00:00 Raquel Levis has broken her silence following Scandal,
00:02 here's everything we learned in today's Us Daily.
00:05 Raquel sat down with Bethany Frankel saying
00:07 that she has finally come to the place
00:08 where her actions, having an affair
00:10 with her co-star Tom Sandoval, makes sense to her.
00:13 She said, "My goal was to really get down
00:15 "to the bottom of, okay, why am I choosing men
00:18 "that are unavailable?
00:19 "Why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships?
00:21 "What are the things that I need to change
00:23 "about my behavior?
00:24 "And in knowing that I needed to make a change,
00:26 "I first had to know what it was
00:28 "that led to those behaviors."
00:30 Now, as Bravo fans know, Raquel and Tom Sandoval's affair
00:33 led to his breakup with Ariana Madix
00:35 after nearly 10 years together.
00:37 She said, "I now look back on it
00:39 "and see that I was not in love with him.
00:41 "I also don't believe that he truly
00:42 "was in love with me either."
00:44 Discussing her relationship with Tom Sandoval,
00:46 she reflected on the connection that they both had.
00:48 She explained, "I felt seen and heard by him.
00:50 "I haven't really had that connection
00:52 "with other people in the cast, nor people in my real life.
00:55 "I was filming in a tumultuous environment,
00:57 "I was needing some validation and somebody to hear
01:00 "what I was going through.
01:01 "Here comes along Tom, who really gave me that time of day
01:04 "to share my side of the story in a non-judgment zone.
01:07 "That's exactly what I needed in the moment."
01:09 When discussing Tom and Ariana's relationship,
01:12 she claimed that they were more like business partners
01:14 and hadn't acted like a couple in years.
01:17 She added, "I would not be involved
01:18 "in this affair secrecy type of situation
01:21 "if I thought that there was longevity
01:22 "in this relationship between Tom and Ariana.
01:25 "The people closest to them could see
01:26 "that their relationship hasn't been
01:28 "what they portray on camera."
01:30 Now, Raquel brought Bravo a lot of attention
01:32 following her cheating scandal with Tom,
01:34 and according to Bethany Frankel,
01:36 she wasn't properly compensated.
01:37 Bethany said, "It occurs to me that you are the villain.
01:40 "Ariana is the hero.
01:41 "Tom is another character who doesn't take the hit
01:43 "as much of you in this scandal.
01:45 "But you're right, the realm is making a lot of money,
01:48 "and now it took three of you in a recipe
01:50 "to create the scandal."
01:51 Now, Ariana and Sheena Shay will likely have
01:53 some choice words for Raquel
01:55 if they tune into this conversation,
01:57 since she doesn't really consider them her close friends.
02:00 She said, "It is more salacious that way.
02:02 "Ariana and I were not best friends.
02:03 "We were acquaintances who became friends through the show.
02:06 "She's always been somebody who's been very sweet to me.
02:09 "She would stand up for me and encourage me
02:10 "to pursue whatever I was, I don't know, pursuing.
02:13 "And that was all great, but we never had
02:15 "like a deep conversation that I would have
02:17 "with a best friend."
02:18 While Raquel said it's painful to think
02:20 that she hurt Ariana by having a months-long relationship
02:22 with Tom, she insisted that she wasn't trying
02:24 to be a malicious person.
02:26 She said, "I just got wrapped up in this
02:28 "and wasn't thinking clearly.
02:29 "But we were not best friends.
02:30 "The alliance is, I call these people my friends
02:33 "because I really did believe that they were my friends."
02:35 Now, Raquel, who referred to Ariana as her true friend
02:38 back on the Chicks in the Office podcast in March,
02:41 just before Scandal broke,
02:42 alleged that she never saw Ariana
02:44 when cameras weren't rolling.
02:45 She said, "Not just us together.
02:47 "If we were best friends, we would, I don't know,
02:49 "go out to dinner, just the two of you,
02:51 "or shopping or lunch."
