone with?” and she too casually says, “I’m talking to Ariana. Sandoval and I had a seven month affair.”‘
‘You’re telling this to Ariana’s best friend. And Raquel’s saying they’re in love and they’re gonna be together,’ contended Kristen. ‘I don’t know on his behalf what he’s thinking, I don’t know if he’s saying those same things, but I know that’s what she is saying.’
Raquel has reportedly had her legal team send a letters to the cast, warning them not to share the reputed FaceTime session she had with Sandoval, which her team claim was recorded without her permission, according to TMZ.
The podcast host said the rest of the Vanderpump cast has been rallying behind Kristen.
Previously was let go: The TV personality was fired from the series back in 2020, along with Stassie Schroeder, amid a racism controversy involving former costar Faith Stowers; seen in 2021 in Los Angeles
Legal moves: Ariana’s legal team has reportedly issued letters to the cast, warning them not to share the reputed FaceTime session she had with Sandoval, which her team claim was recorded without her permission
In the past: Doute notably was in a relationship with Tom, and after joining Vanderpump Rules, was involved in cheating rumors that she was having an affair with co-star, Jax Taylor
‘The thing that broke my heart almost the most… she was just done filming interview bites for the show and I walked in, she hugged me, we both started crying.’
Ariana, who had kissed Tom before he and Kristen broke up, apologized for her behavior at the time.
‘I was like, “are you out of your damn mind?” This is not the same thing. Tom and I, for the record everybody, we should have broken up after year two. We cheated on each other, we were very toxic, we were broke, we were young, we were idiots. They were in a decade-long partnership.’
Kristen went on to explain that Ariana doesn’t want to hear about all the rumors circling around their highly publicized split, because it only makes her feel worse.
Kristen also claimed Tom was making matters worse.
‘He wasn’t even apologetic and that shocked me,’ she claimed.
‘He was blaming her, gaslighting her,’ explaining that Tom alleged they couple hadn’t been happy and that Ariana wasn’t supportive of his endeavors.
At one point, Tom returned home to find Ariana surrounded by members of the cast offering her solace.
‘And he was like, “Yeah, I know everyone hates me.”‘
When Kristen said she suggested Tom give Ariana some space, he allegedly said, ‘”She can leave if she’s not comfortable.”‘ adding, ‘The ego of it all!’
Support: Kristen said Ariana has been receiving a lot of support from the cast, but that she doesn’t want to be kept up to date on the rumors surrounding the scandal because that make her feel worse
Gaslighting: The podcast host claimed Tom was not apologetic about the scandal. ‘He was blaming her, gaslighting her,’ she asserted in the episode
Space: Kristen said when she suggested Tom give Ariana some space, her reportedly retorted, ‘She can leave if she’s not comfortable’ Seen: in Santa Monica in June 2022
The Ex-Housewife actress also claimed that Tom’s business partner, Tom Schwartz, was not happy about the way the new allegations were affecting their business together.
‘I guess Schwartz only found out about it a month ago. Sandoval told him,’ she asserted.
‘Schwartz and I were texting yesterday and he said he told him he needed to tell Ariana before it blew up in his face and humiliated the hell out of her.’
Prior to that revelation, Ariana had been highly critical of the restaurateur on an episode of Dear Media’s Shenanigans podcast .
‘Tom Schwartz is a f*****g p***y, and he needs to man up,’ Doute said as she was joined by host Scheana Shay and Lala Kent.
‘Enough is enough. He’s just burying his head in the sand and thinks that things will just go away and things will happen.’
Schwartz has been close friends and business partners with Sandoval for several years and recently the pair opened a restaurant together in Los Angeles called Schwartz and Sandy.
Doute, who previously dated Sandoval, went on to say: ‘It’s like he can be honest with us in real-time and texting, ‘I don’t stand for this’ or ‘I really feel this way,’ but he doesn’t do anything about it.
The star has been by Ariana’s side since news of the affair came to light, appears to be the reason Vanderpump Rules producers approached Kristen about coming back on the show.
An insider told People, ‘She’s had her fair share of ups and downs with Sandoval over the years, but right now she’s completely supporting Ariana.’
‘It’s a conversation she and Ariana are having right now. The girls have all been spending time with Ariana.’
Business: Kristen claimed Tom Schwartz, who is close friends and partners with Tom Sandoval, was upset for the way the scandal was affecting their business. She previously slammed him for remaining silent during the drama
Calling out: ‘Tom Schwartz is a f*****g p***y, and he needs to man up,’ Doute said as she was joined by host Scheana Shay and Lala Kent on the Dear Media’s Shenanigans podcast; Schwartz and Sandoval seen in July 2022
Support: The star has been by Ariana’s side since news of the affair came to light, and it appears to be the reason Vanderpump Rules producers approached Kristen about coming back on the show
Not ‘doing’ anything: Doute, who previously dated Sandoval, went on to say: ‘It’s like he can be honest with us in real-time and texting, ‘I don’t stand for this’ or ‘I really feel this way,’ but he doesn’t do anything about it’; the two pals seen in October 2022
Lala, who also stars on Vanderpump Rules, chimed in with: ‘Words don’t mean s***. Actions are everything.’ It hasn’t been confirmed whether or not Schwartz specifically knew about the affair, but Lisa Vanderpump recently added her thoughts on the situation.
The Vanderpump Rules matriarch, 62, appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen days after Shay and Leviss made their appearance and suggested Schwartz must have been aware.
Given Schwartz’s close friendship with his business partner and co-star, those close to him have speculated that he had to have known.
‘I think they are so close he knew something, but we’ll find out,’ Lisa said of the forthcoming 10th season of her show. Sandoval, who issued a public apology on Tuesday, denied Schwartz had any knowledge of the affair in his apologies.
