I have to admit, when I first started watching Vanderpump Rules, I had a wee crush on Tom Sandoval. Although the shot began in 2013, it was several years into it's run before I began to watch. My reason was totally superficial, I hadn't watched a second of any of the Housewives shows, and was not familiar with Lisa Vanderpump, I started watching after seeing nude caps of the male cast members from the show.
I started from the beginning and initially was drawn to Sandoval. On the surface, he was not only good looking, he was eclectic and interesting and always stood up for his friends. He also seemed a strong ally to the LGBTQ community. The show, often led by Lisa, often had scenes flaunting the bodies of the male cast members in gay pride parades and events. Tom was always front and center leading the way.
Tom was also really hot, and seemed to enjoy showing off his body and his six pack. It was clear he was invested in his body and liked the compliments and looks he received. Back then, the show was all about bodies. The guys often went on boys trips, which usually ended up with Jax and the two Tom's naked. They wrestled naked, mooned each other, and when one of them would pass out, they loved to motorboat the guy passed out with their naked butt cheeks.
They went skinning dipping and stripped off and showered in front of the cameras. Tom also had a bit of a history with nudity even before the show. He was stripped naked by a dog in the Bon Jovi video for the song Misunderstood, (HERE:) Tom also had a very homoerotic boxer brief wresting scene in the 2009 David DeCoteau flick The Pit and the Pendulum.
All that being said, as the first few years of the show went on, signs of his being a douchebag began to pop-up. The problem was, most of those early signs were at the expense of then girlfriend Kristen, the villain of the show at the time. We wanted Tom with Ariana, so his being a dick to the mean ole Kristen was seen by most of us as being ok.
But... we noticed how he scapegoated Kristen, and how how some of his behaviors towards his ex, started cropping up with his relationship with Ariana. This was no more apparent than in the shows most recent episodes when we watched him try to scapegoat and blame Ariana for his actions, and when that didn't work, pour on the waterworks.
The problem for Tom is that many viewers had witnessed all of this before. Whether it was Kristen, Ariana, Katie or Stassi, Sandoval was rarely ever able to take responsibility for his actions, be self-reflective or say he was sorry. He usually lashed out when it came to women, while at the same time defending his bros Tom Schwartz and James at each and every turn. It was especially disturbing watching him defend James, no matter how cruel or abusive James' behavior might have been.
That being said, those early days of the show were visually satisfying when it came to male nudity. Tom showed his ass again and again after getting his A for Ariana tattoo. He flashed his ass to show it to his friends, to show it to Ariana and Katie, even showing it if I remember, to his mother and Lisa. He showed it again when he had it removed.
It a bit of foreshadowing, he quickly regretted the tattoo, not because of Ariana, they were solid at the time. Ariana wasn't a fan of the tat, and Tom wanted to keep his ass as perfect as possible so the A on the ass was quickly, but painfully, removed, all in front of the cameras of course.
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