Tom Schwartz had nothing but praise for Jo Wenberg during her Vanderpump Rules debut.
Viewers were introduced to Jo, 35, on the Tuesday, February 20, episode when she was seen cutting Schwartz’s hair. Schwartz, 41, jokingly asked whether Jo preferred “cash or a trip to Olive Garden” to repay her for the haircut and she chose the latter.
“By the way, the entire group thinks you are my secret roommate [and] girlfriend,” he told the hairstylist, who let out a laugh. “I mean we did spend a lot of time together last summer so I get the optics of it.”
Jo agreed that her and Schwartz “still” hang out often. In a confessional, Schwartz offered more information about where he and Jo stand after their past fling.
“Jo is a human being — Jo is a light in my life,” he gushed. “I want to clear things up. Jo was never living with me. Was she staying with me sporadically? Yes. She’s not my girlfriend, she never was. We had a whirlwind romance but we are just buds now.”
Tom Sandoval subsequently joined Jo at Schwartz’s apartment, where the group discussed an upcoming cast trip. Schwartz encouraged Sandoval, 41, to be more receptive to mending his issues with Lala Kent and Scheana Shay ahead of their getaway to Lake Tahoe. Sandoval, meanwhile, continued to bring up his past issues with his costars.
Jo mainly watched Schwartz give Sandoval advice and didn’t provide much insight herself. The episode marked Jo’s first onscreen appearance on Vanderpump Rules after being cast in a “friend of” capacity. She was previously mentioned during season 10 after Schwartz’s divorce from Katie Maloney.
Schwartz and Katie, 37, announced their split in March 2022 after more than a decade together. As Schwartz entered the dating scene again, his Vanderpump Rules costars questioned his connection with Jo, which he clarified at the reunion.
“No, [Jo] wasn’t [my girlfriend]. Especially not at that point. It did evolve into a situationship or a friends with benefits thing with clearly defined boundaries,” Schwartz said in the May 2023 special. “We were both coming out of long-term relationships, and for a minute there, we were each other’s happy places.”
Katie, meanwhile, made it clear she wasn’t on good terms with Jo.
“Jo is spooky. I mean none of us could stand to be around her. Her energy is on par with a crackhead,” she wrote in an Instagram comment in February 2023. “But when Tom and I announced our divorce almost a year ago the last thing she text[ed] me was, ‘I love you, and I’m so supporting of your inner thoughts and visions / live in the moment, you’re a gem and I’ve always respected you. I love you. Xo Jo.’ She is a psycho and I will also light her on fire.”
Before her debut, Jo took to social media to share her thoughts on the experience.
“I’m going public with my Instagram tonight. I hope you guys will all be kind to me. I haven’t gotten the nicest stuff on any type of platform. But I wanted just to make sure that you guys could [see] just me with no makeup or filter. This is who I am,” she said in a November 2023 Instagram video. “I did film this season of Vanderpump Rules, and it was a very big, eye-opening experience. I am usually behind the camera, and being in front of the camera was very hard for me. But I will say the producers were really awesome.”
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
