Tom Sandoval Wished for a 'Perfect Breakup' With Ariana Madix Before Scandoval Blew Up

Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval has found himself in the middle of a tumultuous journey of apologies and introspection seven months after his infidelity came to light. On the recent episode of the Everybody Loves Tom podcast, the reality TV star dove deep into his affair with Rachel Leviss and the repercussions, highlighting his regrets, attempts to craft the 'perfect breakup,' and his journey to redemption. Sandoval, reflecting on his actions, expressed deep regret, stating, "I fully f--king regret it."

Sandoval admitted, "I feel bad about it. I hate that I hurt people. I, for the most part, have been pretty f--king miserable, and I don't ever, ever, ever want to go through what I went through again. And I don't ever want to be responsible or the cause for ever hurting people like that and causing that kind of s--t ever again. I'm going to do everything in my power to never do that again and to never get lost and caught up in a situation like that."

The cheating scandal, which involved a months-long affair with Raquel Leviss behind the back of his partner of nine years, Ariana Madix, prompted a significant shift in Sandoval's perspective. As per E! News, he admitted to being in a dark place at the time, revealing, "I was on a path that was not great. I was drinking all day, every day, chain-smoking, cigarettes, going out constantly, chasing the dragon, running away from everything, hiding, hiding, hiding. And, when this happened, I was forced to take a really hard look at my life, really analyze and say, 'Dude, what the f--k are you doing?' You know what I mean? Like, this is not a path that leads to a long, healthy life. It did help me or cause me to change my habits, And really also to put in perspective certain things that are important, like, also see what relationships were more meaningful."

Sandoval shared that the divorce of his co-stars, Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney, in 2022 impacted his wish for an amicable breakup with Madix to a great extent. He expressed,  "I saw what Tom and Katie went through, and I wanted to do it better, do it smoother. We were a different relationship than Tom and Katie, Ariana and I." Sandoval continued, "I would have gotten out of my relationship, ripped the Band-Aid off, not delayed, I think I got caught up in trying to create the perfect breakup, but it was way beyond that." He realized that delaying the inevitable only complicated matters further, and he should have been more forthright about ending the relationship.

Now six months sober, Sandoval described the wake-up call the situation provided him. "I just got to try to move on and make the best out of the situation, continue to try to do positive things, be a positive person, be a positive influence on a situation, bring fun and happiness to people as much as I can. That's what I love doing. That's what I feel like I'm on this earth to do, is to bring positivity and happiness to people, to make people better off than they were when they met me. And I love doing that. I feel like a lot of my friends have experienced that over the years, and that's one of the reasons why everybody didn't leave me. But I realize why a lot of people did."