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Tom Sandoval open up about your current relationship with Rachel Lewis at Howie Mandelpodcast on Tuesday.
After accusing Ariana Madix of threatening and punching him after secretly dumping her on Valentine’s Day, the Vanderpump Rules star talks about his live-in dynamic with ex-girlfriend Ariana while also talking about Raquel’s kiss with Tom Schwartzlooking back at the sexless relationship with Ariana, and more.
“This past year, we’ve both had anxiety and depression, and we’re handling it differently. We’re very different,” Sandoval said of himself and Ariana on the April 11 episode Howie Mandel Makes Stuff. “I don’t know how to explain it, but we just keep growing.”
After turning 40, Sandoval began to look at his life, which he felt “accepted”.
“I accept it. like ok [Ken Todd] and [Lisa Vanderpump], maybe not always happy,” he thought. “You’ve been dating for a long time, you just stopped having sex… So I accept it. I get porn. I can just go to the bathroom.”
Helping Sandoval “accept” his relationship with Ariana is the fact that “there are many other perks.”
“The building of the brand, everything, the image of everything. We always have your back and it’s really good,” he said. “There is great security and stability … but when I turned 40, I started to look at my life and it seemed very bleak … I started to lose optimism in life, my drive … I began to be trapped. “
When Sandoval had reasons to separate from Ariana, he chose to stay in a relationship with her – while also embarking on a month-long relationship with Raquel that was finally discovered in early March.
“I was really surprised,” Sandoval said of news of the matter in the press. “There are so many things happening in the news all the time. This is happening at a time when not much is happening. I mean, hell, CNN is covering this? CNN? I watch CNN? I don’t want to watch this crap on CNN! You think I want to hear about is it? No.”
Amid the backlash, Sandoval said he felt slighted by some of his close friends.
“What hurts is that someone I’ve known for a long time used this opportunity to bring bones out of the closet from seven years ago, and I was just like, ‘Mom, why did you do that? Why did you try to kick me when I was down?'” she said. .”[They’re] also use this to make it seem like everything I’ve done for them, all the favors, all the time I’ve been stuck by them when no one else is, to make sure I’m a narcissist and all that. just so I can look good… It really f-cking kills [me].”
“I have better friends than Ariana … they like it, they don’t even hit me to try to understand,” he continued. “There is no one to blame. I handled the wrong sh-t. I f-cked it up and I definitely deserve the hate but for these close friends to not even text me and just go to social media and start posting things like, ‘Am I a pawn in this game?’ Just disappointed and sad.”
According to Sandoval, he has been “down” for the past few weeks and has been struggling with “very dark thoughts.”
He also stopped drinking.
“I’m better now. I haven’t had a drink for four days now, which I don’t know when was the last time I did it. Maybe it’s been years. I’m trying to deal with this in a healthy way because I drink to cope and it’s not good. It’s a dark road stop,” he admitted.
Although Sandoval’s romantic relationship with Ariana has ended, the former couple still live together in a $2 million home in Los Angeles, which Sandoval confirmed has not yet been sold.
“It’s been really quiet, lately,” Sandoval said of the dynamic, continuing to hint that he can’t stay home alone.
“To be honest, like, I can’t… [And] I don’t have many friends that I can stay with now, a, and b, like… Me too, with the house and the rest, I kinda open the house. I take care of the garden, take care of the house, my assistant comes and cleans, provides everything,” he explained.
To make sure that he does not have an awkward run-in, or at least cut down on them, Sandoval and Ariana have enlisted a “go-between,” that they text when they plan to go about in the house.
“[We] texts when we come and go… Sometimes I stay away but I always tell him,” explained Sandoval. “I’ve been out of town twice. It’s been okay. [But] the beginning was not good and I had to stay away.”
Continuing on Schwartz and Raquel’s kiss in Mexico, Sandoval said that Schwartz did not know that he and Raquel had kissed and noted that he only did it because he had faced a lot of backlash from his friends.
“Schwartz and Raquel haven’t done anything but been crucified and bullied… and they’re sitting there at Scheana’s wedding… and they’re like, ‘F-ck this.’ It’s more like a rebel thing,” he explained.
But that doesn’t mean Sandoval isn’t jealous.
“Well, Schwartz kissed him … I was a little jealous … but I didn’t question our connection. I’m more proud of them for saying ‘f-ck you,'” he explained.
Then, after they returned from Mexico and Schwartz assured him that he had no feelings for Raquel, Sandoval told him about the kiss.
Where he stands with Raquel now, Sandoval said, “We’re really good friends. We don’t label anything. We also just take, like, a break.
He also said he’s not a friend with benefits “right now.”
Vanderpump Rules Season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.