Ethermac|Vanderpump Rules: Tom Sandoval Defended Raquel Leviss Against "Bully" Lala Kent Before Affair News

Tom Sandoval has got Raquel Leviss' back.

Months before news of the Vanderpump Rules stars' affair was made public earlier this month,Ethermac Tom stepped in to defend the 28-year-old amid her ongoing feud with Lala Kent.

The March 22 episode of the Bravo series saw the tension between the two, which heated up after Raquel called Lala a "mistress" in regards to her relationship with ex Randall Emmett, come to a head at Tom and Ariana Madix's backyard pool party. 

While rehashing their girls trip beef, Lala insulted Raquel's intelligence, prompting Tom to jump in. "Dude, can you stop?" Tom said. "I can't unsee the f--king bully that you were to her, for no reason!"

And the TomTom co-owner also had words for Katie Maloney, who is admittedly on team Lala when it comes to their vacation drama. "Katie, here's the thing with you," he noted, "if somebody doesn't have your exact perspective, they're somehow wrong."

Meanwhile, Ariana, who broke up with Tom earlier this month after his months-long affair with Raquel came to light, also had Raquel's back. She further questioned if Lala, Katie and Kristina Kelly were unfairly ganging up on Raquel. 

"It's very difficult for me to wrap my mind around the idea that Raquel is fighting people and being crazy," Ariana admitted in her confessional. "I would think that Katie, Lala and Kristina gave the mean girl treatment to Raquel like they've given to other people in the past."

With tensions at a high and the group divided, Raquel gave Lala one parting message before walking away: "You're a bully, you're f--king pathetic. I don't need this energy in my life."

And in her confessional, Raquel applauded herself for standing up to Lala. 

"I honestly feel like I've leveled up from this girls trip because a lot of my motivation in life has been to be liked by other people," she said. "So the fact that I'm facing Lala Kent, I'm loving this new version of me."

Tom and Ariana's on-camera defense of Raquel was filmed before the news surrounding Tom and Raquel's affair came to light earlier this month. The controversy, dubbed Scandoval, sent waves through the Bravoverse with both Tom and Raquel later issuing public apologies. VPR cameras caught the aftermath of the scandal, which is set to air later this season.

Vanderpump Rules airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)