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Jax Taylor Says Raquel Leviss Isn’t ‘Mentally Tough’ for ‘VPR’ Return: ‘You Need To Have Thick Skin’
Sticks and stones. Jax Taylor weighed in on Raquel Leviss’ possible return to Vanderpump Rules season 11 following her cheating scandal with costar Tom Sandoval, which was dubbed Scandoval.
“You need to have thick skin,” Jax, 44, told Us Weekly on Tuesday, July 11. “In my opinion, I think [Raquel] dove into something that was a little bit bigger than her. I don’t think she’s mentally tough enough to be in something like this.”
When asked if he thinks Raquel, 28, should return to film season 11 of Vanderpump Rules, Jax – who was fired from the show in 2020 for posting inappropriate tweets – said, “No, absolutely not. No. There’s nothing healthy about reality TV for anybody.”
Jax’s take on the situation comes after Raquel’s castmates didn’t hold back their thoughts on her affair with Sandoval during the season 10 reunion, which was filmed in March and aired in May.
“F–k you! You f–king suck! You’re disgusting and I wish nothing but the worst f–king s–t that could ever happen to a person on you,” Ariana yelled to Raquel at the time. VPR star Charli Burnett even threatened to “drag” Raquel and her sister, Kate, on Twitter, while Ariana doubled down and told Raquel to “f—k yourself with a f—king cheese grater.”
At the end of the explosive three-part reunion, production told fans that “Raquel turned off her phone and was not seen or heard from for weeks” after filming her final reunion scene on March 23.
Following the dramatic reunion, Raquel entered a mental health facility in April and was still checked in after the final reunion episode aired.
“Upon the completion of filming the reunion, Raquel entered a voluntary inpatient behavioral health and trauma facility and remains there to date — 68 days and counting,” a source told Us Weekly on June 8.
While Raquel has not been publicly seen since, Ariana has joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars for season 32 and will make an appearance on the upcoming season of Love Island.
Furthermore, Vanderpump Rules season 11 was renewed in May and filming started earlier this month.
Castmates Ariana, Tom, Katie, Scheana Shay, Lala Kent, James Kennedy and Tom Schwartz officially returned and have been spotted filming, with Katie sporting a pro-Ariana tote while in front of the cameras on Wednesday, July 12; however, Raquel’s future on the Bravo show is still on the table.
Raquel is “in negotiations to return to the show,” a source exclusively told In Touch on July 13.
“Raquel thinks she should be paid a lot more than what she was getting. After all, she made Vanderpump Rules a hot topic, and ratings went up because of Scandoval,” the insider explained. “As far as she’s concerned, the show needs her more than she needs the show.”
