Tom Sandoval clarified a couple of his recent controversial statements on Watch What Happens Live on Tuesday night, including his claim about Ariana Madix‘s alleged feelings about the Vanderpump Rules cast.
Before offering an update on their fight over their formerly shared home, revealing which cast member surprised him most amid season 11, and sharing the biggest misconception fans have of “Scandoval,” Sandoval, 41, explained what he meant by his comments about Ariana and denied weaponizing her mental health.
During the dramatic Vanderpump Rules finale episode on Tuesday night, Tom claimed to his co-stars, “Ariana, she doesn’t f–k with you guys. On the real. She f–king talks sh-t about all you f–kers.”
After a fan questioned him about his claim that Ariana didn’t like the group, Sandoval admitted he was “being a little over the top.”
“But at times,” he continued on the May 7 episode of WWHL, “I felt like, over the years, I was the one who was showing up for both of us a lot of times, and so I felt like, if these people are important to you, you’ll show up. So that’s what I meant, but I was being a little dramatic.”
His comment about how Ariana leaving looked good for him was also a bit misconstrued.
“That wasn’t what I meant. What I meant is that I did my job and everything came together, that throughout the season, we have to obviously have those tough conversations. And I felt good that I at least showed up and did my job,” Sandoval shared.
Another fan wanted to know why he waited until Kyle’s party to apologize to Ariana.
“I had actually made attempts to talk to her at home, despite what she says. I did text her. I did try to talk to her,” he confirmed.
As for whether it really took Scheana Shay, 38, pointing out how he weaponized Ariana’s mental health to make him realize he was in the wrong, Sandoval denied doing so.
“I was not weaponizing. It was, I felt like it was sort of a manipulation tactic of like, ‘Hey, if you do this I’m gonna do this to myself,’ and that’s why I brought it up,” he noted. “I felt like it was being used to leverage me to push me into behaving a certain way.”
Moving on, Sandoval confirmed he and Ariana are “working on stuff” pertaining to their house, said he is not in touch with his former mistress, Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, 29, and shot down questions about her revenge porn lawsuit.
“I can’t talk about it. We’re in litigation,” he explained.
When someone else wondered which cast member surprised him most by leaving Team Ariana to be his friend, Sandoval replied, “I would say maybe [Lala Kent],” as he applauded his co-star for criticizing Ariana for not sharing her real life.
“I was very moved by Lala’s confessional. I thought she was spot-on. That’s what we do. Ariana’s a main cast member. She’s not like a secondary member so that’s what we have to do,” he reasoned. “We have to put it out there. We have to have those tough conversations.”
Seated in the audience during the WWHL taping was Sandoval’s girlfriend, Victoria Lee Robinson, 31, whom Sandoval said he’d been dating for “probably like three, four months.”
After pointing her out, Andy Cohen, 55, asked Victoria if “Scandoval” deterred her from dating Sandoval.
“Well, I’ve never watched the show. I chose to keep it that way,” she revealed.
Also on the live broadcast, Sandoval shared the “biggest misconception” about “Scandoval.”
“I feel like people think that this was some sort of big scheme or big elaborate put on but it wasn’t, it was just, obviously, making mad decisions but also just getting lost in emotions and wanting to escape,” he explained.
Later, on the WWHL: After Show, Sandoval was asked if he was expecting too much in wanting Ariana to interact.
“Do you think I really wanted to have that conversation? Do you think it was easy for me to walk up to her in front of everybody? No, it was really hard and I didn’t have the support system around me,” he replied. “I had to just go and do it and go for it.”
According to Sandoval, he and the cast were on a time crunch to get the final footage of the season, which put extra pressure on them both.
“We do have to pull permits, we do have a limited amount of time and we do have to get things done in a certain time, whether you’re ready or not. You’re never ready to have those tough conversations but that’s what we do,” he noted. “That’s your job. It’s a real conversation but we can’t have cameras follow us around all night, every day.“
Reacting to Scheana’s frustration with Ariana at the end of the episode, Sandoval said it wasn’t surprising.
“We’ve all been through it … and that’s one of the things that even as, the past couple years, when I was trying to talk more about our personal life, I felt that it was unfair that I saw other people really talking about their real issues and we were keeping them hidden. I felt guilty,” he admitted.
When Andy then wondered if any Bravolebrity reached out to support him amid “Scandoval,” Sandoval said that a Summer House star did reach out, but not when the scandal first broke.
“More recently at BravoCon, [Carl Radke] said, ‘Hang in there,’ and whatever. He was really sweet. But I can’t really think of anybody off hand,” he replied, before adding, “Obviously [Lisa Vanderpump].”
As Pump Rules fans will recall, Lisa received backlash for giving Sandoval what some believed was too much support.
“I don’t think she was really defending me. I think she was just trying to calm everybody down,” Sandoval clarified. “I feel like people kind of thought that I was some sort of comic book villain or something, and she was just more like, ’This is a human being. He’s not just a villain on a show.’”
According to Sandoval, he feels “everybody leveled up” when it came to cashing in on “Scandoval,” but he doesn’t resent anyone for doing so.
“I like to see that at least something positive is coming out of this,” he reasoned.
As Ariana continues to profit off the scandal that thrust her into the spotlight, she’s set to return to Broadway for a second stint in Chicago.
“Oh, she is? Oh, that’s great. Good for her,” Sandoval replied when a fan mentioned her role. “That’s always been her dream to be on Broadway, so I’m happy for her.”
While Sandoval is excited for his former partner, he won’t be attending any of her future shows.
“I don’t want to do that to her. I don’t want to be a distraction. If I show up there, people will be talking about it, but I’m happy for her. That’s great,” he stated.
Overall, Sandoval said watching the finale, specifically the flashbacks, was an “emotional” experience.
“It was really crazy to see what we’ve gone through .. and when we first started off, what we thought this was going to be, versus what it actually became,” he explained. “I remember … the second day of filming, sh*t got real. [Jax Taylor] and [Stassi Schroeder] broke up, and it was this huge divide, and we’ve never turned back since then. We’ve always kept it real.”
“Does it suck going through that, to have that one conversation with the one person you don’t want to have it with? Yes, it does, but at least there’s a pride and sense that we’re really putting ourselves out there,” he added.
The three-part Vanderpump Rules season 11 reunion premieres next Tuesday, May 14, at 8/7 on Bravo.
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