Was Tom Sandoval having doubts about his relationship with Ariana Madix long before his cheating scandal?

An interview with Us Weekly resurfaced on Wednesday that seemed to hint the 39-year-old reality star could no longer picture a future with his longtime girlfriend. Shortly after the two bought their home together, Sandoval told the outlet in February 2020 that he didn’t “really have any relationship goals” with Ariana. Whoa. The cover band frontman then noted that things are good between them whenever they’re keeping “busy,” explaining:

“I think maybe take a trip, just spend time with each other, do some fun activities, keep ourselves busy. Whenever we’re busy, whenever we’re working out, healthy, being proactive, it just tends to be a positive influence on our relationship.”

RELATED: Ariana Madix Breaks Her Silence!! 

Sandoval then noted that he and the 37-year-old joke around with each other all the time, saying:

“We have great debates, intelligent debates. We have a lot of respect for each other. It’s a positive thing.”

Wow. Sandoval claims to “have a lot of respect” for Ariana, yet he has the nerve to have a full-on relationship with their co-star (and possibly other women) behind her back. Really, dude? That doesn’t exactly look like the Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner has any sort of “respect” for his ex-girlfriend to us. When asked if the former couple would ever try out an open relationship, he replied:

“I don’t know.”

Of course, Sandoval and Ariana faced rumors that they were in an open relationship after the season 10 trailer dropped earlier this year. However, she shut down the speculation on Twitter (before she deactivated her account):

“we dont have an open relationship. i’m really not that cool. thought that was obvious. #pumprules.”

Turns out rumors about them having an open relationship would be the least of her problems…

Three years after the Us Weekly interview, news broke that Sandoval cheated on Ariana with their castmate (and her close friend) Raquel Leviss for seven months. Scheana Shay’s friend Kael Ramsey Ackerson revealed on the Jamie All Over podcast Tuesday that the 28-year-old told him the pair became “closer” after she went on a girl’s trip to Sin City in August 2022:

“She basically just told me [it happened] seven months ago and after the Las Vegas trip. I told her, ‘Bro, you literally called me an hour or ​two after the girls that made you cry and then you hit me back when you were in Los Angeles.’ And she was like, ‘[After the boys night] is when we got closer.’”

Flash forward to March 2023, Sandoval’s phone fell out of his pocket during a performance with his cover band Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, and she discovered an explicit recording of a FaceTime between him and Raquel. Awful. This prompted Ariana to break up with him after nine years of dating.

Related: Katie Maloney Drools Over Ex Tom Schwartz’s New Winter House Co-Star!

But beyond the cheating scandal, the split apparently was a long time coming. A source previously told The Sun that Ariana and Sandoval “were having issues these past few months.” Things between them became so bad at one point that the business owner “tried to break up with Ariana before.” However, they stayed together until his infidelity came to light.

Even if the duo were having problems or if Sandoval was done with the relationship over the past three years, that is not an excuse to cheat on Ariana. He could have had the decency to break up with her first before starting something up with Raquel. Just saying!

But what do YOU think, Perezcious readers? Do you believe the Us Weekly interview was a sign there was going to be trouble in paradise between Sandoval and Ariana? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image via MEGA/WENN, Ariana Madix/Instagram]