Awkward! Tom Sandoval joked about hooking up with Tom Schwartz’s ex-wife, Katie Maloney, weeks before news broke about his affair with Raquel Leviss.
The Vanderpump Rules stars opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about where they stand with their fellow Bravo personalities while chatting about season 10 of the hit reality series. Schwartz, 40, got candid about the aftermath of his 2022 split from Maloney, 36, which is currently playing out on the show. (The pair finalized their divorce last October.)
“We did make, like, this sort of very informal pact to not hook up with anyone from the group, but I don’t know [how] much merit I put in that,” the Minnesota native exclusively told Us. “If the roles were reversed, it doesn’t matter who Katie hooks up with or did, [or] would’ve hooked up with.”
Sandoval, 39, cut in and quipped, “Well, I have something to tell you … ”
Tom Sandoval and Katie Maloney. Stephanie Augello/Shutterstock
Weeks after the duo’s joint interview, Us confirmed on Friday, March 3, that the Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras singer and Ariana Madix ended their nine-year relationship after he cheated with Leviss, 28. The former beauty queen, who joined the Bravo series in 2016, previously caused a stir after she made out with Schwartz five months after his split from Maloney.
Ahead of her split from Sandoval, the Florida native, 37, addressed the rumors that the duo were in an open relationship.
“I shut it down just because I feel like when you let things ruminate like that, it kind of just becomes more than it is,” she exclusively told Us last month. “Honestly, it would be really sexy if we were, but we’re not.”
As his affair with Leviss raised eyebrows, Sandoval spoke out about the scandal but asked that his friends and family — along with his and Schwartz’s businesses — be spared from the backlash.
“Hey, I fully understand [and] deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation … Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently, and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing,” he wrote via Instagram on Saturday, March 4.
Sandoval did not address Madix directly in his apology. He continued: “I’m so sorry that my partners, Greg, Brett, and Schwartz and our employees have to suffer for my actions. I will be taking a step back & taking a hiatus out of respect for my employees & partners … I need some time to address everything else.”
Leviss, meanwhile, has yet to issue a public statement about the controversy. Schwartz, for his part, seemingly reacted to the news right away.
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“I asked my magic 8 ball if it was going to be a chill day ,” he wrote via his Instagram Story at the time. “My reply is no,” read the Magic 8 ball’s response.