Tom Sandoval and Rachel Leviss created one of reality television’s biggest scandals: Scandoval. They had an affair behind Tom’s longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix’s back. To her credit, she kicked them both to the curb as soon as she found out.
After being grilled by his Vanderpump Rules co-stars at the reunion, Tom signed on to film Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. While I thought Tom would have dipped out after the first day, he is still there. And according to some of his co-stars, he is just the nicest and most supportive guy ever.
Well, except for the fact that the recruits cannot have personal items. But did that stop Tom? No. He smuggled in photos of Rachel anyway. The actions of an allegedly changed man.
The tracks of Tom’s tears
In a sneak peek from the October 16 episode of Special Forces, Tom melted into a puddle of tears in front of the directing staff. “I’ve had a hell of a, like, three months,” he said.
When asked the reason that he was having trouble, Tom blamed his affair. “She’s also on the show,” Tom said, referencing Rachel. “It was just the perfect storm, like, my publicist had never seen anything like it. ‘A f*cking reality star having an affair’ [was] on CNN? It’s so stupid,” he added. Of course, Tom isn’t to blame.
“It became this ‘Team Ariana’ thing,” Tom continued. “They sold $200,000 in merch in, like, two weeks. Seeing people I’ve been friends with for well over a decade just turn on me, it was just so exhausting.”
If Tom expected a tissue and a comforting chat from his instructors, he was disappointed. Instead, he was called “pathetic” and shamed for trying to “play [the] victim.” Mark “Billy” Billingham added, “You are not a victim. You created this.”
Jason Fox did have some advice. “The first thing you should be doing is owning it,” he stated. Amen!
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test Season 2 airs on Fox on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
TELL US – DOES TOM DESERVE ANY SYMPATHY? IS HE PLAYING THE VICTIM?
