Raquel Leviss opens up on ‘Scandoval’ after leaving mental health facility

In her first interview since the peak of the "Scandoval" cheating scandal, Raquel Leviss, now known as Rachel, a Vanderpump Rules star, emotionally shared her side of the story with former Real Housewives of New York cast member Bethenny Frankel.

Following the reunion episodes of the show in June, where Raquel faced severe criticism for her involvement in an extensive affair with Tom Sandoval, the 40-year-old boyfriend of her close friend Ariana Madix, 38, the 28-year-old has chosen to step away from the public eye.

Getting candid about why she chose to step away from public eye, she told Bethenny: “It’s been a whirlwind, it’s been chaos. But I’ve taken some time to myself to reflect and try to understand my actions. And I finally have come to the place where it makes sense to me.”

“Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online.”

The reality star then shared that she checked into a mental facility to “understand my behaviors.”

She stated: “But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, ‘OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behavior.’”

“And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I first had to know what leads to those behaviors.”

Bethenny expressed her empathy for Rachel, in the aftermath of the backlash she faced as a result of the Scandoval controversy.

In response, Rachel said: “It’s so nice to have you validate that experience because for a moment I thought I was going crazy. And it’s true, reality TV is edited, it is contrived to create a certain storyline. So it’s not all factual.”

“As a viewer tuning in, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that. Then the concept of an affair hits really hard to a lot of people. So I think there was a lot of projection happening, a lot of emotions that came up for people, and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of that.”

The Bravo star also shared that she understands the rage of fans and co-stars: “I do want to take a moment though to just acknowledge the hurt that I brought to a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanting to get certain needs met.”

Sharing the real reason behind her behavior, she claimed: “Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from a relationship from someone I thought I was going to marry. And in ending that, I still haven’t healed yet.”