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On Tuesday’s episode of Vanderpump Rules, Ariana Madix made a shocking confession about her finances prior to becoming the belle of Bravo thanks to Scandoval.
Ariana Madix reveals that she was “not in a good place financially” before rising to new heights of fame and success following her boyfriend Tom Sandoval’s cheating scandal with co-star Raquel Leviss.
The 38-year-old reality star revealed to co-stars Ally Lewber, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, and Lala Kent that she was on her “last $2,000” before Scandoval blew up her world in March 2023.
“The internet thinks I’ve made millions of dollars. That is not true, and it’s like, on March 1st (2023), was I financially prepared to move? No,” Ariana confessed while reflecting on how difficult it has been trying to move out of her and Sandoval’s Valley Village home over the past year.
The Single AF Cocktails author recalls reaching out to her agent and manager right before Scandoval broke on March 3, telling them, “Let’s start like really trying to do some s––t, because I am not in a good place financially.”
“When I first started making like decent money, [Tom and I] decided we wanted to buy a house, and then I was playing catch up,” she explained in her confessional interview.
Ariana Madix notes that when she finally caught up financially from purchasing her home, she and Katie decided to open their sandwich shop, Something About Her, so “a bunch of my money went towards that.”
“I was at a point where in March [2023], I was literally on, like, my last $2,000. I’m not kidding,” she continued.
After Sandoval’s affair with Raquel was exposed, fans questioned why Ariana didn’t immediately move out of their shared home.
“He created this situation, and now, I’m f–king scrambling, trying to get my f–king s–t together to be able to, in a financially responsible way, move on to the next step,” Ariana told her Vanderpump Rules co-stars.
Since then, Ariana’s financial situation has improved drastically as she capitalized on the scandal with numerous partnerships, including Lays, Duracell, and SoFi. She is estimated to have made a profit of $2 million post-Scandoval.
Despite the influx of cash, it hasn’t sold her living situation as she has not moved out of her and Sandoval’s $2 million Valley Village home.
In January, Ariana sued Sandoval to list the property by requesting the court grant a “partition by sale.”
Sandoval fired back claiming that Ariana owes him $90k and that he wants the debt repaid before their home is sold.
The 40-year-old has also claimed that he offered Ariana more than $3 million for her share of the home.
He has further accused Ariana of not paying any bills since Scandoval occurred.
“My bank account was literally overdrawn. Dude, Ariana hadn’t paid any of the bills for, like, f–king eight months, man,” Sandoval told Tom Schwartz in an episode of Vanderpump Rules last month.
“I’ve been pretty much paying for everything out of all my accounts. Mortgage, gardener, cleaning, utilities, everything. It’s kind of like pulling teeth to get Ariana to pay me back,” the Schwartz and Sandys co-owner said in a confessional.
Ariana insists she is open to paying the bills but requested “an itemized breakdown” of everything she owes, which Sandoval has failed to provide.
The 38-year-old said she no longer believes anything Sandoval says and refuses to hand over whatever amount of money he claims to be owed. She insists she won’t give Sandoval a dime until she sees a breakdown of everything.
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
