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Tom Sandoval Says Girlfriend Ariana Madix Is ‘Great’ After Opening Up About Her Depression: ‘She Struggles With It on a Regular Basis’ (Exclusive)

Working through it. Tom Sandoval revealed that his girlfriend, Ariana Madix, is dealing with her depression as best she can following her choice to open up about it on Vanderpump Rules.

Related: Stars Who've Battled Mental Health Problems

“She’s doing great,” Tom, 36, told Us Weekly exclusively about his partner. “We’re doing great.”

Ariana, 34, got candid about her struggle with depression on the “Ex-Best Man, Ex-Best Friend” episode of Vanderpump Rules, which aired on February 25. In the episode, which filmed in June 2019, Ariana admitted that she was “considering driving off the f—ing freeway bridge when I’m driving home at night,” causing her costars to see that she was dealing with much more than they could’ve imagined.

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Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix attend the Charlie’s Angels film premiere on November 11, 2019. Rob Latour/Shutterstock

Since the episode filmed, however, the Florida native has been focused on getting herself to a better place mentally, according to Tom.

“Obviously it’s something that she struggles with on a regular basis,” he told Us in February. “I go through phases, but mine is more … I will struggle with that in the beginning of the year — around January is always a really hard month for me, but she struggles with it on a regular basis.”

Related: Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix Spill 'Vanderpump' Tea Book

The couple, who live together, are “slowly, but surely” getting their house in order and working on having each other’s back no matter what issues come their way.

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Tom Sandoval

“All I could do is try to be supportive, try not to be annoying. Because I’ll try to overcompensate it and it’s annoying. I know it’s annoying, but I don’t know what to do,” the Missouri native admitted. “I want to help. I want to help, but you can only do so much.”

He added: “I feel like she deals with it the best she can, very well, we’re very much aware of these things and we just try to deal with it and be happy.”

This season on the Bravo series, Ariana also came out as bisexual, which has brought them closer.

“I think that the more you’re open and honest about who you are, I feel like it just makes you stronger in the end,” Tom told Us. “It’s something I’ve known.”

The pair are now ready to have a good year, including taking a trip at some point together and trying to “keep ourselves busy.”

Related: 'Vanderpump Rules' Season 8: What We Know

“Whenever we’re busy, whenever we’re working out, healthy, being proactive, it just tends to be a positive influence on our relationship. We just want to kind of keep those things going on,” the actor explained. “We’re very close. We joke around on a regular basis. We have great debates, intelligent debates. We have a lot of respect for each other. It’s a positive thing.”

Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

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