Tom Sandoval allegedly brought contraband photos of Raquel Leviss to Special Forces following their affair scandal — according to costar Nick Viall.
“He snuck in pictures of him and Rachel,” Nick, 42, claimed during the Thursday, August 3, episode of his “Viall Files” podcast, using Leviss’ birth name. “And he showed them to the cast, for what’s that worth.”
Nick noted that Special Forces competitors are not allowed to bring certain items during the training process. “I would have loved to sneak in a picture of [my fiancée] Natalie [Joy] and I. I guess I could have tried but I just didn’t,” the former Bachelor said. “He went out of his way to bring in, like, endearing photos of him and Raquel/Rachel and show them around.”
Nick added: “[Sandoval] came across as a guy who cared about her, and I’m just saying that objectively. Honestly, the conversations with the cast were kinda, like, ‘Well, f—k, you might as well go for it.’ There seemed to be some real reluctance about [whether] the public would allow them to be together, but he came across — to me — as someone who had feelings and cared about Rachel.”
Sandoval, 41, and Raquel, 28, began their affair in August 2022 while he was still dating Ariana Madix. After seven months of sneaking around, Ariana, 38, found out the truth in March and ended her nine-year relationship with Sandoval. The aftermath of the scandal was filmed for a bombshell season finale of Vanderpump Rules, which aired in May.
Since the affair scandal broke, both Sandoval and Raquel — who have since paused their romance — have been on the outs with their Vanderpump Rules costars, who are currently filming season 11. (Raquel has not confirmed whether she will return for the new Bravo episodes, which began production before she exited a mental health facility.)
In addition to filming Vanderpump Rules season 11, Sandoval signed on to appear on season 2 of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test alongside stars such as Nick, Tyler Cameron, Bode Miller, Blac Chyna and JoJo Siwa.
“I wanna get punished,” the TomTom cofounder quipped in a teaser released on Monday, July 31. In the clip, he got a bloody nose during one exercise.
While Sandoval was seemingly gung-ho to participate, per the trailer, Nick revealed on Thursday that his costar seemed “very nervous” upon their arrival.
“I think there was a little bit of buzz [surrounding him]. Some people knew him, some people knew about him,” Nick recalled on his podcast. “I have so much to say [and] I don’t know how much I can give away. Tom is an interesting guy, I’ll say that much. A unique individual.”
Nick further teased that he “spent a lot of time” with Sandoval during filming. “There was one time I was in a Jeep [with] just Tom and I, and we’re constantly mic’d and there’s cameras everywhere,” he said. “And I had the podcast episode I wanted to have with Tom on this in a Jeep. [The show] wasn’t about sticking to your grudges, it was about teamwork and working together and overlooking whatever judgment you had about someone. You were forced to get along.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres Monday, September 25 on Fox.
