Content Warning: Before reading further, be advised that this article contains mention of realized suicide and suicidal thoughts. Do not read on if such topics are triggering.
Things became serious between Tom Sandoval and Lisa Vanderpump on last night’s Vanderpump Rules episode. Tom revealed to his former employer that, in the wake of Scandoval, he’d been struggling with thoughts of taking his life.
Those who have followed Tom closely over the past year were likely aware of this. Tom brought it up on the first episode of his podcast, saying, “It did get really dark. I remember when I got back from tour was specifically a really, really hard day.”
Last night, viewers got to see Tom confess his struggle to LVP.
LVP was hurt that Sandoval didn’t reach out amid dark thoughts
On the February 13 episode of VPR, Lisa and Tom found themselves in the middle of an argument. Lisa was trying to encourage Tom to apologize to his friends more thoroughly for his behavior from Season 10 onward. Tom felt no one would believe his sincerity. In the heat of their argument, Tom revealed that he “battled with suicide.”
Lisa was caught off guard. She responded, “No, no!” The statement was triggering to Lisa for a few reasons. For one, Lisa lost her brother to suicide. “I reached out to you,” she said, “and you know how I feel about that, losing my brother, you knew my brother.”
Moreover, as Lisa explained in a confessional, she instructed Tom to reach out to her if he was ever experiencing suicidal thoughts. “To hear him say he had those thoughts and he didn’t call me, that scared the … living daylights out of me. After losing my only sibling to suicide, I can’t hear that and do nothing about it.”
She further told Tom, “I understand that you might have felt like that and you promised me, you promised me.” Lisa encouraged Tom to keep moving forward “with utter sincerity and contrition.”
Vanderpump Rules Season 11 continues Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
