Tom Sandoval Says Fallout from Scandoval Felt Like Being Wanted for a ‘Triple Homicide’

Tom Sandoval is opening up to bandmate Jason Bader and jewelry designer Kyle Chan about the Scandoval drama on his new podcast “Everybody Loves Tom.”

Sandoval infamously cheated on his longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss, and the drama played out on “Vanderpump Rules.”

Tom confessed in the aftermath of the affair, “It really was like living like a fugitive like the feeling of, like, being wanted for like, a triple homicide… like, not being able to go anywhere, being followed, being harassed just relentlessly. Anything I did, if I was pictured with any girl, it was [rumored] we’re having sex.”

He admitted, “At one point, dude, I didn’t shower or change my clothes for like, almost a week… I was so gross.”

As they discussed how isolated Tom was during that time, the TomTom owner said, “It did get really dark. I remember when I got back from tour, I remember… Ariana was shooting a thing for, like, Duracell [at the house]… There’s this ad being shot that’s directly poking fun at me.”

Adding insult to injury, Tom said the same day Kyle told him Sweet Lady Jane was selling cakes that said, “Sandoval’s a liar.”

Sandoval said he was in a bad place, and it reminded him of the time he saw Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington days before he committed suicide.

He explained, “I'll never forget this. I went to the Grove and I was a huge Linkin Park fan, and I saw Chester at the Grove coming out of the garage… He seemed happy or, I don't know, he just was animated, energetic on the phone. I saw him. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, it's Chester.’ Literally, days later, he had died. He had, you know, killed himself.”

Tom went on, “I could never understand why, but when you get into that headspace, it's like a domino effect. Your world starts collapsing on itself and you cannot see outside of your feelings. Your peripheral goes away. Your sense of, like, thinking about the future, like, your ability to snap out of it goes away. And there were sometimes where I was, you know, felt very, very close.”

Later Sandoval recalled the hate he received on tour, and said his therapist helped him through it.

“Talking with my therapist I was able to take things that he said, advice, apply it in real time… and I think that was really important, staying here, facing it, being in it.”

Tom also looked back at the affair, saying, “I think I was just so unhappy in my life… I wasn't happy in the direction I was going. I felt trapped and I didn't know how to handle it… so I kind of just, like, rebelled in the worst way possible.”

He went on, “I'm sorry for all the people that I hurt in that process… I know now and can see the value of my connections and friendships I appreciate them more now than ever.”

Sandoval said of his ex, “Obviously, Ariana was somebody that I did love very dearly and you know I would never ever want to hurt somebody like that — even, like, my worst enemy.”

“Extra’s” Megan Ryte just spoke with Tom a few days ago, and asked him about “co-existing” with Madix.

Joking, Tom said, “Oh, yeah, we are super chummy. In fact, she is over there — Ariana, say hi…! Just kidding.”

He went on to say, "We have mutual friends, obviously, on the same show together, so we have to co-exist, y'know... It’s gonna be a slow process. We will handle it the best we can.”