Rachel Leviss Admits Tom Schwartz Kiss Was 'Staged' and Confirms He Knew About the Affair 'Since the Very Beginning'

The 'Vanderpump Rules' alum believes Tom Schwartz had the "go ahead with Sandoval to kiss me because I don't think he would do it without Sandoval being okay with it"

Rachel “Raquel” Leviss is revealing the behind-the-scenes story of her kiss with Tom Schwartz amid her affair with his best friend Tom Sandoval.

On the latest episode of her new iHeartRadio podcast Rachel Goes Rogue, the Vanderpump Rules alum, 29, shared that she decided to make a move on Schwartz, 41, as “part of our inside joke” because fans were convinced they kissed at Coachella.

After the rumors began, she admitted “a little seed [was] planted in my head that, oh, like, that could be a fun storyline for season 10 and because we're both single, and so when I made that move, he turned it down, and I was like, ‘Okay, that's that.’ Like, I'm not going to try again because it was stupid to begin with it and he clearly wasn’t into it.”

Related: Rachel 'Raquel' Leviss Owns Her 'Betrayal' but Wonders While Picking Up the Pieces: 'Did He Ever Really Love Me?'

Following the kiss, Leviss shared that Schwartz’s ex-wife Katie Maloney “set a boundary, saying if you do anything with Schwartz, I’m not going to be able to have a friendship with you” on the girls trip to Las Vegas, which was documented on season 10 of the Bravo series.

The next day, she filmed with Scheana Shay and told her she would respect Katie’s boundary and would not kiss Schwartz, but she claimed the show’s producers reminded her that they were “making a reality TV show.”

Schwartz, in fact, initiated their next kiss during their costars Shay and Brock Davies’ wedding, which was also seen on the last season of VPR. She explained, “I have a feeling that either producers got into Schwartz's ear saying, ‘Oh, you should make out with Raquel.’ He got some pressure somewhere to make out with me and put a move on me.”

Related: Tom Schwartz Is No Longer 'Ashamed' to Have Guests in His Post-Divorce Bachelor Pad: 'Major Rebrand' (Exclusive)

She recalled the moment between them being “definitely staged and definitely produced.” She added she has a feeling that Schwartz had the “go ahead with Sandoval to kiss me because I don't think he would do it without Sandoval being okay with it.”

Leviss said they went in for a kiss with “both of us knowing that I had a thing with Sandoval.” Following the kiss, she recalled that Sandoval was “army crawling” over to them and then opened two beers for them. She added she knows Sandoval “was in on it and definitely okay with it.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, Leviss admitted that Schwartz knew about the affair between her and Sandoval “since the very beginning.” She explained, “I got a phone call from Tom the next morning after we hooked up for the first time, and my mind was racing. I was feeling so much guilt and shame about it. And I finally got a phone call from Sandoval and he was at Schwartz's apartment when he called me, and that was like a safe space for him.”

Related: Rachel Leviss Vows to Be 'a Better Friend' in 2024 After 'Bad Decisions' Led to Vanderpump Rules Affair

“And so Schwartz knew before we even had a conversation to talk about it and what the game plan was going to be, because immediately I was going to film with [Sandoval’s ex-girlfriend] Ariana [Madix] and our group of girls that night,” she added.

She asked on the call if they were going to tell Madix and claimed he responded, “No, we’re not.”

Following their first hookup, Leviss went to girls night with Madix and Sandoval sent a bottle of champagne to their table. She called it “this twisted way of celebrating and then reassuring me that oh, this is all fine and dandy, like this is something to be excited about.”

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Vanderpump Rules returns to Bravo on Jan. 30 and seasons 1-10 can be streamed in full on Peacock.

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