Prior to the Vanderpump Rules Season 12 premiere, Andy Cohen took a walk down memory lane to revisit the OG cast’s highs and lows, including Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney’s 2022 divorce.
As revealed in a previously unseen moment from Season 10 that aired for the first time during Nov. 25’s “Raise Your Glass” special, an emotional Tom Sandoval admitted that he shouldered more blame for Schwartz and Katie’s split than you might have expected. After all, as Andy put it while introducing the clip, “Things between Katie and Tom really fell apart when he got into business with Sandoval, and they opened Schwartz & Sandy’s.”
The unaired scene showed Katie meeting Sandoval for lunch, the day after she and Schwartz had gotten into a heated argument.
RELATED:Â See What Happened When Tom Schwartz & Tom Sandoval Reunited Backstage at BravoCon
“I don’t mean this in a selfish way, but, man, like, when I found out you and Schwartz were getting divorced, man, it f–kin’ killed me inside,” Sandoval told Katie during their meetup. “I would listen to songs and be driving. I would just, like, start sobbing in the car.”
After Katie detailed her reasons for divorcing Schwartz (more on that below), Sandoval tearfully replied, “Dude, like, any way you cut it, I know that, like, in some way, shape… I had something to do with it.”
He went on to say “sorry” no less than five times.
What Katie Maloney told Tom Sandoval about her split from Tom Schwartz
As Katie assured Sandoval in the throwback scene that was filmed in 2022, her divorce filing after six years of marriage had actually been on the horizon for quite some time.
“I feel like some people think it just, like, came out of nowhere, but it definitely didn’t,” she explained. “I mean, it was something that was on my mind for, like, a really long time, because obviously I didn’t want it. …Â Â I didn’t have a choice.”
As Katie elaborated in a confessional, “In this relationship and marriage with Tom, I wasn’t happy. I thought we were headed towards a future we both wanted, but… He didn’t think he ever had to put any effort in, because he didn’t think I’d ever leave him. And I needed to admit that to myself, and once I did, I put myself as number one for the first time in a very long time.”
RELATED:Â Tom Schwartz Reveals What Happened to Katie Maloney’s Wedding Ring After Their Divorce
Though Sandoval, through tears, insisted that he was “not trying to be emotional,” Katie remarked that she had similar moments “all the time,” before laying out why she, nonetheless, did not believe that she could have a post-divorce friendship with Schwartz, particularly after he “was such a jerk” to her the night before.
“We’re getting into the same fights where he’s more concerned about someone else’s feelings and giving them the benefit of the doubt,” she continued. “And the thing is, that is the reason why I’m divorcing him — because I couldn’t deal with that as his wife, and I can’t deal with that as a friend. And I realized this morning, I don’t have to. I don’t deserve it.”
Andy Cohen and Lisa Vanderpump reacted to Sandoval’s confession about Schwartz and Katie’s divorce
After the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen host noted that, in the present day, the clip provided “a window into the complicated dynamic” that led to Schwartz and Katie’s “downfall,” he and Lisa Vanderpump both shared their honest reactions to the clip.
“I don’t think I realized that Tom [Sandoval] felt a sense of responsibility for their split,” Andy remarked while seated at a table with Lisa at West Hollywood’s SUR Restaurant and Lounge.
LVP’s take? “It’s kind of unusual to see Sandoval really contrite. But I think it hurt him as well. I think it did.”
As you await the Vanderpump Rules Season 12 premiere featuring an all-new cast of SUR-vers, find out where Schwartz and Katie’s friendship stands today.
