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Rachel “Raquel” Leviss is feeling empowered amid “Scandoval” which had her in the headlines in the past year for her affair with costar Tom Sandoval on Vanderpump Rules.
“I'm proud of how far I've come. I've been working really hard on making sure I'm putting my mental health first and really putting myself first,” she told PEOPLE in an interview.
Reflecting on the period of time where she was in the spotlight she reminisces how “difficult” it was for her.
“I felt like I wasn't going to get through it at some moments, and so I'm just so happy that I'm able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and finally reintegrate into the real world.”
After filming season 10, Leviss checked herself in to a treatment center in Arizona called The Meadows saying that “more on everything that I’ve learned at The Meadows and kind of gifting that to the viewers and listeners because I've learned such valuable information.”
The “mental health counseling” also moved Leviss to revert to her birth name of Rachel, TMZ reports.
“Raquel and her family decided before the relationship was discovered that she would enter a voluntary facility for mental health counseling,” her rep told PEOPLE at the time. “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.”
Leviss and Sandoval were having an affair with Sandoval was in a relationship with Ariana Madix. Madix and Sandoval were in a relationship or nine years. Leviss previously dated Kennedy for five years after calling it quits in 2021. They were engaged for six months.
According to Rachel Leviss, she said that they had talked about how all of this would look to the public in regards to how their relationship began.
“When we did have conversations like, ‘How is this going to play out?’ He said, ‘One of the pros is we can be together next season,’” she said. “And so, not to say he’s the mastermind behind it. I think he had his motivation behind it that really escalated the situation. Whereas if it wasn’t a reality TV show and we weren’t all filming, I don’t know if it would be like this.”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules is now airing.
