Tom Schwartz is here to set the record straight: he was the main cause for his split with Katie Maloney, not his BFF Tom Sandoval. “[T]hat’s all on me,” the Vanderpump Rules star told a photographer at Home Depot in L.A. on Wednesday, according to E! News. “I wish I had a scapegoat, but that’s all on me.” The reality star, 39, also called the separation “complicated,” but noting he was doing “OK.”
“Of course I’m sad, but, you know, we still love each other very much,” Tom went on.
Although the pair seemed somewhat amicable during the most recent season of Vanderpump Rules, there have always been issues of concern for Katie and Tom, even when they first walked down the aisle in 2016 (they had a second wedding in 2019 to make it official). Those issues have often become even more fraught with Tom’s bestie in the wings, as Sandoval has called Katie a “bully” in the past and the two butted heads this past season over Katie wanting to be more involved in the Toms’ new spot, Schwartz & Sandy’s.
In accordance with the aforementioned admittance of fault, however, Tom noted in his statement that it was Katie’s “decision” to end their relationship and that no outside opinions had anything to do with the decision.
“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,” Tom shared via his Instagram pages on March 15.
Meanwhile, Katie is ready to be single and remains hopeful about finding love. A source close to the Bravolebrity spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife and explained why Katie is “looking forward to what’s next.”
“Katie is handling the separation better than expected,” an insider revealed. “She knows she’s young enough to completely start over and find someone who makes her happy. A piece of her will always love Tom, but they really had grown apart over the years.”
It was also shared how thankful the reality star is she has supportive friends like Stassi Schroeder and Lala Kent to keep her grounded. “Katie is so thankful she has an amazing group of girlfriends around her and she’s been leaning heavily on Stassi and Lala. Katie loves that she has another single friend now in Lala so they can support each other and know what the other is going through,” the pal continued.