A long-kept secret. Vanderpump Rules fans were introduced to Tom Sandoval’s “Miami Girl” cheating scandal during season 3 of the Bravo series in 2015 — but it wasn’t until eight years later that the TomTom cofounder owned up to his actions.
Tom’s ex-girlfriend Kristen Doute, whom he dated from 2007 to 2013, alleged during season 3 that the restaurateur hooked up with someone during a Miami trip despite being in a relationship with Ariana Madix. After the Missouri native repeatedly denied the accusations, Kristen arranged for Annemarie Maldonado (née Kunkel) — known solely as “Miami Girl” on the show — to fly to California and confront Tom during a shift at SUR.
Ariana came to Tom’s defense during the heated exchange, laughing along with her then-boyfriend as Annemarie made comments about seeing the Schwartz & Sandy’s entrepreneur naked.
“Once again, Kristen does something totally absurd to try to break me and Ariana up and it just brings me and Ariana closer together,” Tom said in a confessional during the January 2015 episode. He added of Annemarie: “Now, because of Kristen, I am having to acknowledge this f—king psycho.”
Although the couple put on a united front at the time, the truth came to light after they called it quits. Us Weekly confirmed in March 2023 that the duo split after nine years of dating due to Tom’s affair with their costar Raquel Leviss.
During the May 2023 season 10 finale of Pump Rules, Scheana Shay tearfully confronted Tom about his infidelity and asked whether the rumors about Annemarie were true.
“Ariana has always known the truth about that,” the businessman admitted.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that aired directly after the dramatic finale, Ariana confirmed the revelation. “They slept together, it was before he and I were exclusive,” she said, going on to explain her reasons for keeping her then-beau’s secret. “I didn’t want people to think the worst about the man I was planning to spend the rest of my life with.”
The former couple — who left in an Uber together to get away from Kristen and Annemarie during the 2015 confrontation — both previously expressed regrets about how they handled the situation.
“I almost wish I didn’t [leave]. The reason why we left is because we felt like production was pulling this whole thing,” Ariana exclusively told Us in October 2021. “We were, like, ‘Oh, so random people just show up now.’ … I do regret, I guess just not fully calling out the whole real story, like, on camera and staying there.”
Tom, for his part, told Us in August 2021 that he wished he “would have just never even engaged” with Annemarie at all. “If I can do anything over again, I just would have never even filmed with [her]. I just don’t think it’s really fair. Like, so I can, like, make up something about anybody and then end up on our show?” he said at the time.
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