‘Vanderpump’ Star Says Raquel Leviss Was ‘Exploited’ in Bethenny Frankel Interview

Ever since Vanderpump Rules lightning rod Rachel Leviss, formerly known as Raquel, vanished from the public eye to seek mental health treatment amid the fallout from her affair with Tom Sandoval, fans and fellow cast members had been waiting with trepidation to see what she’d do next.

That apparently doesn’t include returning for Season 11 of Vanderpump, despite weeks of reported contract negotiations between Leviss and Bravo. But what Leviss did do, last week, was resurface after months of silence to appear as a guest on ex-RHONY star Bethenny Frankel’s podcast, in an interview that’s now inciting backlash from Leviss’ VPR co-stars.

In case you missed it, the podcast interview featured a couple big revelations from Leviss, including her telling Frankel that she hadn’t seen “a single penny” from her run on the show—a claim that’s since been disputed, as TMZ reported she made over $35src,srcsrcsrc. She also said that Sandoval recorded an explicit video of her without her consent.

Now, Leviss’ costars are responding to the viral interview. On her own podcast this week, Vanderpump star Lala Kent said of Leviss, “She should have come back [to the show]. I think she would have been very surprised. And instead she went and did this and she was manipulated yet again.”

Kent added that she believes Frankel “exploited” Leviss by inviting her to be a guest on the podcast amid Frankel’s ongoing mission to expose the abuses of reality TV cast members and to get her Bravo peers to unionize.

“I’m happy that she finally got to take advantage of a giant platform to tell her story,” Kent said of Leviss. “I only saw clips, and what I gathered from it is Bethenny completely exploited that girl yet again.”

Moreover, Kent took issue with Leviss telling Frankel that she and Ariana Madix, Sandoval’s former girlfriend of nine years, were not close when the affair began.

“There were things that she was then saying that were not perspective,” Kent said. “It was a flat-out lie, and I can’t imagine you believe what you are saying.”

Meanwhile, ex-VPR star Stassi Schroeder also responded to the interview, telling Us Weekly, “It was almost like Bethenny was trying to make Ariana look bad. Ariana hasn’t done anything wrong. … It is kind of annoying how [Frankel] speaks with so much authority when clearly she has not done her research about so many different things.”

Leviss has yet to counter-attack, but given her months-long silence on all things Scandoval, she very well might let this one lie.