America's Got Talent choose Simon Cowell acknowledged Tom Sandoval instantly when he walked on stage to audition for the present. Not solely is Cowell a good friend of Sandoval's former employer, Lisa Vanderpump, however he was additionally tipped off by the manufacturing group.

"I feel I do know who you might be," Cowell stated confidently, as Sandoval, decked out in a shiny emerald inexperienced blazer, and his band, the Most Extras, ready to cowl A-ha's Eighties hit "Tackle Me."

At that time, most viewers members did, too. The fact TV villain was a forged member on Vanderpump Rules from its premiere in 2011 till 2024, and in 2023 he was the star of a real-life scandal dubbed Scandoval after he had an affair along with his costar Raquel Leviss whereas relationship her shut good friend Ariana Madix. Even individuals who didn't watch the Bravo collection have been sucked into the monumental drama, which ended Sandoval's nine-year relationship with Madix.

Sandoval advised the judges that he turned to music for this very cause.

"With being on a actuality present, it's very a lot about your private life and, a pair years in the past, I used to be concerned in a scandal and I used to be labeled as essentially the most hated man in American by The New York Occasions," he stated. "I imply, it was actually, actually tough, and I used to be in a really darkish place. I felt as if I had nothing in my life, and this band was the one factor that saved me going."

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Sandoval additionally appeared on season 2 of Fox's Particular Forces: World's Hardest Check, which premiered in September 2023, and on season 3 of The Traitors, which premiered in January.

However music is what he desires to do now, he stated, after waving goodbye to his longtime TV residence in December after the community introduced that it might swap out the forged for the upcoming season of Vanderpump.

"I would love nothing extra for us than to tour the world, to only be like the last word cowl band," Sandoval stated. "Occasion band."

He additionally famous that his present girlfriend, Victoria Lee Robinson, was there to help him.

Cowell was open to listening to the truth star out, declaring, "Let's get America to love you."

Earlier than he started, America's Acquired Expertise choose Howie Mandel quietly advised fellow choose Sofia Vergara, "He slept along with his girlfriend's greatest good friend."

Cowell was having none of it. "Have you learnt how not I’m in any of that stuff?" he requested.

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In a voiceover that performed over footage of his group strolling out to carry out, Sandoval summed up his emotions on his closely publicized relationship drama.

"A pair years in the past, I made some actually dangerous decisions and was concerned in a really dangerous dishonest scandal, and I let down lots of people," he stated. "It just about destroyed my life. It was absurd how a lot protection [it got] and the way massive it turned. Ever since then, it's like every part that I do is totally criticized. I really feel numerous stress. I simply hope the viewers and the judges see who I’m as a musician versus simply any individual on a actuality present."

Fortunate for him, some viewers members have been followers of his many excessive notes, and Cowell hinted what his response can be when he smiled throughout Sandoval's audition. All 4 judges can have an opportunity to weigh in on the efficiency and decide if he'll transfer on to the subsequent spherical on the present's subsequent full episode on June 22.

America's Acquired Expertise airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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