Credit: Charlie Steffens/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images, Instagram
Vanderpump Rules‘ Katie Maloney claimed Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ friendship “reeked” of cheating before the affair was exposed.
She also slammed “soulless” Raquel, who reportedly dated Tom while he was still in a relationship with longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix.
From Katie’s “birds’ eye view,” the star spotted some red flags amid the affair.
In an interview for the Viall Files podcast, Katie claimed she could see how “very close” Raquel and Tom were becoming.
“I started realizing … when Ariana is not around, they’ll still be hanging out,” said Katie, via Page Six. “If Ariana chooses not to go to a party or an event, Tom and Raquel will just go together.”
Though Katie indicated that it’s fine to have “platonic friends … there was something off about the situation.”
The star continued, “Something reeked of [cheating] to me.”
Katie said she would’ve drawn attention to Tom and Raquel’s matching necklaces – shaped as lightning bolts – if she were closer to the co-stars.
“I notice things my friends are wearing, especially something all the time, [and ask], ‘Is that new? What’s the significance?’” she explained.
At the time, however, Katie was in the “cheap seats,” watching from “outside” of their friendship group, though she “could see everything that was happening.”
“A lightning bolt [is] not, like, a heart or a butterfly,” Katie added. “It’s not like it’s cute.”
Katie suggested that Ariana was so “close” to the situation that she couldn’t see what was happening. The star also slammed Raquel as “soulless” and “thick-skulled,” with “no shame” and “poor judgment.”
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.