Ariana Madix is making her rounds following the explosive Vanderpump Rules finale on Wednesday night (May 17). During this morning’s episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the beloved reality star denied any rumors that Scandoval was staged for the hit Bravo series.

While speaking with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, Madix revealed that “one of the first conversations” she had following the revelation that her boyfriend of nine years Tom Sandoval was having a months-long affair with her close friend Raquel Leviss was with showrunner Jeremiah Smith.

The producer, who has worked on the show since it began in 2013, was “just as devastated” as Madix was “on some level,” according to the Something About Her Owner. She added that much of the behind-the-scenes crew have “become family and friends to us in so many ways.”

Following the last set of episodes — which Lala Kent confirmed were re-edited to include the cast’s previous suspicions over Leviss and Sandoval’s relationship, as well as other Easter eggs alluding to the scandal — many Pump Rules fans have questioned whether producers knew it was happening.

“Maybe there were rumblings or suspicions but they didn’t give credence to it,” Madix said on the morning talk show.

Even Bravo boss Andy Cohen was shocked to learn that no one knew of the affair prior to it coming out in March 2023 — months after they finished filming Season 10. During a recent episode of Radio Andy, the Watch What Happens Live host explained that producers didn’t give the rumors light because Madix denied it.

“I called them once I started seeing the episodes and I was like, ‘Are you telling me you guys didn’t get that this was happening?’” he said. “And they said they all kind of followed Ariana’s lead, and Ariana was saying, ‘No, I know Raquel and this is not happening.’”

Vanderpump Rules airs on Wednesday nights at 9/8c on Bravo. You can watch new episodes the following day on Peacock.