Tom Sandoval Isolated Himself Filming 'Special Forces' Amid Scandoval

Tom Sandoval mastered the art of hide-and-seek as Scandoval erupted ... ironically finding peace thousands of miles away in New Zealand while filming for the grueling series, "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test."

The reality star tells TMZ the show was a saving grace for him ... allowing him to be away from his phone, silence the haters and zero in on the people and tasks in front of him on the show.

Barely thinking about the media circus surrounding the scandal while filming the Fox show, the "Vanderpump Rules" star adds his situation was just a blip compared to his SF teammates' hardships ... with the media frenzy responsible for blowing things up when they didn't need to be.

Fresh off the show after getting the boot during Monday's episode, Tom says it felt fantastic working hard for something that wasn't related to the Ariana Madix-related controversy.

Tom's affair with costar Rachel Leviss was one of the biggest celebrity controversies of the year ... dubbed #Scandoval by 'VPR' fans after TMZ first broke the story in March.

Both ladies are living their best lives, having kicked him to the curb since the scandal erupted -- and as for Tom, he tells us he's glad filming Season 11 of 'VPR' is behind ... and he's clearly still on a redemption quest to right his wrongs.