At one point the most-hated reality TV figure in all the land, Tom Sandoval continues to add new side quests to his onscreen portfolio. After making a splash with The Traitors last year, now he’s moved on to an entirely new competition—appearing on America’s Got Talent with his band.

Tom surprised many fans when he appeared as the frontman of the group, though many were split about his vocal performance. Now, Tom has spoken out about what the experience has been like so far—and what about AGT makes him “nervous.”

Tom Has Kept A Positive Attitude About The Competition

In a recent conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Tom shared that he’d been happy with his time on AGT thus far. Despite calling it “scary” and “a lot of pressure,” he noted that it was a cool opportunity to be able to share with his bandmates:

Tom and his band performed a cover of A-ha’s “Take On Me” for their audition, advancing through to the next round after receiving four “yes” votes from the judging panel.

Tom Has Faced Criticism For His Performance

Despite stepping out of his comfort zone for the competition, Tom has received some criticism for his performance thus far. Notably, judge Simon Cowell had some harsh words to say about Tom’s lack of vocal skills, but even then the reality TV star seemed to be able to let the comments roll off.

In the same conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Tom even said he could understand where Simon was coming from with his criticism:

It seems like Tom is willing to see where the rest of the competition takes him, and he highlighted once more how much he wanted to give the rest of his bandmates the opportunity for more exposure.

As for the fan reception, the reviews appear to be quite mixed. Some viewers were pleasantly surprised as, like many, they had no idea that Tom was in a band nor that he sang. “Not even gonna be a hater, I am VERY pleasantly surprised! He sounds really great,” said one user.

Others lauded the band’s choice of cover, thinking it played to their strengths. “Gotta admit that he sounds pretty good. And he chose a great song for the crowd,” wrote a different user. Some fans even joked that while they didn’t want to support Tom in the wake of his Vanderpump Rules cheating scandal two years ago, they couldn’t deny his musical talent.

There were several others, however, who were plenty content to lay on the heat. While there weren’t many comments that completely panned the performance, there were some who wrote it off as nothing special. “It’s a cover band you can find any Friday night at your townie pub,” one person described.

Others couldn’t help but draw a parallel with Tom’s ex, Adriana Maddix, with her supporters pointing out how much more successful her career was in the wake of their split. “Meanwhile Ariana hosting the biggest show on TV,” one person quipped, referencing her latest gig as the host of Love Island USA.

Through it all, Tom seems committed to not letting the hate get to him—something which, after two years of being dragged through the mud for his cheating scandal, he seems to have quite a bit of experience doing. “I am down for anything. I’m just along for the ride. Just getting through the audition was a big step, so I’m just excited to see where we go from here,” he explained.

When it comes to responding to his haters, Tom says it’s something he’d rather not engage with at all. “I don’t really know what to say to those people. I think it’s up to them,” he offered. “I’m just gonna keep living my life, doing myself, and keep putting myself out there, and keep moving forward,” he said. Only time will tell how far his journey with his band on AGT will take him.