In season 2, episode 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Tom Sandoval took some heavy punches in two different combat scenarios as he opened up about receiving metaphorical punches in his personal life. During a hand-to-hand fighting challenge, Sandoval first faced off against Nick Viall and was pronounced the winner. In a second match-up against Jack Osbourne, Sandoval received a few punches to the nose and was deemed the loser.
Once back at their accommodations, Sandoval was called in for questioning by the directing staff, the leaders of the selection process. Sandoval told them he’d had a difficult few months. “I had, like, an affair, with another woman,” he shared, and said she was also on Vanderpump Rules. So who exactly did Sandoval have an affair with?
Tom Sandoval’s affair, explained
Sandoval became, in his own words, one of the “most hated people in America,” when his explosive affair with Rachel Leviss came to light. Up until that point, Sandoval had been in a nine-year relationship with his Vanderpump Rules co-star Ariana Madix. Leviss, who was previously known as Raquel Leviss, was another cast member on the Bravo show and one of Madix’s closest friends. While it seemed as though Leviss and Sandoval might pursue a relationship after their affair came to light, the two are not together today and the former has blocked the latter on Instagram.
Leviss, a former beauty pageant contestant, first joined the show as the girlfriend of James Kennedy, one of Sandoval’s friends. In fact, Sandoval went so far as help Kennedy pay for and organize an elaborate proposal for Leviss. However, Leviss and Kennedy called off their engagement at the Vanderpump Rules season 9 reunion, which was filmed in December 2021.
Despite the split, Leviss returned to Vanderpump Rules season 10. Viewers saw Leviss often end up on the outs with the rest of the cast, partially due to her comments about wanting to make out with recently divorced Tom Schwartz. Throughout that time, Madix became someone she confided in and an advocate for her with the group. Leviss became very close to both Madix and Sandoval, and even listened to Madix confide in her relationship issues with Sandoval and their lack of intimacy.
Because the scandal blew up publicly in March 2023 while season 10 was airing, viewers watched the show with the knowledge that Leviss and Sandoval’s affair had already started by that point. According to both Leviss and Sandoval, their affair began at the beginning of August 2022 after Leviss joined the male cast members on their “guys’ night.”
Once news of the scandal broke, quickly becoming known as Scandoval, fans started speculating about whether the pair would start dating in earnest. At the Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion, which was filmed in late March 2023, Leviss and Sandoval both said they were in love with each other, and were later spotted going out for dinner together.
Soon afterward, Leviss checked into a mental health facility to seek treatment, where she would spend several months. After leaving the facility in the summer of 2023, Leviss made it clear she was done with Sandoval and posted screenshots to her Instagram Story showing herself blocking him on the social media platform. She admitted during a podcast interview with Bethenny Frankel that she learned during treatment that she had a “love addiction” and had been confusing “intensity for intimacy.”