Tom Sandoval broke down while reflecting on the backlash he received after his affair with Raquel Leviss was exposed.
“I’ve got a lot of thoughts going through my mind. I’ve had a hell of a past, like, three months,” the embattled “Vanderpump Rules” star said in a clip from Monday’s episode of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” obtained by Us Weekly.
Sandoval continued crying while telling former special forces officers Billy Billingham and Jason Fox about how he had a months-long dalliance with his co-star while still dating his longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix.
“It just was the perfect storm. Like, my publicist had never seen anything like it. F–king ‘reality star having an affair’ on CNN? It’s so stupid,” he said through tears.
“It became this Team Ariana thing. They sold $200,000 in merch in like two weeks.”
The Bravolebrity also admitted he struggled with people he’s “been friends with for well over a decade” turning on him, referring to several of his co-stars and former friends.
“It was just so exhausting,” he emphasized.
However, neither of the decorated military members was having any of Sandoval’s confessions, as sighed and looked away from him.
“If you want to play the victim, it makes it look pathetic. You are not a victim. You created this,” Billingham told him.
Fox agreed and added that the “first thing you should be doing is owning it.”
Sandoval joined a slew of other celebrities – including JoJo Siwa, Tyler Cameron and Blac Chyna – to venture to the freezing Southern Alps in New Zealand to partake in several quasi-military tests earlier this year.
He previously shared that he had joined the intense Fox show because he wanted to “take a beating.”
“The whole country’s pissed off at me,” he said in the trailer.
Follow Pvnew’s coverage of ‘Scandoval‘
- Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss, Ariana Madix drama, explained
- How Ariana Madix found out about Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss’ affair
- Ariana Madix rips ‘subhuman’ Raquel, ‘rat’ Sandoval in ‘Pump Rules’ reunion trailer
It’s unclear whether Sandoval and Leviss, 29, were still in communication at the time of filming, but fellow contestant Nick Viall claimed that Sandoval had brought photos of the former pageant queen to the set – despite the competitors not being allowed to do so.
“He snuck in pictures of him and Rachel,” the “Bachelor” alum, 43, said on his podcast, “The Viall Files,” in August, using Leviss’ real first name.
“There seemed to be some real reluctance about [whether] the public would allow them to be together, but he came across — to me — as someone who had feelings and cared about Rachel.”
Leviss eventually ended communication with Sandoval while she was in a three-month stay at a mental health facility.
She has since quit “Pump Rules,” while Sandoval has filmed Season 11 of the show as well as Season 10 of “The Masked Singer” and Season 2 of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.”
