Tom Sandoval‘s former assistant, Ann Maddox, recently launched a podcast. And during the debut episode last week, ahead of the Vanderpump Rules premiere, she addressed the drama surrounding the mail Rachel “Raquel” Leviss had been sending to Sandoval’s shared home with Ariana Madix from treatment.
After Raquel, 29, seemingly suggested that Ann helped her in her communication efforts with Sandoval, 41, post-affair, Ann and her podcast co-host, Amanda Lifford, discussed her involvement in the ex-couple’s correspondence, Ariana’s exposure to it, and how she felt when “Scandoval” first broke in March 2023.
“The context that she brings Ann up in [on Rachel’s podcast] is she’s talking about when was in her mental health treatment facility and her and Tom’s relationship was kind of uncertain, they were corresponding via letters,” Amanda began on We Signed an NDA, via Us Weekly. “[Tom Schwartz] said, ‘I don’t want to receive your letters anymore. I don’t want to be a part of this.’ So then Tom Sandoval told Rachel, ‘Send them to my house.’ Rachel says, ‘I feel uncomfortable and nervous about this because you share a house with your ex Ariana, what if she sees them?’ Tom says, ‘My assistant will get it.’”
As Ariana has since revealed, she did come across letters sent to Sandoval from Raquel, and packages Sandoval sent to Raquel.
“My response to that is, ‘B*tch, I don’t work on Saturdays!’ I’m your girl Friday, but I don’t work on Saturdays. That’s the end of that,” Ann told Amanda. “Also, Ariana wakes up way earlier than all of us because she is a busy, busy lady, and I don’t come into work until 11:00 a.m. So if the mail’s delivered before then, sorry.”
Because Ann was working for Sandoval at the time the scandal broke, she went through a number of emotions.
“I was crushed because as a personal assistant, you become part of your bosses’ lives. And it’s no secret that I dearly love Ariana. She’s incredible and so cool,” Ann said. “And the three of us would hang, and there’d be times where I would have to, for work, stay later and you start feeling kind of like a family a little bit, and you become really close. And they were there for me when my dad passed away, which was July of 2022. And those times when you really need people in your life, like, they were there. So it was kind of refueling feelings of my parents’ divorce where I just was like, ‘Mommy, daddy, what?’ … When I did the math in my head [of the affair], I was just shocked.”
“We might have to cut this out, but reading Reddit and being a personal assistant close to the situation, there were things where I was like, ‘How did you know that?’” she added.
On last week’s premiere episode of Pump Rules, Ariana confirmed she communicates with Sandoval only through Ann. And on this week’s episode, Ann will be seen informing Ariana of Sandoval’s plans to throw a party at their home, which Ariana is not on board with.
“I still love Ariana so dearly. … And [Tom], there’s love there,” Ann continued. “I don’t know what to say right now.”
Nearly one year after “Scandoval” erupted, Ann is no longer working for Sandoval — and is firmly on Team Ariana. In fact, months ago, she showcased a Team Ariana cheerleading outfit on her Instagram page that Ariana described as “iconic.”
“The outfit I was going to wear to see [Ariana Madix] crush it today on Dancing With The Stars for Taylor Swift night before I was informed ABC has a very solid dress code … Don’t forget to vote ya’ll! 5pm text Ariana to 21523!” she wrote in the caption of her post on November 21, 2023.
Also on her podcast, Ann discussed her role on Pump Rules.
“In season 11, for the first time, I have a role of being in front [of the cameras] just because of my job. And the only way I could describe it or put context to it is [it’s like] being in the most complicated improv scene in the world,” she explained. “But the improv scene is also your real life. My mind is still grasping it. I’m still trying to put context to it. Such a brand new way of being in my world.”
Vanderpump Rules season 11 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.