If the term ‘Scandoval’ means nothing to you, where have you been hiding? You don’t have to be a Vanderpump Rules fan to have been winded by the events that unfolded between Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, who were together for nine years, and Madix’s best friend Rachel ‘Raquel’ Leviss.

Two years ago, Madix was watching Sandoval perform with his band, Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras, when he dropped his phone, and someone passed it to her for safekeeping. Following a ‘gut feeling’, she decided to go through it and found a screen recording of her boyfriend and her best friend on FaceTime – and not a friendly one. It turned out Sandoval and Leviss had been having a sordid affair behind her back for seven months.

To put the scale of Scandoval’s impact into perspective, it was discussed during the Correspondents’ Dinner at the White House. Madix became a global icon for wronged women around the world, a Glamour cover star, the new host of Love Island USA and last year she won Female Star of the Year at the Critic’s Choice Real TV Awards.

For her ex, however, the trajectory went in a different direction. According to Sandoval, he was isolated from his friends, the target of a hate campaign online and felt to all intents and purposes like ‘the most hated man in America’. A lot of people in his position might have moved to a bunker in the desert and removed themselves from public life altogether, but not Sandoval.

Instead, he has been quietly working on his redemption arc. In late 2023 he signed on to the Fox bootcamp competition Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and most recently he appeared, somewhat ironically, as a ‘Faithful’ on The Traitors US. His campaign is beginning to pay off. Despite being accused of showing a ‘lack of empathy’ on Special Forces, after his stint on the murder mystery gameshow, Sandoval was praised for bringing ‘a lot of comedy to the show’ with some social media users tentatively admitting they ‘quite like’ him and others calling him ‘the best part’ of the series.

In one perfect round table scene the reality star declared, ‘generally speaking and historically speaking girls are better cheaters than guys because they have better social skills and better social status’. The audacity. A fellow contestant was quick to shout back, ‘Wow, that came out your mouth?’. It turns out he meant to say ‘traitors’ instead of ‘cheaters’ and attributed the slip up to a lack of sleep, but that’s beside the point. You can see how he makes good TV.

His personal life is on the mend too. Sandoval has been in a new relationship with model Victoria Lee Robinson since February 2024 and they appear to be very happy together. Madix has also moved on; she is now dating Daniel Wei after being introduced at a mutual friend’s wedding. Leviss, for her part, has recently been seeing a rocket scientist and says ‘he’s very normal’ and that the relationship is ‘very healthy’.

Now Sandoval argues that if all parties have moved on, why can’t the public? ‘It’s been two years,’ he told Us Weekly. ‘I want to move on from that [period] and continue with my life.’

‘I’m sure there’s still people out there who hold on to that [the idea that he is ‘the most hated man in America’] – I know there are,’ he added, ‘but the hate has died down for sure. Whether they’re laughing with me or laughing at me, at least they’re laughing, and that’s what I love.’

He admitted that his stint on The Traitors has helped people see him in a ‘different light’ and hopes to build on the public’s warming perception of him. He has also been going to therapy, going out less, developing better habits and doing ‘a lot of guided meditation’. Adding that, ‘My day-to-day is so much different than it used to be.’

Despite putting himself in a worst case scenario as a reality TV star, Sandoval is not opposed to trying again. When asked if he’d consider joining some of his co-stars on The Valley spin-off he said, ‘Who knows?’. He admitted that he has embraced having a greater degree of privacy but evidently enjoys being on TV.

The former Vanderpump Rules star is clearly taking steps to becoming a better person – he has publicly apologised several times and seems determined for his new relationship to follow a different course. However, there is still a niggle in my mind that wonders whether Madix would be given the same grace if the roles were reversed. Would a shift at the round table be enough to restore the public’s faith in her? Would she be able to turn her reputation around and land a new TV gig in less than two years?

Last October, Leviss announced that she was ending her podcast ‘Rachel Goes Rogue’ after 65 episodes. The comments under her announcement include, ‘why doesn’t she just go away?’, ‘this is the best decision you’ve made’ and ‘you had a podcast?’. Since then, she has posted on Instagram a handful of times, most recently to promote a sound bath workshop via a picture of her sat in a dressing gown in the desert. It would be remiss not to query why Sandoval has a burgeoning career as a reality TV comeback kid and Leviss has somewhat retreated from public life.

Sure, they both did something wrong and caused immeasurable pain to someone they both loved, but ultimately Sandoval was the person in a committed relationship. He should be the one to shoulder the majority of the blame. Sadly, that’s not the world we live in.

Sandoval insists that if he could go back in time and change how things played out, he would do ‘everything’ differently. Perhaps Leviss feels the same. Regardless, they are both deserving of a second chance, and it looks like Sandoval is being given one. Even if he is forever tarnished as the man who cheated on Ariana Madix by certain corners of the internet, it feels like a small cross to bear – and one that, rather depressingly, is likely to help his career.