Tom Sandoval would like some sympathy, please.
Nine months after he earned the reputation as maybe the most despicable reality star in Bravo history — due to his stunning affair with Raquel Leviss while he was dating co-star Ariana Madix — the businessman wants everyone to know that he’s hurting.
He’s in pain.
And it’s because his relationship with Leviss was far more than a fling, Sandoval now says.
“I fought so hard for Rachel,” Sandoval said on the December 7 episode of the Two T’s in a Pod podcast.
“I stopped drinking. I stopped smoking cigarettes because she went away to a facility. I’m like, ‘She can’t drink, she can’t smoke. I’m gonna quit.'”
Indeed, Leviss checked into a rehab facility in April amid fallout from her romance with Sandoval.
A few months later, Sandoval ripped his ex as immature and petty because Leviss blocked him on Instagram.
Now, however, Sandoval says he’s been sober for eight months and claims he “was there in any way that [Raquel] needed” before she cut him out of her life and moved to Arizona.
“We were best friends,” Sandoval said on the podcast.
“It’s heartbreaking to go through. I was fully in love with her. She’s not just some hot girl. I was a model for 15 years, it’s deeper than that.”
Sandoval dated Madix for over nine years.
She then discovered FaceTime videos on his phone in the early spring of 2023 from Leviss that exposed her relationship with Sandoval, promptly dumped him… and the scandal has taken on a chaotic life of its own ever since.
In this new interview, Sandoval explains that he also wanted to go away for awhile in order to work on his mental health issues… but he had previously agreed to tour with his band.
“I had to make money,” Sandoval says.
“Every single month, all the bills come out of my accounts. The mortgage comes out of my account every month. So, while Ariana’s shooting all these ads, she’s six months behind in bills.”
Sandoval added that he no longer talks to Madix.
As for whether Leviss truly loved him before their split?
Responded Sandoval, who has said he contemplated suicide in the wake of their break-up:
“I hope she did.
“The way she just shooed me away, I don’t know, I’m not in her head.”
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