Not ready to make nice. Katie Maloney opened up about where she stands with Vanderpump Rules costar Raquel Leviss after their social media feud last year.
“Nowhere. I stand far away,” the “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast host, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, February 7, at SUR Restaurant & Lounge in West Hollywood. “That’s where I stand.”
The Bravo personality added that she’d “tried” to make it work with her coworker, 28, but the relationship hasn’t clicked. “Some things are just not meant to be,” Katie told Us. “And our friendship is probably one of them.”
The tension between the duo began last year after Katie’s March 2022 split from Tom Schwartz after more than a decade together. Five months later, Us confirmed that the TomTom co-owner, 40, and Raquel got cozy at Scheana Shay‘s wedding to Brock Davies. “Apparently there was some heavy drinking involved,” an insider exclusively revealed in August 2022. “They made out.”
Raquel, who split from fiancé James Kennedy in January 2022, later told Us that she and Katie weren’t “on the best terms” after the incident. “I can’t speak for her, but I’m just keeping my distance and letting her work out her feelings,” the former SURver explained at BravoCon in October 2022, adding that she’s “good friends” with Tom. “I feel like [our breakups] kind of brought us together as friends and we’ve been able to support each other. I wasn’t expecting that friendship to blossom, but I’m happy that it did.”
Weeks after the fan festival, Katie made headlines when she called Raquel a “fan girl” for wearing a TomTom hoodie. “She a fan girl,” the Utah native wrote via Instagram at the time. “Started as a fan of the show and now a fan of the tom’s.”
Raquel, for her part, brushed off her costar’s comment, writing: “I admit… I am a fan of the Tom’s. I’m definitely a fan of the restaurant … best vibe, food and drinks in WeHo in my opinion. But I’m also a fan of Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval!! 🎉 Here to support their business endeavors 💞.”
Days later, Sandoval, 39, poked fun at the drama by dressing up as Raquel for Halloween, wearing a TomTom sweatshirt and a blond wig. “Guys, look who I ran into,” Raquel joked in an Instagram video in October 2022. “It’s Raquel from BravoCon day 3! Oh, my God. Wow, Raquel, I can’t believe you would frickin’ wear that sweatshirt.”
Sandoval also shared a photo of the look via his own Instagram account, adding the caption, “Raquel has got to stop showing up to TomTom it’s embarrassing.”
While the drama may have soured Katie’s friendship with Raquel, it hasn’t ruined her relationship with Schwartz. “I have a history with Tom and we have dogs, so I was a little bit more keen to try to repair and work through [everything],” she explained to Us. “We’re trying to figure out where the sweet spot is in our friendship that we can remain in each other’s lives, remain friends, but it’s not causing too much rift and all of that.”
Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules premieres on Bravo Wednesday, February 8, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Hannah Kahn
