Tom Schwartz finally spoke out on all the wild drama surrounding his Vanderpump Rules costars, as it appeared he had a lot of explaining to do. The reality star found himself in the middle of the cheating scandal where Ariana Madix broke up with longtime boyfriend Tom Sandoval after he had an affair with their costar Raquel Leviss. Schwartz had an infamous kiss with Raquel that some are now saying was a “cover up” for his buddy Sandoval’s affair. Schwartz denied it to TMZ on Saturday, March 11. “No, that’s not true,” he said, adding, “Unless I was a pawn in the game.”
Schwartz’ denial, however, doesn’t exactly match up with a recently resurfaced video where he blames Sandoval for the kiss in Cancun. In any case, when pressed by the news outlet if he knew about the affair, Schwartz played coy and answered, “You’ll see it play out on the show.” He then gave an update on the former couple, who had been together since 2014.
“[Sandoval’s] okay, I think. Relatively speaking, I mean, he has a sense of profound sadness, rightfully so, that he’s a piece of s—. And to some extent, maybe he is,” Schwartz told TMZ. “But he knows he f—ed up, and the whole thing is just really sad. Luckily, Ariana has a really good support system, and she’s with her friends,” he added. “I hope she’s living a good life, just indulging. Hope she goes on a living spree. I’m just hoping this whole thing blows over.”
Schwartz, however, said he has not spoken with Raquel since the affair was exposed, nor has he had a chance to chat with Raquel’s former BFF Scheana Shay, who was rumored to have punched Raquel over the news. Raquel filed a restraining order against her, claiming Scheana got physical, leaving what she claims are visible injuries. Scheana denied it in a strongly worded statement through her lawyer on Thursday, March 9. “This case is a fabrication by a known liar and a cheat who has betrayed everyone close to her. Scheana never punched Rachel, period,” the statement read in part.
As for Sandoval, he took to his own Instagram on March 8 to apologize to Ariana. “I want to first and foremost apologize to everyone I’ve hurt through this process,” Tom wrote. “Most of all, I want to apologize to Ariana. I made mistakes, I was selfish, and made reckless decisions that hurt somebody I love. No one deserves to feel that pain so traumatically and publicly.” Tom had made an earlier public statement, but did not directly apologize to Ariana.
Meanwhile, Andy Cohen confirmed fans would get to see the fallout of Tom and Ariana’s relationship play out during Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules. As HollywoodLife reported earlier, Bravo producers have been catching all the drama on camera.