A clean break? Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz‘s divorce was front and center as the couple filmed season 10 of Vanderpump Rules.
During the premiere, Katie and Tom addressed their breakup for the first time on camera.
“She laid it all out and it made perfect sense. I can’t probably give you the specifics because I was so upset I wasn’t really listening,” the Minnesota native said in a confessional. “But also, I don’t want to ask her again because one of the reasons she broke up with me is because I am not a good listener. Long story short, I just didn’t know how to make her happy.”
Katie, however, noted that her ex-husband’s inability to make her a “priority” contributed to her decision.
Before filming started on season 10, Tom and Katie confirmed they called it quits after more than a decade together. “Well this sucks,” the businessman wrote via Instagram in March 2022. “I’m not the victim. Not gonna write too sad a song. Fully respect Katie’s decision and we’ve had healthy, productive conversations about it. It would be far sadder if she decided to stay with me whilst not happy.”
He continued: “How am I supposed to capture 12 years of love in a f—king canned Instagram caption. I’m not quite ready to use the ‘D’ word [because] it’s too painful. We had some of the most blissful, romantic, fun times humanly possible over the course of our relationship. I’m talking heaven on earth level joy. She taught me so much about love & being a better partner.”
Us Weekly later confirmed that things in their amicable split took a turn when Tom got cozy with costar Raquel Leviss following her split from James Kennedy. In August 2022, a source exclusively revealed that Tom and Raquel “made out” while attending Scheana Shay and Brock Davies’ wedding.
The California native hinted at a divide between her and the “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast host, telling Us in October 2022, “I can’t speak for her, but I’m just keeping my distance and letting her work out her feelings.”
Raquel, who announced on Vanderpump Rules that she called off her engagement to James in January 2022, praised her new connection with Tom. “Right now, we’re good friends. I feel like [our breakups] kind of brought us together as friends and we’ve been able to support each other,” she added. “I wasn’t expecting that friendship to blossom, but I’m happy that it did.”
The TomTom cofounder also weighed in on the feud between Katie and Raquel.
“I stay out of it. I care for Raquel a lot and Katie’s my girl. I love her. We spent more than a quarter of my life together, so I have a lot of respect and love for her. But she can be very reactive and I haven’t had a lot of time to process that yet,” Tom shared with Us one month later.
Scroll down for everything Tom and Katie have said about calling it quits on Vanderpump Rules: