Vanderpump Rules stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix are all grown up. They dropped $2 million on a house, and they actually bought furniture! Last season on Pump Rules, tensions were high between Sandoval, his bestie and business partner, Tom Schwartz, and Tom’s wife, Katie Maloney.
Katie wanted to be involved in the Toms’ new bar venture, Schwartz and Sandy’s. When Tom and Sandoval presented their rambling mission statement to their business partner, Katie was there. And the business partner liked Katie’s comments and wanted her to be involved. Cue Sandoval’s fiery resentment.
Tom finally stood up and told Sandoval that he needed to respect his wife, which resulted in a friendship break for the Toms. Sandoval even claimed that Katie was using the bar as her story line for VPR. Katie removed herself from the bar chaos, and instead decided to open up a sandwich shop with Ariana. I love this idea!
On March 15, 2022, Katie and Tom announced that they were splitting up after 12 years together. Katie revealed on her podcast, You’re Going To Love Me, “I felt like I was drifting and I couldn’t stop it. The hardest thing to tell him, because I knew it was gonna crush him,” she said. The couple had been separated for over a month.
Tom and Katie are still living together, and Ariana confirmed that Tom was not staying at the Sandoval-Madix love shack. It’s probably only a matter of time before Tom moves in.
Tom still hasn’t removed his wedding ring. He is taking full responsibility for the failure of his marriage and denied that Sandoval was somehow involved.
On March 22, 2022, E! News spoke with Sandoval at the 2022 iHeart Radio Awards in Los Angeles about Tom and Katie’s breakup. “Honestly, Schwartz and I have been really busy with opening up Schwartz and Sandy’s,” Sandoval explained. He added that Tom also has “stuff going on with his dad.”
Sandoval revealed that he has basically been on-call for whenever Tom needs him. Sandoval said that he told Tom, “When you need me, let me know, hit me up. But otherwise, respectfully, I won’t bug you.” He added, “I don’t want to bring stuff up. I don’t want to be a constant reminder of anything. But I’m here.”
RELATED: Katie Maloney Says Split From Tom Schwartz Was “Building Up For Months”
When Ariana learned that Katie had filed for divorce on March 22, 2022, she was surprised. “That’s crazy. So it’s like real real,” Ariana commented. “Well, we love both of them very much,” Ariana remarked. “So, so much.” She added that Katie is “very excited for what’s next for her.”
When asked if Pump Rules would be returning for Season 10, both Ariana and Sandoval said that they “don’t know.” Sandoval commented that with all the cast break-ups, including Raquel Leviss and James Kennedy, a new season would “be a s–t show as usual.”
Katie and Tom seem to be navigating this transition as well as can be expected. The duo was spotted hanging out together after the split news went public.
TELL US- WILL SANDOVAL SUPPORT TOM DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME? WILL SCHWARTZ AND SANDY’S BE A SUCCESS?
[Photo by: Nicole Weingart/Bravo]
