Does Tom Schwartz have a new woman in his life? As his messy divorce from Katie Maloney plays out on Vanderpump Rules, he’s opening up exclusively to Us Weekly about his “dear friend” Jo Wenberg.
“Jo is a badass hairstylist. … I think she’s a beautiful soul,” the 40-year-old reality star told Us during a joint interview with Tom Sandoval at Schwartz & Sandy’s in West Hollywood on Wednesday, February 22.
Schwartz mentioned Jo (who began consistently working with the cast as a hairstylist in 2015) on Wednesday’s episode of the Bravo hit, telling Scheana Shay that he was up until 4 a.m. “hanging out” with her — but denied that they had ever hooked up.
“We’re not living together and we’re not dating either, but she’s just someone who I appreciate on a deep level and she’s a really cool human being, and we’re just hanging out,” he told Us.
Months after season 10, episode 3 filmed in July 2022, social media users began questioning Schwartz’s relationship with Jo when she was spotted in footage of Raquel Leviss’ Instagram Stories from a concert in Los Angeles in December 2022.
“I just got out of a 12-year relationship. I cannot be in a committed — I can’t dive back into another relationship,” Schwartz told Us. “It wouldn’t be fair to the other person ‘cause I’m kind of consumed with, like, business and my family and I’m kind of falling in love with myself all over again.”
Schwartz and Katie, 36, called it quits in February 2022 after five years of marriage and 12 years as a couple. They announced their breakup one month later.
“I’ll always have a very special place in my heart [for Katie] and I’ll always miss the best parts of us, but I would probably say in terms of romance or rekindling the marriage, it’s over,” Schwartz told Us when asked about referencing The Notebook during a recent episode of the series. “Although I will say today, you know, I went to the mall, Bloomingdale’s over in the valley, and I was deleting voicemails. I had, like, 500. I know people who have OCD are gonna lose their minds. And I was deleting ’em, and I saw one from January 2022 from Katie.”
Schwartz noted he hadn’t previously listened to the 14-second voicemail.
“It was one of those, like, voicemails you leave your significant other when you’re in a relationship. It was very nonchalant. It’s not about anything in particular,” he continued. “It’s like, ‘Hey, just checking in, you know, to see about this.’ And I will say, I miss having that. I’m embracing being single, but it’s nice to have someone where you can just, like, call and be like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? You know, I accidentally sharted earlier. It’s so embarrassing. I had to pull over to a gas station.’”
Despite cracking a joke, Schwartz admitted, “That was, like, tears started welling up for the first time in a while, but I will say, I’m in a good, healthy place right now.”
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. Schwartz & Sandy’s is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, starting at 5 p.m. local time.
