You May Change Your Mind About Tom Sandoval After AGT: "Let’s Get America to Like You"
The former Vanderpump Rules star who became infamous for messy cheating scandal tried his luck with an AGT Audition.
There are underdogs, and then there are underdogs. America's Got Talent has always been about looking for the most exciting Acts, whoever they are, regardless of background. But one particular group during Episode 5 brought quite a bit of baggage to Auditions. Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras is fronted by a singer who was once the Most Hated.
Sandoval, formerly of Vanderpump Rules and most recently of The Traitors, explained backstage, "I made some bad choices and was involved in a really bad cheating scandal. I let down a lot of people. It pretty much destroyed my life. It was absurd how much coverage and how big it became."
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"I feel a lot of pressure. I just hope the audience and the Judges see who I am as a musician, rather than just somebody on a reality show," he added.
The audience was iffy on Sandoval at the start
The women in the audience, especially, didn't know what to make of Sandoval when they saw him, so he addressed the elephant in the room right away.
"With being on a reality TV show, it’s very much about your personal life. A couple years ago I was involved in a scandal and I was labeled as 'the most hated man in America' by New York Times," he explained, before gesturing to his band. "It was really really rough and I was in a very dark place. I felt as though I had nothing in my life and this band was the only thing that kept me going."
Fortunately, he had not just his bandmates behind him but also his friend and fellow Vanderpump Rules alum, Tom Schwartz, and Sandoval's girlfriend Victoria Lee Robinson in the audience to support him.
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"Let’s get America to like you," said Simon Cowell, as Howie Mandel briefly recapped the scandal to Sofía Vergara ("No wonder nobody likes him then," Mel B. remarked).
The Most Extras won everybody over
Maybe it was their panache or the power of A-Ha, but the band's keytar and sax'd-up performance of "Take On Me" had the audience singing along, a total crowd-pleaser! "You made me smile. You gave me happy vibes. You all look like you’re fully enjoying yourselves," said Mel B.
"Vocals weren’t great," noted Cowell, who added that, in fairness, "not everyone comes on this show to get a record deal. Sometimes it’s about being true to who you are." That did the trick, and the band got through!
Though, Sandoval is still in the habit of making excuses. Backstage, he did say his throat dried up from nerves. Water, Tom, drink water!
