Tom Schwartz opened up about where he stands with Tom Sandoval.
“I’m completely starting my life over,” the reality TV star, 43, said on the Wednesday, May 6, episode of Nick Viall’s “Viall Files” podcast. “My old life is gone. Tom Tom’s for sale, Schwartz and Sandy’s is for sale, I’m not going to be a bootleg Lisa Vanderpump, which was the goal,” he said of his restaurants with Sandoval, which opened in 2018.
Schwartz continued, “I actually had a really good conversation with Sandoval yesterday. I talked to him for like an hour — FaceTimed him — and he’s just doing so well right now. It was nice; he sounded so good and optimistic.”
Viall, 45, then asked the Vanderpump Rules alum if he feels like “there’s been distance created” in his longtime friendship with Sandoval, also 43.
“Yes,” Schwartz replied. “We took a long break from each other. I mean, S&S, that almost destroyed our friendship,” he said, referring to the backlash Schwartz & Sandy’s received after Sandoval’s infamous affair with former Vanderpump Rules costar and BFF to his then-girlfriend Ariana Madix, Raquel Leviss.
“Listen, it’s water under the bridge now,” Schwartz added. “I have no lingering resentment.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Schwartz voiced his support for Sandoval in his new ventures, which have included appearing on several reality TV shows and competing on America’s Got Talent with his band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras.
“He’s working on a cool project, I don’t even know what it’s about but I just know he’s out there giving 1000% everyday,” Schwartz explained “He’s so immersed.”
Schwartz has been candid in the past about his belief that Sandoval left him to deal with the financial mess of Schwartz & Sandy’s.
“I got enough problems in my life. I’m just like, I did not need this,”Schwartz said on the Vanderpump Rules season 11 premiere. “My god, man. Last year almost just broke me. I got divorced, my brother Bert has been having some serious health issues, we had so many bar issues.”
He added that Sandoval’s infidelity and public breakup felt like “a radioactive cherry on top” of his difficult year, which included his split from Katie Maloney.
Now, Schwartz is dating Kiana Carroll, whom he gushed about to Viall.
“It’s love,” he said of his new relationship. “I’m in love again — like, head-over-heels in love again. I call her Kiki. She’s devastatingly gorgeous, like, way out of my league. In a sea of green flags, I’m the only red flag. Why would you date me?”
Schwartz added that within the past “six or seven months,” their relationship has “blossomed into a beautiful thing.”
“Not to brag, but she is a model. But that’s the least interesting thing about her,” he praised. “She’s ferociously funny, she’s traveled the world, independent, super successful.”
Schwartz also referred to Carroll, 27, as his “karma” for his “past relationships.”
