Tom Sandoval Explains Why He Was Scarfing Down Food on The Traitors & More: "Surprisingly..."

In the penultimate episode of Season 3 of The Traitors (the season finale and reunion show drop March 6), only five Faithful were left standing in the castle: Gabby Windey, Dolores Catania, Ivar Mountbatten, Dylan Efron, and Tom Sandoval.

All five of their fates rested in the hands of Danielle Reyes, a Traitor from the first episode, and her freshly recruited fellow Traitor, Britney Haynes. The former Big Brother rivals shared their first turret together and quickly agreed that Tom was on to Danielle, so he needed to go home before he could sway anyone else to vote with him. 

And so, the Vanderpump Rules alum was sent home right before the big finale. Certainly disappointing, but Tom assured The Daily Dish that he's not mad — but he is hoping for some sweet Faithful revenge.

"I want anybody who's left that's a Faithful to just win," Tom said with a smile. "I want the Faithfuls to win!"

Tom Sandoval finally explains his eating habits in the castle

As a Bravolebrity and musician, Tom hadn't dipped his toes into the competition reality show waters until he got cast on this season of The Traitors. He admitted that the first couple of episodes were an adjustment as he got his bearings. 

"Surprisingly, we don't have a ton of time where we can actually go and discuss and talk to people about gameplay," he explained. "Because when we're not filming that stuff, we cannot talk about any of that. They separate us."

Because of that, Tom said he constantly felt behind on getting to interact with everyone in significant conversations, and that's the real reason why it looked like at every meal, he might not be fed ever again. 

"That's one of the reasons why I was eating so fast," he explained with a laugh. "I'm like, 'I've got to eat real quick and get to work!'"

Tom talks about being targeted by gamers, and that confirmation bias 

For the first time, Season 3 had a new pattern of gamer Traitors (those who played in competition show before) making a point to go after the reality contestants. Asked if he felt that target on his back, Tom said he did not.

"I kind of got the gist right off the bat with the fact that Rob [Mariano] banished Tony [Vlachos] and Bob the Drag Queen was the one that was going after the Housewives," he said. "But I did not feel as worried about that aspect. I think if I was a Housewife, for some reason, I maybe would have felt it more? But I didn't feel quite the pressure in that sense."

However, he was feeling the pressure of picking the wrong people to Banish during the Round Tables. Tom didn't have the best track record during the votes until later in the season. Even watching the season at home, Tom confirmed that it looks "very obvious" who the real Traitors are, but there's more to it.

"There's so much stuff that doesn't end up in the final edit because they are following the Traitors around a lot," he said of production realities. "There's things that I wish I would have picked up on, but what happens is, once you start thinking that somebody might be a Traitor, you start watching them more. It's almost like a confirmation bias, so you start ignoring other things."

For example, with Danielle, Tom said her emotional reactions to almost everything in the game made him move away from her orbit: "She seemed a little bit of a loner, so it was one of those things where she would be very emotional and worked up," he explained. "It almost made a thing [for me] where [I'm] like, 'OK, well, I'm gonna leave you with your emotions, and we're cool.' Think about it socially. You're with somebody and you don't know them that well, and they're being very emotional around you, it will get you to kind of pull back from them."

Tom Sandoval's two biggest allies: Dylan and Carolyn

As a Faithful who got more observant and dangerous as the game went on, Tom said he worked best with two specific players: Faithful Dylan Efron and the eventually banished Traitor Carolyn Wiger.

"Dylan I really trusted as a Faithful because he was walking around very stressed, the way I was," Tom said, laughing. "We tried to work together at times like, 'OK, I'll be on you on your side when it comes to Ciara, but let's maybe go a different direction the next time?' But then there were people like Carolyn, who I felt was an ally, but then I figured out later that she was the one protecting me."

Speaking of Carolyn, though she was bested by fellow Traitor Danielle, Tom said, "I think she played a great game." Asked when he started to get an idea that she might be a Traitor, he said it was during the dollhouse mission: Carolyn was blatantly persistent about asking him who won the shield. 

"I'm like, 'But why do you want to know that?'" he remembered. "Because if I had been in the other group, I would have never pushed that hard, and everybody respected the fact that you're not going to tell anyone. And I told her that, too. I was like, 'Look, if I tell you who has the shield, then that will implicate me, and it will also implicate you. This is also for your own protection.'"

He added, "Also, when she got the shield, she was showing everybody and being a little obvious. Once I didn't get murdered after the bug challenge, it really shifted. I knew I had to start looking in a different direction than Dolores, for instance."

The finale of The Traitors Season 3 airs Thursday, March 6 on Peacock at 9/8c, followed immediately after by the reunion special.