During the February 12 episode of The Traitors, the reality star found himself at the center of a cringe-worthy moment when he made a comment that hit way too close to home. According to People, while the group debated the “coffin theory”—a theory that one of the remaining players who had previously been in a casket must be a Traitor—Sandoval decided to chime in.
“Generally speaking, historically, girls are better cheaters than guys, just because they have better social…” he started to say before getting cut off. Immediately, his castmates jumped on him. Danielle Reyes didn’t waste a second, exclaiming, “That came out of your mouth.”
Realizing his mistake, Sandoval, 42, quickly tried to backtrack. “I said Traitors! I meant to say Traitors!” But the damage was already done. The moment was particularly awkward given his history. Sandoval infamously cheated on his long-time girlfriend Ariana Madix after nearly a decade together with Vanderpump Rules co-star Rachel Leviss, a scandal that rocked the reality TV world.
Big Brother’s Britney Haynes wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “You said, cheater!” she reminded him. With the room now focused on him, Sandoval awkwardly admitted, “Guys are obviously much more likely to cheat. I fully get that.”
His co-stars weren’t about to let it slide. Ciara Miller kept pressing, “We know, you know,” while former Bachelorette star Gabby Windey jokingly suggested, “Everybody vote for Tom.”
Even Sam Asghari, Britney Spears’ ex-husband, chimed in with some advice: “Don’t dig yourself deeper.” Sandoval, clearly uncomfortable, kept apologizing and insisting that he meant to say Traitors, not cheaters. But the moment was too ironic to ignore, and the cast wasn’t about to let him forget it.
In true reality TV fashion, the conversation eventually moved on—mostly thanks to Asghari steering it back to suspicions about Ciara. But for a brief moment, Sandoval was once again forced to face his past, proving that some mistakes are just impossible to live down.