Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp thinks her former friend and co-star Lisa Vanderpump orchestrated the “Scandoval” to boost ratings for the TV show Vanderpump Rules.
“She probably paid Raquel [Leviss] to do this,” Mellencamp, 41, suggested of the SUR server’s recently revealed affair with co-star Tom Sandoval.
The former Bravolebrity made the claim in an episode of Melissa Gorga’s “On Display” podcast that was recorded before Vanderpump’s March 8 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live” to discuss the scandal, Page Six reports.
Neither Vanderpump nor Leviss has responded to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Mellencamp went on to claim that the only reason Andy Cohen invited Vanderpump, 62, to be a guest on his late-night talk show after such a lengthy hiatus was because “nobody’s cared until now.”
The fitness mogul also predicted that the “Pump Rules” boss would stick up for Sandoval — who was in an almost 10-year relationship with co-star Ariana Madix while he was secretly romancing Leviss — because she feels Vanderpump “always takes the men’s side.”
“She’s gonna say the same points that I’ve been saying, like, ‘Listen, [Sandoval and Madix] weren’t in a good place for a long time. His needs weren’t met. [Sandoval and Leviss] fell in love. They couldn’t help themselves,’” Mellencamp told host Gorga, 43, and fellow guest Tamra Judge while impersonating the English restaurateur.
After “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Judge, 55, insisted that Vanderpump only “wants the best for her cast,” her “Two T’s in a Pod” co-host retorted, “I think she wants the best for herself, as I would as well. You guys wouldn’t? You’d want your shows to tank?”
Judge pointed out that “Pump Rules” is “skyrocketing right now,” prompting Mellencamp to reply, “Which is my point, which is exactly what [Vanderpump] wants.”
She went on to “guarantee” that Leviss, 28, will be “engaged and pregnant within a year.”
While Vanderpump didn’t necessarily defend Sandoval, 40, on “WWHL,” she did argue that “it’s not like [Sandoval or Leviss] murdered anyone” and pointed out that there’s “so much infidelity in the world.”
She also begged outraged fans to scale back their “vigilante justice.”
“These are people that are living their life in a public forum, which is very difficult,” she noted of the love triangle’s participants.
But the OG “Housewife” doesn’t think Sandoval or Leviss should be let “off the hook” so quickly, either.
“Condemn their actions, but don’t condemn the people, OK?” she advised. “All this aggression … it can have serious ramifications. I really mean that. I think everybody should be careful with that.”
As Page Six reported, Madix, 37, dumped Sandoval on March 1 after finding a sexually explicit video of Leviss on his phone, which led to the discovery that the two had been “communicating inappropriately for months.”
The news rocked the Bravoverse and beyond, as cameras quickly picked back up to capture the fallout for inclusion in the currently airing 10th season.
This story was published by Page Six and reproduced with permission.
Originally published at www.news.com.au