Tom Sandoval is certainly earning his keep at “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” as he endures a bloody fight with a fellow reality star on the fourth episode of the Fox series.
In an exclusive clip of Monday night’s episode shared with TheWrap, the “Vanderpump Rules” star engages in a heated fighting challenge with “Special Forces” co-star Jack Osbourne, who quickly draws blood from Sandoval landing a hard blow to his nose.
“He got him in the nose,” contestant and “The Bachelorette” alum Tyler Cameron says as he and other “Special Forces” recruits watched the brawl.
As Sandoval and Osbourne duke it out, the Directing Staff (DS) instruct Sandoval (A.K.A. No. 4 while on the show) to throw more punches. Sandoval likened he experience to the public bashing he’s faced in recent months.
“These past few months it’s felt like I’m just getting punched from all different directions,” Sandoval said in an interview in the clip. “Blindfolded, dealing with this, then dealing with this, and it’s like ‘boom!’”
Ahead of the Season 2 release, EP Sophie Leonard told TheWrap that Sandoval was looking for a “public punishment” after news of his affair with fellow “Vanderpump Rules” star Rachel “Raquel” Leviss spread like wildfire earlier this spring during the tenth season of the unscripted Bravo series.
“Tom Sandoval wanted to be punished in a way, and also prove himself — a bit of a public punishment for what had happened,” Sophie Leonard told TheWrap. “We were looking for people to sign up just at the time when he was probably coming through this major, life-changing public experience.”
Following the cheating scandal — widely dubbed as “The Scandoval” by “VPR” fans — Leonard said Sandoval aimed to make amends for his infidelity to then-girlfriend Ariana Madix while on “Special Forces.”
“He felt like he was really at rock-bottom — he knew he’d done a bad thing, and that he was being really badly judged for it,” Leonard said. “There’s probably an element of ‘I deserve it — let me put myself through the toughest thing out there.’”
“Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Fox and streams next-day on Hulu.
