Tom Sandoval Opens Up About Rachel Leviss Cutting Him Off: 'Optics' Became Her 'Priority'

"It was so defeating," said Sandoval during Tuesday's 'Vanderpump Rules' after show

Tom Sandoval is getting real about where he stands with Rachel "Raquel" Leviss.

During Tuesday's Vanderpump Rules after show, Sandoval revealed that communication between the two stopped "shortly before" he appeared on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, which he filmed just before production on VPR season 11 began last summer.

Sandoval said cutting ties was "really hard" since he had been doing "everything" possible to support her following her stay at The Meadows, a mental health facility in Arizona that she entered at the height of the Scandoval to address her trauma and love addiction.

Related: Rachel Leviss Admits What About the Scandoval Still Makes Her 'Defensive': 'They Painted a Diabolical Picture'

Leviss, 29, checked into The Meadows after filming the show's brutal season 10 reunion, where she and Sandoval, 41, were taken to task for their months-long affair behind the backs of the friendship group and his then-girlfriend of nine years Ariana Madix.

"It was so defeating. I was doing everything I could to be there with her," Sandoval said of Leviss. "That's why I quit drinking. That's why I quit smoking because I knew she couldn't do that. I wanted for when she got out [for us] to be on the same page. Maybe we could have our first drink together."

Related: Tom Sandoval on Feeling 'Very Close' to Suicide and Getting Sober After His World Began 'Collapsing on Itself'

When asked why Leviss chose to stop talking to him, he said that he believes there are "a lot of reasons."

"It hurts me to hear the things that she says because I was always such a champion of her and being empowered by herself and making her own decisions," he said. "I was always the one to push her up and tell her what a smart, powerful woman she is and is becoming."

Related: Rachel Leviss 'Hated' Tom Sandoval Reducing Her to a 'Temptress,' Says He Called Her Trauma Therapy Stay 'Selfish'

Sandoval added that he believes "a lot of it had to do with her parents not liking me and being mad that she ended up in this situation and blaming me for that."

"Obviously, it's partly my fault; it's partly her fault," he continued. "You know, definitely not blameless, but her publicist would constantly say 'optics, optics, optics.' And I think the optics of the situation became the priority over anything else."

Earlier this month, Leviss reflected on the situation while speaking to PEOPLE at the GLAUDI by Johana Hernandez's New York Fashion Week presentation.

"It was a very difficult time for me," the Rachel Goes Rogue podcast host told PEOPLE. "I felt like I wasn't going to get through it at some moments, and so I'm just so happy that I'm able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and finally reintegrate into the real world."

Leviss added that she feels like she has "overcome a lot of difficulties this past year" and has started "living life again, so it feels really good."

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Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.

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