Tom Sandoval walked into Season 3 of The Traitors carrying one of the most publicly dissected reputations in reality-TV history, and his low-strategy Faithful game turned out to be the season’s unexpected comic relief. In 2026, that same public-scrutiny pattern followed him into a much darker story: a mutual restraining-order dispute with an ex-girlfriend that made headlines well outside the Bravo bubble.
Sandoval has been a main cast member of Vanderpump Rules since the show premiered in 2013, building more than a decade of Bravo tenure around West Hollywood bar ownership, a rock cover band, and a relationship that eventually became one of the network’s biggest scandals.
Building a Bar Business Alongside a Bravo Career
Sandoval used his Vanderpump Rules platform to build real businesses alongside his TV career, taking ownership stakes in the West Hollywood bars TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s alongside longtime co-star Tom Schwartz. Schwartz & Sandy’s closed its doors in December 2024. In a March 2026 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Sandoval acknowledged he still hadn’t paid back his mother and stepfather for the roughly $250,000 they invested in the now-shuttered bar, telling Andy Cohen he was “in the process of working on that.” He and Schwartz have stayed close despite the financial strain, continuing to co-own TomTom and lean on each other through the fallout of Scandoval.
The Most Extras
Sandoval also fronts a cover band, Tom Sandoval and The Most Extras, extending his reality-TV persona into a music career of his own. The band completed a Fall 2025 “East of Highland” tour, played a wedding in Kansas City, and auditioned for America’s Got Talent Season 20 in summer 2025, reaching the quarterfinals. As of 2026 Sandoval has said the group is looking at further touring and cruise-ship performance dates, though no dates were listed as of October 2026.
Scandoval
In 2023, it was revealed that Sandoval had been having an affair with a Vanderpump Rules castmate while in a long-term relationship with Ariana Madix, a saga that played out across Season 10 of the show and became one of the most widely covered scandals in reality-TV history, extending his notoriety well beyond Bravo’s usual audience.
Comic Relief on The Traitors
That reputation followed Sandoval directly into the Season 3 castle. Multiple outlets covering the season reported that castmates including Chrishell Stause and Dolores Catania were openly wary of him from the start, specifically because of what they already knew about him. Rather than sinking his game, that dynamic turned into one of the season’s more entertaining subplots. Sandoval’s unpolished, low-strategy gameplay, including a memorable moment where he misspoke and had to correct himself mid-sentence, made him an unlikely source of comic relief in a season that needed it. He played the entire game as a Faithful, though several castmates suspected him of secretly working as a Traitor early on (Chrishell Stause even voted for him at one Round Table), and he was murdered in Episode 10, the season’s penultimate episode and its final murder, one of the longer-surviving Faithfuls despite the target on his back going in.
A Breakup and a Restraining Order Dispute in 2026
After Scandoval, Sandoval began dating Victoria Lee Robinson in early 2024, and the two were still together as of their third Valentine’s Day in February 2026. According to a source cited by Us Weekly, the relationship ended a few months later. What followed became its own news story, separate from anything tied to Vanderpump Rules or The Traitors. Court filings reported by TMZ, People, and other outlets describe dueling allegations: Robinson claimed Sandoval shoved her down a staircase in August 2025 and, in a separate incident in May 2026, pushed her, elbowed her, and locked her out of a hotel room. Sandoval, for his part, filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Robinson on June 25, 2026, alleging she had been physically and verbally abusive toward him on June 3. According to a report by Just Jared, Robinson’s own request for a temporary restraining order against Sandoval was denied by a judge in July 2026.
Life Now
Between the bars, the band, and a legal dispute that’s kept him in headlines for reasons that have nothing to do with reality TV, Sandoval has spent 2026 finding new ways to stay in the conversation years after Scandoval first broke. His Traitors run remains the one recent chapter where the same public reputation that usually works against him instead made him one of the season’s more likable underdogs. In September 2026 he told Us Weekly he is open to joining Bravo’s The Valley, teased an untitled Netflix survival show hosted by Alan Ritchson, and appeared on FOX’s Celebrity Weakest Link, while his restraining-order dispute with Robinson remained unresolved. More on how that season played out is covered in OpenThreadNews’ Traitors Season 3 cast guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Scandoval?
Scandoval refers to the 2023 revelation that Tom Sandoval had been having an affair with a Vanderpump Rules castmate while in a long-term relationship with Ariana Madix, a story that played out across the show’s tenth season.
Did Tom Sandoval win The Traitors?
No. He played the entire season as a Faithful and was murdered in Episode 10, the season’s penultimate episode, after drawing early suspicion from several castmates.
Is Tom Sandoval still with Victoria Lee Robinson?
No. The couple broke up in 2026 after roughly two years together, and the split led to a dispute in which both filed for restraining orders against the other; Robinson’s request was denied in July 2026.
