Ariana Madix Admits to Her Poor Financial State Before Cashing in the Aftermath of "Scandoval"

As strange as this may sound, heartbreak brought money and fame to Ariana Madix when she struggled to stay financially afloat. The Vanderpump Rules star was all over the internet when her boyfriend of ten years and co-star Tom Sandoval's cheating scandal, infamous as "Scandoval," with Raquel Leviss shook the fans. 

The Bravo star revealed having her last $2,000 before Scandoval broke the internet. During a preview of the upcoming episode of the reality show, Madix admitted she was "not in a good place financially" when her ex-boyfriend Sandoval's affair news blew up in March 2023, per Page Six.

While talking to her co-stars Ally Lewber, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, and Lala Kent, Madix clarified while the world thought she was making millions, she was, in fact, left with only $2K. "The internet thinks I've made millions of dollars. That is not true," she said, adding, "And it's like, on March 1st (2023), was I financially prepared to move? No." 

Amid her heartbreak, she struggled to move out of her shared home with Sandoval because of her monetary restrictions. She recalled making a desperate call to her agent and manager. "Literally the week before all of this happened, I remember emailing my agent and manager and being like, 'Guys, let's start really trying to do some s*** because I'm not in a good place financially.'" 

In a confessional, the 38-year-old shared additional details, "When I first started making like decent money, [Tom and I] decided we wanted to buy a house, and then I was playing catch-up all the way up until Katie and I found a great location for a sandwich shop," referring to her and Maloney's joint business venture. 

"Then a bunch of my money went toward that. Now I was at a point where in March I was literally on my last $2,000. I am not kidding." Consequently, due to her poor financial condition, she was forced to take up work opportunities alongside Sandoval. "He created this situation and now I am f***ing scrambling to get my s*** together to be able to — in a financially responsible way — move onto the next step," she said. 

However, when Scandoval became national news, things began to look better as several brand deals and partnerships like Lays, Duracell, and SoFi came her way. This shot her estimated profit to $2 million post the cheating scandal. Although Madix didn't reveal her real net worth, the outlet estimated she's making around $50,000 to $70,000 per Instagram post. 

Meanwhile, Sandoval accused Madix of not paying the bills during The Viall Files podcast, "I gave her an offer of $3.1 million. My bank account was literally overdrawn. Dude, Ariana hadn't paid any of the bills for, like, f–king eight months, man." 

"I've been pretty much paying for everything out of all my accounts. Mortgage, gardener, cleaning, utilities, everything. It's kind of like pulling teeth to get Ariana to pay me back," he added.