Tom Sandoval Says 'I Still Love Ariana' Despite Affair with Raquel Leviss That Ended 9-Year Relationship
Chatting extensively with Howie Mandel, the Vanderpump Rules star revealed he chose Valentine's Day to split from Ariana Madix and detailed his first kiss with the 28-year-old former pageant queen
Tom Sandoval is sharing new insight into the details surrounding his headline-making affair with Vanderpump Rules costar Raquel Leviss — and the demise of his relationship with longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix.
In an interview for Howie Mandel's Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Sandoval said he's "never experienced anything like" the attention he's been fielding amid the fallout of his affair — a shocking situation Bravo fans have dubbed the "Scandoval."
"It's just crazy how big this whole thing has gotten for who I am — I'm not like the royal family, I'm on a reality show. Like, if Snooki has an affair with whoever, is that going to be national news?" asked Sandoval. "It's been six weeks since this all went down. I'm finally getting time to start to reflect on this situation."
He continued, "I never thought I'd get myself in a situation like this — never. I mean, I worked too hard on my image, for my businesses, my integrity and everything. But it just happened."
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Sandoval then shared his feelings toward Madix, 37, at this point: "I still love Ariana, and I care about her very much. But we, for a while, had sort of just having our own lives."
Elsewhere in the podcast, Sandoval detailed his take on the fractures in the couple's nine-year relationship before his affair with Leviss, 28, saying the pair's "communication was not great" and that they "kept growing apart" as time went on.
After he turned 40 last July, Sandoval said he felt like he needed to "make a change to feel alive again, to feel motivated, to feel optimistic." He eventually started "pulling away" from Madix.
He later claimed that he "did break up with her on Valentine's Day," but Madix was "completely in denial" about him wanting to end the relationship.
"We were broken up," he insisted. "She knew we were broken up. We didn't tell anybody, but she knew."
PEOPLE has reached out to Madix for comment on Sandoval's claims.
Leviss entered the equation when he was in a "very dark place" in his life, and the affair ultimately happened at "the worst time." But they became "really good friends" before their eventual first kiss.
"We literally talked 'til the sun came up," he recalled of the night they first crossed the line in their friendship, noting that this occurred shortly after the "guys' night" that Leviss and then-friend Scheana Shay crashed. "And then we were back at my house, just talking. I'm locked out of my house. We just kissed. It was magnetic. We were talking, moving closer, and as we were talking, as time went on, we would just start talking closer and closer, and then all of a sudden, we're kissing."
The TomTom co-owner added, "I felt something I haven't felt in so long — like, emotionally."
Giving an update on where he and Leviss stand, Sandoval echoed the beauty queen's former exclusive statement to PEOPLE that they're "not putting any label on it."
He added, though, that the pair are "just kind of taking a break" from physical intimacy while they consider the possibility of a future together.
PEOPLE confirmed the end of Sandoval and Madix's nine-year relationship in March. At the time, a source said the pair "had been having problems for a while" but his months-long affair with Leviss was "the final straw" for Madix.
"She put up with a lot over the years, but she won't sit back and be disrespected this way," the insider added.
RELATED VIDEO: All About the 'Vanderpump Rules' Cheating Drama Involving Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix and Raquel Leviss
Both Sandoval and Leviss issued public apologies to Madix, who posted her own statement on Instagram on March 16.
"i want to express my most sincere gratitude for the outpouring of love and support i have received from friends, family, and people i've never even met," she wrote.
"when i have felt like i couldn't even stand, you all have given me the strength to continue and seen me through my darkest hours. to say i have been devastated and broken is an understatement," she continued.
Noting that she was still "reeling from this betrayal on so many levels," she added an implied warning: "what doesn't kill me better run."
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