Tom Sandoval & Raquel Leviss Are 'In Love' As Cheating Scandal Blows Up: 'They Have Fallen Hard'

Could this be one very scandalous start to a long-lasting love story?

As the fallout from Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' shocking months-long affair behind Ariana Madix's back continues, insiders say the disgraced duo are not throwing in the towel on their secret relationship any time soon.

“Tom and Raquel are the real deal,” an insider declared to an outlet of the controversial pair, while making it clear their romance isn’t “a regrettable fling or one-night stand.”

“They have confided to pals that it’s love and they have fallen hard for each other," the source added. “It’s no excuse for what they did and the people they hurt, but they see a long-term future together. Only time will tell if their bond can survive the backlash.”

The repercussions of their tryst have been intense, not only with their fellow cast members, but with people in their lives off the show. “Tom and Raquel are losing a lot of friends,” the insider shared of the TomTom cofounder and the former pageant queen. “Both people on the show and away from the cameras.”

“With every new piece of information that comes out, it is like another betrayal,” the source noted of the never-ending news cycle about the Bravo stars.

The "Scandoval" began on Friday, March 4, when news broke that Madix discovered explicit videos of Leviss on Sandoval's phone, prompting him to come clean about his secret relationship with the 28-year-old, which reportedly began at Coachella 2022.

On Wednesday, March 8, Leviss broke her silence about the ordeal, emphasizing she is "not a victim" in the situation. "I want to apologize for my actions and my choices foremost to Ariana, and to my friends and the fans so invested in our relationships," the Sonoma State University alum said in a statement. "There is no excuse, I am not a victim and I must own my actions and I deeply regret hurting Ariana."

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The Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras rocker also put out a second statement, this time apologizing to his longtime girlfriend — a sentiment which was not included in his first public apology.

"I want to first and foremost apologize to everyone I’ve hurt through the process. Most of all, I want to apologize to Ariana. I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made reckless decisions that hurt somebody I love. No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly," he wrote in an Instagram post.

Us Weekly spoke to sources close to Sandoval and Leviss about being in love and losing their friends.