Can a reality TV 'villain' change the narrative? Tom Sandoval is trying.

Yahoo

12 hours ago

Tom Sandoval looked both nervous and determined as he walked down a backstage hallway. His sequined, emerald-green jacket shimmered as he sipped water, slapped his palms together and shook out his shoulders like a boxer loosening up before a match. Except in this case, the Bravo reality TV veteran was walking out with his musical group to face four celebrity judges on Tuesday's episode of NBC's competition series 'America's Got Talent' and the millions of viewers at home.
First, the show had to explain the significance of Sandoval's appearance (beyond the usual NBCUniversal cross-channel synergy).
'Do you know who Tom Sandoval is?' a producer asked judge and series creator Simon Cowell. 'Well, he's left 'Vanderpump Rules,' and he's here to audition with his band.'
Or, as Sandoval, 42, elaborated in his own intimate moment with the camera crew:
'A couple of years ago, I made some really bad choices and was involved in a very bad cheating scandal. And I let down a lot of people. It pretty much destroyed my life. … Ever since then, it's like everything that I do is completely criticized.'
Two years ago, Sandoval, a star of the popular 'Vanderpump Rules' — which chronicled the staff shenanigans at a restaurant owned by a former Real Housewife — cheated on Ariana Madix, his girlfriend of nine years, with her close friend and fellow cast member Raquel Leviss. The affair controversy exploded into the mainstream news cycle, dubbed 'Scandoval.'
Madix leveraged the public sympathy into lucrative brand deals, Broadway and TV hosting gigs. Leviss, after absorbing an onslaught of social-media hate, rebranded herself as a mental health advocate. Sandoval, facing an enormous backlash … went on another reality TV show, 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.' And then another ('The Masked Singer') and another ('The Traitors'). Now he is set to appear, perhaps not surprisingly, on the ultimate VIP lounge for reality TV heels, E!'s 'House of Villains.'
In the past, notorious reality TV stars who try to stretch out their fame in the genre might have been tagged with the 'villain' label forever. But Sandoval is trying out a modern strategy: The sheer number of reality shows, each with multiple storylines, offers the opportunity for years-long character development. Perhaps, if you stay in the spotlight long enough to show different sides of yourself, people might just stop caring about what you did in the first place.
Sandoval appeared to take another step toward that goal on 'America's Got Talent.'
'I feel a lot of pressure,' he admitted on camera. 'I just hope the audience and the judges see who I am, as a musician, versus just somebody on a reality show.'
So Sandoval took the stage with his eight backup musicians after a woman attempting to break a record for butt-Hula-Hooping and before an acrobatic roller-skating duo. Cowell grilled him about why he wanted to make the jump from TV to music.
'With being on a reality show, it's very much about your personal life, and a couple of years ago, I was involved in a scandal, and I was labeled the most hated man in America by the New York Times,' Sandoval explained. 'It was really, really rough, and I was in a very dark place. I felt as though I had nothing in my life, and this band was the only thing that kept me going.'
He said his goal was to tour the world with his new group as 'the ultimate cover band.'
As Sandoval and his musicians set up, the other judges quickly conferred.
'What was the scandal?' asked a confused Sofia Vergara.
'He slept with his girlfriend's best friend,' Howie Mandel replied.
'No wonder nobody liked him, then,' Spice Girl Mel B added.
Cowell sniffed: 'Do you know how not interested I am in any of that stuff?'
Cue the music to A-ha's 1980s synth anthem 'Take On Me': Sandoval danced and jumped and hoisted the microphone stand to the heavens. When he hit the high note ('I'll be gone … in a day or twoooooo') Cowell couldn't help but grin as the audience went wild and the judges stood to cheer.
'You made me smile, you gave me happy vibes,' Mel B gushed.
Cowell demurred. 'For me, the vocals weren't great, Tom, I'm going to be honest with you,' he said, as boos rained down. 'However, not everyone comes on this show to get a record deal. Sometimes it's about being true to who you are.' Cue the cheers!
With four votes for 'yes,' Sandoval and the Most Extras were on to the next round. As the band excitedly retreated backstage, Mel B decided that Sandoval's past shouldn't matter: 'That's real life, that's what happens to some people. … Who cares?' It had to have been music to Sandoval's ears.
Gibson Johns, a writer and podcaster ('Gabbing with Gib') on the Bravo beat, has covered the Scandoval aftermath closely.
'Regardless of how you feel about Tom Sandoval, when he does something, he does it 150 percent,' Johns told The Washington Post. On Fox's 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test,' Sandoval let JoJo Siwa literally carry him on her back. On Peacock's 'The Traitors,' Sandoval provided comic relief by singing like a creepy doll.
'There is, unfortunately or fortunately, something kind of …,' Gibson paused. 'It's endearing, that's the word I'm looking for. It's the full effort he puts into everything.'
Sandoval also gave it his all in 2023 on Fox's fever dream of a vocal competition 'The Masked Singer,' where he disguised himself as a psychedelic deep-sea diver tangled with a cartoonish octopus and belted Journey's 'Any Way You Want It.' He described the freedom of hiding behind a disguise.
'It hurts when I get judged by people who have never even met me,' he said in a sorrowful introductory clip. 'But I'm hoping all that will melt away when I hit the stage.'
So why is he going on the third season of 'House of Villains,' set to air next year, on which reality TV veterans compete to be named 'America's Ultimate Supervillain'?
Sandoval did not respond to our request for comment, so we called Season 1 cast member Jon Dalton, a.k.a. 'Jonny Fairplay,' who previously earned his 'villain' card from a 2003 stint on 'Survivor,' when he lied about his grandmother dying to win sympathy and a reward challenge.
Unlike Sandoval, Dalton has basked in the hatred. He had a delightful time with his co-stars on 'House of Villains,' where he figured that viewers know enough now to take the tongue-in-cheek title as intended.
'The world of reality TV has changed so much,' he said. '… I can't imagine anyone doing that show and leaving with a worse reputation.'
Ultimately, he understands why a perhaps conflicted Sandoval would nonetheless choose to join the cast and compete for the villain title. If you want to continue to be on TV … well, you have to continue to be on TV.
'You always strike while the iron is hot,' Dalton said.