Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss wows in a bikini

 





 The star, 28, who left the show after her affair with Tom Sandoval, 41, was revealed, brushed off the drama as she slipped into a leaf-print two piece for a chilled afternoon.The tiny top revealed her cleavage and taut midriff while the matching bottoms drew the eye to her honed legs.


Her tresses were styled sleek and straight and she sported chic shades as she enjoyed a day by the pool. This comes after Lisarevealed she was in talks with Rachel over a possible return to Vanderpump Rules.  Ex reality star: Rachel Leviss showed off her toned frame in a bikini in Arizona recently - after Lisa Vanderpump revealed the star would not be returning for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules


Executive producer and star Lisa, 62, revealed Rachel initially wanted to make a comeback on the show after checking out of the mental health facility she spent time in following her cheating scandal with co-star Tom Sandoval but it was ultimately agreed that she would not return.


Speaking to TMZ, Lisa explained: 'When she was in the facility, her team texted and emailed us. We wanted to make sure she was in a good place first. I was going to do a one-on-one with her.


'She talked about coming back, the team reached out but in the end I think she decided not to. The cast don't really believe anything she says so there's no point in her [coming back].


'I did speak to her and we talked about doing a one-on-one. I wanted to talk about her growth and her thoughts after she had been in the facility.'When asked why she wasn't coming back, Lisa said: 'Oh I don't know. I don't really understand anything she does.'


Lisa was also asked what she thinks about people saying the show won't be successful without Rachel and she laughed and replied: 'It was successful before her.'During a recent appearance on Bethenny Frankel's podcast, Rachel claimed that Tom was offered a producer role on the show but Lisa denied it.


Lisa said: 'That's hilarious, no. He's not going to be a producer. I'm executive producer and creator of the show and I never heard that before but I don't really understand anything she says or does. Why does she say anything, I have no idea.'


Rachel had a months' long affair with Tom, who had been in a nine-year relationship with her friend Ariana Madix, 38.The affair was revealed during season 10 of the show and season 11 has now commenced filming without Rachel.Entertainment Tonight has also reported that Raquel - who is now going by her birth name of Rachel - 'decided against' appearing in the next season. 


The insider explained that Raquel was concerned a possible return would adversely impact all the progress she has made on her mental health this past year. 'Rachel will not be returning for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules. There was a possibility up until recently she'd be returning for the new season, but ultimately decided against it,' a source told the site.


'Rachel is focused on her mental health journey and knew going back to the show would open her up to trauma she's been working on healing. Rachel is looking forward to what the future holds for her.'It has been a tumultuous year for Raquel after she became embroiled in one on of the biggest scandals to hit reality television.She seemingly confirmed she had no plans to return to the show during her tell-all chat with Bethenny Frankel on the Just B podcast.


'I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I’ve made on camera live on forever. And you mentioned something about the addiction of doing reality TV and the way that they always dangle that carrot in front of you, like, "Well, you need to tell your side of the story otherwise it’s gonna be written for you."


'And that’s terrifying. So I almost went back, I know just because of that.'

Scandal: She faced backlash for her role in the affair from fans and her castmates alike


She did not expand further on what she meant by 'almost went back' but the star has remained in her home state of Arizona - while filming for season 11 of the highly-popular Bravo reality series has been underway since late June.


Smiling Rachel looked healthy and in good spirits after recently checking herself into a mental health facility after facing the wrath of her co-stars during the show's three-part reunion that taped in March.She since checked out of the facility in mid-July and has reportedly to be staying with family in Arizona. 


Opening up about why she chose to take a step back from the public eye , the Bravo star told Bethenny: 'It’s been a whirlwind, it’s been chaos. But I’ve taken some time to myself to reflect and try to understand my actions. And I finally have come to the place where it makes sense to me.'Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online.'


The reality star then explained that she chose to spend time in a treatment facility in an attempt to 'understand my behaviors'.


She stated: 'But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, "OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behavior."


'And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I first had to know what leads to those behaviors.'


The star also slammed Andy Cohen for claiming she was 'medicated' during the Vanderpump Rules reunion in May. 


She said: 'To say that I must be heavily medicated, because my behavior was erratic or I didn’t have emotions is not OK in my eyes


'To make assumptions like that – it’s damaging to a person.'Leviss said she was medicated as she has been taking antidepressants for 'several years now.' She also claimed Cohen had 'violated some kind of HIPAA law' for disclosing her health condition.However a source told Page Six Cohen's claim was 'not a  HIPAA violation, since he’s not a medical provider, nor was he aware of Leviss’ medical history.


Cohen told Variety: 'I was worried for Raquel's mental health going into the reunion. I mean, I still am. But actually, when I saw how unemotional she was, it made me think she was really medicated or really out of touch with her role in everything.He went on to point out how bizarre it was to watch the former pageant queen's former pal, Scheana Shay, sob over the end of their end friendship while Leviss did not outwardly express any sadness. 


'When Scheana is crying her eyes out and [Raquel] says in the trailer, 'I should have written her a note' — I found that very confusing and it made me think that, maybe, there was something she was missing about what these relationships were,' he said.


The father-of-two continued: 'It made me think that, maybe, she didn't think they were as real as the other people thought. I didn't understand.' Still, Cohen described that former Miss Sonoma County, who has a bachelor's degree in kinesiology, 'very leveled.'


'In some ways that helped her that day because it helped her get through a very difficult day. But sometimes — where it does her a disservice is — it seems she’s maybe not affected by what is happening or doesn’t care. She would maintain otherwise but she had a very calm and leveled demeanor,' he added.