Tom Schwartz admits to feeling 'exploited' by his longtime friend.
Following an explosive season of Vanderpump Rules, which culminated into a three-part drama-filled reunion special, Tom Schwartz is revealing the last thing he said to Tom Sandoval.
In an interview on former Vanderpump Rules castmates Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's podcast, When Reality Hits With Jax and Brittany, on PodcastOne, Schwartz revealed that he hasn't "seen or talked" to Sandoval in "a long time" amid the latter's current tour with his band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras. Schwartz said that he felt "exploited" by his longtime friend and business partner after he cheated on his longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix, with Raquel Leviss, and revealed that they last spoke immediately following the Bravo series' reunion taping.
"That was the last thing I said to him, before we left the reunion," Schwartz began, "I said, 'Dude, after all the s**t you put me through and everyone else around you through,' I was like, 'You better f**king marry this girl.'"
Schwartz added, "I'm happy to report that I have no idea," about the current relationship status between Sandoval and Leviss. "I have no clue, and it could not make me happier. I do not want to know any secrets."
The three-part Vanderpump Rules reunion special has devoted most of its screen time to "Scandoval," as fans have dubbed Sandoval's affair with Leviss. The entanglement served as the catalyst for the end of Sandoval's nearly decade-long relationship Madix.
"In this case in particular, I feel like he exploited me," Schwartz said on Taylor and Cartwright's podcast. As the story of Scandoval began unfolding on screen, Schwartz -- who co-owns the West Hollywood eateries TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy's with Sandoval -- was largely portrayed to be complicit in keeping the romance a secret from Madix. For his part, Sandoval has maintained that there were issues in his relationship with Madix, and that he tried to end things with her.
"I do love Tom and I took to heart everything he told me about Ariana and now that I've heard her side of the story, she has, like, vehemently denied all of this stuff," Schwartz said.
"I am guilty of being too complacent and turning a blind eye," he acknowledged. "In my defense, based on the information Tom Sandoval had given me about the relationship, you know, he's one of my closest friends. I bought what he was selling."
Schwartz noted that, due to health issues within his own family and contrary to the way it was portrayed in editing, he had very little "bandwidth" to pay attention to what was happening in Sandoval's life at the time.
"With the little bandwidth and attention span that I had to give to this whole situation, I believed him," Schwartz continued. "From what Ariana is saying, it's all bulls**t. He sold me a s**t bill of goods and, I don't know, maybe that's one of my biggest regrets is maybe, I wish I would have done more due diligence. Maybe I should have gave him an ultimatum."
Schwartz also said he regrets his own involvement with Leviss, when the pair locked lips while in Mexico during co-star Scheana Shay's wedding festivities. The pre-Scandoval moment exploded when Schwartz's ex-wife, Katie Maloney, found out.
"I do regret kissing Raquel in Mexico because of how much it hurt Katie," he admitted.
As for his current situation with Sandoval, Schwartz said that he's "taking a break from Tom right now. I haven't seen him in a while."
He explained, "He made a big mess. And then, you know, he left it for us to clean up back at the businesses. And it's hard for me not to be resentful of him."
At one point during Wednesday's special, host Andy Cohen asked if Sandoval had slept with any other women since sparking his affair with Leviss, to which Sandoval said he had not -- and denied rumors about hooking up with another woman in Chicago last year.
This is when Madix brought up an important point, stating, "Well, you know who he did sleep with after he and Raquel started sleeping together? Me."
Sandoval's retort sent shockwaves through the group.
"She kept her T-shirt on, it was really hot," he shot back sarcastically. The comment was met with stunned silence from his castmates.
"You're such a f**king d**k," Lala Kent eventually declared, as James Kennedy asked simply, "What the f**k dude? You're f**king disgusting."
Even Schwartz was left with nothing to do but hang his head in embarrassment and quietly mutter, "Don't say that, dude. Don't say that."
Later in the telecast, Leviss sat down for a separate interview to admit that she and Sandoval had lied about the timeline of their relationship.
"I think it's important to me to tell the truth," she said. "I think that I've been lying and being so deceitful this entire time that I don't want to lie anymore. And it's all out there anyway. The worst is out. Yet I'm still finding myself having to lie about specific timeline things."
You can read a full transcript of her remarks here.
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