Tom Sandoval Speculated He Would Be the First to Die on The Traitors

When it was revealed last June that Tom Sandoval would be joining the cast of season 3 of The Traitors, fans of the Bravo reality series immediately took to social media to speculate that he would be the first to be killed off.

Their comments, while shady, were not unfounded considering the public backlash Sandoval has faced since his affair with Rachel Leviss ended his long-term relationship with Ariana Madix. Surprisingly, Sandoval himself shared those concerns.

“I was worried about that, actually,” he admits. “I thought people might bring their opinions of me into the castle and try to get me out right away.”

Despite these fears, Sandoval managed to survive until episode 10 on the Peacock series, meeting his demise after helping eliminate two Traitors – Survivor stars “Boston” Rob Mariano and Carolyn Wiger.

So how did he manage to stay in the game for so long? According to Sandoval, the key was to be nice, open-minded, build strong bonds with everyone, and demonstrate his worth by working hard on missions and earning money for the group.

Being a Faithful also played a significant role in his strategy. Sandoval adamantly states, “I could never have been a Traitor. Absolutely not. I had no desire. In fact, I told production, ‘If you make me a Traitor, I think I’m just going to go home. I’ll quit.'” He recognized that playing the role of a Traitor was not something he would excel at.

While some of his fellow contestants targeted him early on, including Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause, Sandoval remained focused on his own game. He recalls a conversation with Stause where she mentioned following Ariana on Instagram, which was later used against him in the game.

Throughout the experience, Sandoval couldn’t help but feel that Stause was leveraging his personal story for her own benefit. Nevertheless, he reflects on the overall experience as a positive one, saying, “I had an absolute blast… I really felt like I was in my element.”

As the series progresses, Sandoval remains hopeful for a Faithful to emerge as the ultimate winner. “If they’re a Faithful, I want them to win. I just want the Faithfuls to beat the Traitors. If that happens, I’ll feel like we all won,” he shares.

Despite not making it to the end himself, Sandoval’s time on The Traitors has left a lasting impact on him, solidifying his love for competition reality shows. The series is currently streaming on Peacock, with new episodes released weekly.