LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Sandoval had a rough time after his affair with 'Vanderpump Rules' co-star Raquel Leviss was exposed on camera.
The reality star faced heavy criticism for betraying his long-time girlfriend Ariana Madix, ultimately being portrayed as a "villain" in the media.
Tom on his ‘Special Forces' participation
According to TMZ, Tom later chose to participate in the action-oriented reality show 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' for its second season.
“One of the good things about it is, besides when they brought that s*** up, I mean, I wasn’t really thinking about it too often, you know, or only unless somebody else brought it up,” answered the 40-year-old when asked if the controversy ever affected his experience on 'Special Forces.'
Tom continued, “That was one of – the beauty of that situation was being able to just focus on the things in front of you. You know, no phones, no anything, no contact with the outside world. You know, you’re just there worried about people next to you and what you have to do.”
He describes the choice to participate in the show as the best decision at that time, stating, "Exactly what I needed in my life at that moment. It was such a, you know, I just felt consumed by this scandal, and it was a way to go and work hard at something, do something that didn’t have to do with that."
Tom on 'Scandoval' controversy during new show
While talking about Scandoval on the show with staff sergeants, Tom said, “It was hard to sort of not feel stupid talking to staff sergeants when we were, you know, interrogated, about my situation."
He added, "Because in the grand scheme of things, comparatively to everybody else, it doesn’t really seem like that, as big of a deal, you know what I mean?”
The star went on to say, “Like, but I think it was because of the media frenzy, it obviously became that. So it just, it was very hard for me to talk to them about it and not feel stupid, really stupid.”
During his training phase for the series, Tom's mother, Terri Green, also voiced her support.
“It was so great. Those were such unbelievably hard days. I mean, we were pushed and pushed and pushed. And that day in particular, when I got that message from my mom, I was so close to giving up,” he reflected.
