Jerry O’Connell finally met Tom Sandoval in person after publicly slamming the Vanderpump Rules star for his affair — and it wasn’t exactly what Us was expecting.
During the Thursday, October 5, episode of Sandoval’s “Everybody Loves Tom” podcast, O’Connell, 49, made a surprise appearance as a guest after Tom Schwartz wasn’t able to make it. This unexpected fill-in allowed O’Connell to call Sandoval, 41, out for his behavior — but not before issuing an apology.
“Somebody else obviously didn’t show up because I was called about 90 minutes ago and I showed up,” the actor told Sandoval before going into why he agreed to appear. “Your commercial for the podcast came out and I clicked on the story. It has celebrities in it such as Jennifer Lawrence, Adele and me. We are saying pretty rude things about you and it cut to me saying, ‘You’re not a man.'”
O’Connell admitted he felt bad about his choice of words days after Sandoval’s affair with Raquel Leviss made headlines. Us Weekly confirmed in March that the TomTom cofounder’s infidelity led to his split from Ariana Madix following nearly a decade of dating. The drama ignited a social media storm as most people expressed their support for Madix, 38.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, O’Connell put Sandoval on blast while wearing a Team Ariana T-shirt underneath his plaid suit.
“Tom Sandoval — he’s not a man. He’s a little boy and this is what little boys do. Tom Schwartz is a little boy,” he said on the March episode. “Full disclosure, when I met my wife, I was seeing another person and my wife, Rebecca Romijn, was my [Raquel] and it was not pretty. … But now I am a man and I want to tell Katie and Ariana, ‘Find some men. Some real men. Men want the both of you, trust me.’”
O’Connell has since decided to walk back his reaction.
“It was crazy to see that because I immediately felt really embarrassed. I felt really embarrassed seeing myself say that. I don’t carry myself that way, I don’t talk like that about other people publicly,” he said on Thursday. “I felt remorse. When I feel remorse, I want to act on it.”
The talk show host recalled feeling pressure to properly put Sandoval on blast, adding, “I was the first live WWHL episode after all that broke and I felt like I had to address it. I felt a lot of remorse and I DMed you on Instagram. I don’t want any beef with anyone in the world.”
Although O’Connell wanted to make amends with Sandoval, he was still worried about addressing their issues publicly.
“It is a little scary coming to do your show,” he continued. “My anxiety in coming on as a guest is that I am somehow approving some of your behavior in the past. It is scary. … My anxiousness is that I am somehow giving you a pass. I am sorry but it has to be said.”
Sandoval, however, said he didn’t think O’Connell was “condoning” his behavior. Later in the episode, O’Connell revealed he almost didn’t come face-to-face with Sandoval because he had to get one person’s permission first.
“I did ask [Bravo executive producer] Andy Cohen if I can come and do this. By the way, that is what you are supposed to do before you do podcasts. You text Andy Cohen if it is OK and I got the green light,” O’Connell quipped while hinting at Sandoval’s controversial and unsanctioned April appearance on Howie Mandel‘s podcast. “I didn’t want to get in trouble.”
Sandoval and O’Connell’s conversation wasn’t solely about starting over. As the Vanderpump Rules star once again rehashed his infidelity and the aftermath of the drama, O’Connell interjected multiple times to remind Sandoval to take accountability for his mistakes.
