In an interview that lasted well over an hour, Sandoval divulged plenty about his affair with Rachel "Raquel" Leviss, as well as what really went down with his now ex-girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix.
According to Sandoval, he kept trying to end things with Madix, only for her to say she essentially wouldn't allow it, threatening to quit the show and fully disappear if he pulled the trigger. The two also attended couples' therapy, during which Sandoval claims he brought up the idea of separating, only to be rebuffed. Sandoval also says he officially broke up with Madix on Valentine's Day 2023, but she couldn't cope with it.
"We were broken up. She knew we were broken up. We didn't tell anybody, but she knew," Sandoval said. He then told Mandel that the two had a strained relationship despite living together and being a couple for nine years, and that a breakup basically seemed inevitable. "I still love Ariana, and I care about her very much," he said. But we, for a while, had sort of just having our own lives." Madix, for her part, has not yet done an interview in the aftermath of this breakup, but she did post on Instagram thanking all of the people who have supported her, from friends to fans — and noted that "whatever doesn't kill her better run."
