While she may have first risen to fame on Vanderpump Rules, the 39-year-old has since moved far beyond the world of SUR drama. These days, she’s basking in the spotlight as host of Love Island USA, stepping confidently into her second season on the hit dating show.
But for many fans, it’s impossible to talk about Madix without revisiting the 2023 cheating scandal that changed everything — #Scandoval.
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Scandal still stinks between Madix and Sandoval
Madix and Sandoval got together during Vanderpump Rules season two and stayed together for almost ten years. The two weren’t always rock solid, but people were dumbfounded when it came out in March 2023 that Sandoval had been having an affair with co-star Raquel Leviss for many months.
People Magazine reported that Madix discovered the affair after seeing a sexually explicit video from Leviss on Sandoval’s phone while attending one of his concerts.
Following the discovery of the affair, the cast of Vanderpump Rules largely rallied behind Madix, while Sandoval and Leviss issued public apologies. But the damage had already been done. Even a year later, during the emotional season 11 finale in 2024, viewers watched Madix leave the set rather than speak with Sandoval.
“I don’t think I was ever going to go back to Vanderpump Rules. That’s the first time I’ve ever said that publicly, but I was never going to,” Madix told People. “It just didn’t feel right.”
Professionally, she’s been thriving. Between two Broadway stints as Roxie Hart in Chicago and her breakout role as host of Love Island USA, Madix has reinvented herself outside of Bravo. “I love it,” she said of hosting the dating series. “It does not feel like work at all.
