VANDERPUMP RULES -- Season:10 -- Pictured: Tom Schwartz -- (Photo by: Tommy Garcia/Bravo)

Vanderpump Rules Star Tom Schwartz Says He And Raquel Leviss Posing For Photo “Wasn’t Malicious”

Schwartz & Sandy’s is shaping up to be ground zero for all the Vanderpump Rules drama. Recent and future. Season 10 is filming on location, including the Daily Mail opening night party. Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz had a tender conversation there about the demise of their relationship.

The saga of Tom’s hookup with Raquel Leviss continues. After the pair locked lips on camera during Brock Davies and Scheana Shay’s wedding, Katie has been angry at Raquel. A source said at the time, “Apparently there was some heavy drinking involved. They made out.”

Katie mocked the Sur waitress and called her a “fan girl” on social media. What we’re seeing on Season 10 of Pump Rules is the swirling mess of what promises to implode by the finale.

Off camera, Raquel posted a picture of herself with Tom posing outside Schwartz & Sandy’s on February 18, 2023. She captioned the Instagram post, “Just cause.”

Tom quickly confirmed to Us Weekly that the picture was innocent in nature. “It was not meant to be a jab. It was not deliberate. It was not premeditated. I never want to do anything to hurt Katie. I still love her and it wasn’t malicious,” Tom insisted.

“It’s not like we coordinated here. Like, ‘Yeah let’s stir the pot a little bit.’ I think we were having a really good night and we were celebrating a milestone. [Raquel] wanted to show some love,” Tom added.

He also acknowledged that the most recent VPR episode shows Katie pushing back at Raquel and Tom’s friendship. So he wasn’t “naive” about the timing of the post.

Tom explained, “I understand that with the storyline this season — inherently it could be interpreted as a little rude. But I never do anything maliciously. Maybe from time to time, I can be careless or slightly inconsiderate.” He continued, “But in regard to Katie, I never want to hurt her. It was never my intention. Given everything that we’ve been through, I feel like we’re on pretty good terms.”

RELATED: The Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Trailer Is Finally Here, And It’s Full Of Hookups, Breakups, and Garcelle Beauvais

The Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner, ever the peacemaker, also addressed his ex-wife’s response to the post. She came in hot, and her displeasure towards Raquel is obvious. In the comments, Katie wrote, “You really thought you did something here but these comments ATE LOLOL [skull emojis].”

“Nobody sad. … The amount of times the picture landed in my inbox, I couldn’t leave it alone. Desperado,” Katie wrote as a response.

Trying to stay neutral, Tom told Us Weekly he was “wary” about checking social media activity. “I’m not too self-righteous to appreciate some good tea. I like some gossip,” he said. “But also, I’m just very wary of thriving off of comments or diving into the comments section.”

He continued, “I saw a few comments [about VPR episodes] and it hurts when you see something that was so special to you — which was my marriage and my relationship to Katie. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a rich and complicated relationship. To see it just be, like, reduced or belittled into, like, 240 characters — sometimes it does hurt a little bit.”

Tom and Raquel’s romance was short-lived, with the TomTom co-founder saying he regretted nothing. Katie maintains that she never “blessed” the hookup and is still hurt by it.

“F—king each other just because is a little weird. I will say right now, I don’t think I am ready to see that or be there just yet,” Katie said during the most recent episode of Pump Rules.

During filming, Raquel and Tom defended their friendship and intentions as perfectly innocent. While pre-gaming with Raquel, Scheana, and Brock, Tom said, “We need to stop our little … by the way, I love when we hang out and flirt. We don’t have to stop hanging out and I feel like we bonded so much.” He added, “We should probably stop doing our little schtick though. There is a double standard.”

Raquel responded, “It is so innocent, and your ex-wife is overreacting quite a lot.”

Was she though? Raquel and Tom were said to have only kissed in the past. However, witnesses say that “more happened.” If so, it would exponentially magnify the drama on Vanderpump Rules.

TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF KATIE AND RAQUEL’S SOCIAL MEDIA FIGHT? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TOM’S RESPONSES? SHOULD HE BE GETTING INVOLVED? SHOULD RAQUEL BE POSTING PICTURES WITH HIM?

[Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo]

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