Tom Sandoval made major changes in his life after his affair with Raquel Leviss hit headlines, effectively ending his nine-year romance with ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix.
On the Thursday, December 7, installment of the "Two T's in a Pod" podcast, the Vanderpump Rulesstar confessed he "fought so hard" to hold onto his relationship with Leviss.
"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,'" he explained, referring to Leviss' decision to go away to seek mental health treatment after facing waves of backlash for their controversial relationship.
"I was there in any way that she needed," Sandoval added. "We were best friends."
Sandoval called their subsequent breakup "heartbreaking to go through."
"I was fully in love with her. She’s not just some hot girl," he insisted. "I was a model for 15 years, it’s deeper than that."
When asked if he thought Leviss had been in love with him in return, the TomTom co-owner said he hoped she had been, but thought because of the way she "shooed" him away, he might not be "in her head" anymore.
Sandoval also revealed he'd wanted to check himself into a facility to work on his own mental health after his infidelity became public information and turned his life upside down, but he wasn't able to because he had to go on tour with his band.
"I had to make money," he admitted. "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."
As for the status of his relationship with Madix, he clarified they were no longer living together and exclusively communicate with a "go-between" person, such as his assistant or one of their friends.
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As OK! previously reported, Sandoval got emotional about his former relationship with Leviss during an October episode of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.
"I've had a h--- of a, like, three months. I had an affair. She's also on the show," he admitted to the instructors on the difficult reality series. "It became this 'Team Ariana' thing. They sold $200,000 in merch in, like, two weeks. Seeing people I've been friends with for well over a decade just turn on me. It was just so exhausting."
