If anyone knew that Tom Sandoval was sleeping with Raquel Leviss behind Ariana Madix’s back, it would be Tom Schwartz. Not just because Schwartz and Sandoval are close friends. So close that Katie Maloney considered the latter a third wheel in her marriage to Schwartz.
But also, Schwartz is very malleable. And he’s never challenged Sandoval on anything in the years they appeared together on Vanderpump Rules. Schwartz’s ex-wife often called out the imbalance in their relationship. Yet he never heeded her warnings.
But Schwartz may want to now. Sandoval and Raquel are shunned by the VPR cast. The public hasn’t accepted their affair, either. Their restaurant, Schwartz & Sandy’s, is crippled with poor reviews and boycotts as a result of Sandoval’s cheating.
There is no good reason to stay by Sandoval’s side except for blind loyalty. Katie said she warned Schwartz to drop Sandoval when she appeared on the Viall Files podcast recently. Us Weekly reported that she is not “certain” when he found out about the affair. Yet Sandoval would have distanced himself from the situation.
“I think the main thing with Tom that we’ve seen in [the] past is that Schwartz is very much subservient to Tom in a lot of ways. He lets Tom kind of dominate him and the friendship and the business. And because Schwartz is kind of, like, wants to just go with the flow and doesn’t want to be confrontational about things had the roles been reversed — let’s say in this whole situation with the Scandoval — I told him that, you know, ‘I think Tom would throw you under the bus and save himself,’”
Katie said, “’He would drown you if the ship was sinking and save [himself]. He would hop in a lifeboat.’ So I think as much as you want to say, ‘That isn’t true or you don’t think that would happen,’ like, think about it because I think that would.”
Interestingly, Sandoval addressed Schwartz and their restaurant before publicly apologizing to Ariana. Neither party considered how Sandoval’s cheating would affect their business.
Katie explained, “I told [Schwartz], I’m like, ‘Now that you’ve really hitched your wagon to this person, and you’re in business with this person, and the fact that they could go out into the world, and be so careless and not think about the ramifications and how it could affect you — that has to be frustrating to you.’ He’s just very much concerned about the business. … And is like, ‘I don’t think the business should have to fail because of it.’ … I don’t like canceled culture in that sense [or] in general, [but], like, when your business is solely based off your reputation … if you want to be the fun guys who, you know, everyone wants to come have a drink with, you better maintain that you’re a fun guy that someone wants to have a drink with.”
Indeed, Schwartz & Sandy’s seems to be a case study in what not to do when opening an eatery. From delaying the opening to Scandoval backlash hurting business. Katie wants to do “everything” differently with her business. She and Ariana are opening a sandwich shop named Something About Her.
“The entire poor approach we wanted to do differently. We wanted to really crystallize our idea and our plan, budget, branding, all of it, before we even started spending any kind of real money,” Katie explained. “We worked with a consulting company who’ve opened their own restaurants, who have helped other people, you know, relaunch [businesses from] hotels to coffee shops to other bars and restaurants around L.A.”
During the interview, Katie gave an update on Ariana. The VPR star was “blindsided” by the affair. Yet Ariana recovered enough to rock an amazing revenge dress to the reunion. She also took Tom and Raquel to task for their betrayal.
Katie stated, “When it comes to any kind of relationship that ends — especially after the decade — it’s not linear. You’re gonna have days where you’re like, ‘I feel great.’ It’s always easier when you can really hate the person, I think. But I think for the most part, she’s feeling really good. She has a really healthy outlook on it all.”
Katie added, “She wants to just leave it in the past, move on. She thinks they’re scumbags. … She understands that, like, every day her life is gonna get better. But you know, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”
It would be great to see Ariana and Katie succeed in their business. There’s a symbolism there, especially for Ariana, to come out on top. Both in her personal and professional life.
TELL US- WOULD SANDOVAL HAVE THROWN SCHWARTZ UNDER THE BUS IF HE HAD BEEN THE ONE CHEATING? SHOULD SCHWARTZ DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM SANDOVAL? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THEIR FRIENDSHIP? DO YOU THINK ARIANA AND KATIE’S SANDWICH SHOP WILL SUCCEED?
[Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo]
