Tom Sandavol details mental health battle amid ‘Vanderpump Rules’ controversy
By Marianne Garvey, CNN
(CNN) — Tom Sandoval revealed that he struggled with his mental health following his affair with fellow “Vanderpump Rules” castmate Rachel Leviss.
Dubbed “Scandoval,” their relationship played out publicly when it was discovered Sandoval had been cheating on his partner of nine years, Ariana Madix, who also appeared on the Bravo reality series.
Sandoval spoke about the affair on his new podcast “Everybody Loves Tom,” and described how he was feeling when he was the target of online backlash.
“There were some times where I felt very, very close [to suicide],” Sandoval said to friends on the podcast.
He said his thoughts spiraled and began to have a “domino effect.”
“Your world just starts collapsing itself and you cannot see outside of your feelings,” he said. “Your peripheral goes away, your sense of thinking about future, about like, ‘Oh come on,’ like, you’re ability to snap out of it’ goes away.”
Sandoval, a bar owner, revealed he’s been sober since the spring.
“I haven’t drank since — I believe it was April 4th or 5th,” he said. “I didn’t really tell a lot of people during the process. I think that kind of helps. I also quit smoking cigarettes. I was kind of at the point where I was just chain-smoking cigarettes all day, every day. Honestly, I think that, you know, quitting the drinking and going on tour like, it might have actually saved my life,” he said, referring to his band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, recent tour.
Leviss sought treatment to help deal with the fallout from the affair. Sandoval said the last time they spoke was in June.
Madix, meanwhile, is competing on the current season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
