Two years on and a stint on The Traitors later, does he have your forgiveness?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-14.47.59.png” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”Photo: IMAGO” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] If the term \u2018Scandoval\u2019 means nothing to you, where have you been hiding? You don\u2019t have to be a Vanderpump Rules<\/em> fan to have been winded by the events that unfolded between Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, who were together for nine years, and Madix\u2019s best friend Rachel \u2018Raquel\u2019 Leviss.<\/p>\n 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 \u2018gut feeling\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n To put the scale of Scandoval\u2019s impact into perspective, it was discussed during the Correspondents\u2019 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<\/em> and last year she won Female Star of the Year at the Critic\u2019s Choice Real TV Awards.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Instead, he has been quietly working on his redemption arc. In late 2023 he signed on to the Fox bootcamp competition Special Forces: World\u2019s Toughest Test<\/em> and most recently he appeared, somewhat ironically, as a \u2018Faithful\u2019 on The Traitors US. His campaign is beginning to pay off. Despite being accused of showing a \u2018lack of empathy\u2019 on Special Forces<\/em>, after his stint on the murder mystery gameshow, Sandoval was praised for bringing \u2018a lot of comedy to the show\u2019 with some social media users tentatively admitting they \u2018quite like\u2019 him and others calling him \u2018the best part\u2019 of the series.<\/p>\n In one perfect round table scene the reality star declared, \u2018generally speaking and historically speaking girls are better cheaters than guys because they have better social skills and better social status\u2019. The audacity.<\/em> A fellow contestant was quick to shout back, \u2018Wow, that came out your mouth?\u2019. It turns out he meant to say \u2018traitors\u2019 instead of \u2018cheaters\u2019 and attributed the slip up to a lack of sleep, but that\u2019s beside the point. You can see how he makes good TV.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s wedding. Leviss, for her part, has recently been seeing a rocket scientist and says \u2018he\u2019s very normal\u2019 and that the relationship is \u2018very healthy\u2019.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] Now Sandoval argues that if all parties have moved on, why can\u2019t the public? \u2018It\u2019s been two years,\u2019 he told Us Weekly<\/em>. \u2018I want to move on from that [period] and continue with my life.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m sure there\u2019s still people out there who hold on to that [the idea that he is \u2018the most hated man in America\u2019] \u2013 I know there are,\u2019 he added, \u2018but the hate has died down for sure. Whether they\u2019re laughing with me or laughing at me, at least they\u2019re laughing, and that\u2019s what I love.\u2019<\/p>\n He admitted that his stint on The Traitors<\/em> has helped people see him in a \u2018different light\u2019 and hopes to build on the public\u2019s warming perception of him. He has also been going to therapy, going out less, developing better habits and doing \u2018a lot of guided meditation\u2019. Adding that, \u2018My day-to-day is so much different than it used to be.\u2019<\/p>\n Despite putting himself in a worst case scenario as a reality TV star, Sandoval is not opposed to trying again. When asked if he\u2019d consider joining some of his co-stars on The Valley spin-off he said, \u2018Who knows?\u2019. He admitted that he has embraced having a greater degree of privacy but evidently enjoys being on TV.<\/p>\n The former Vanderpump Rules<\/em> star is clearly taking steps to becoming a better person \u2013\u00a0he 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\u2019s faith in her? Would she be able to turn her reputation around and land a new TV gig in less than two years?<\/p>\n Last October, Leviss announced that she was ending her podcast \u2018Rachel Goes Rogue\u2019 after 65 episodes. The comments under her announcement include, \u2018why doesn\u2019t she just go away?\u2019, \u2018this is the best decision you\u2019ve made\u2019 and \u2018you had a podcast?\u2019. 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s not the world we live in.<\/p>\n Sandoval insists that if he could go back in time and change how things played out, he would do \u2018everything\u2019 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 \u2013 and one that, rather depressingly, is likely to help his career.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>IMAGO<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tom Sandaval has high hopes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":7804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7802"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7814,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802\/revisions\/7814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘I want to move on from that period’\u00a0<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]