They were friends — until they weren’t. Ariana Madix and Tom Schwartz maintained a bond throughout the years, but things took an unexpected turn in the aftermath of Tom Sandoval and Rachel Leviss‘ cheating scandal.
When season 10 of Vanderpump Rules started to air in February 2023, the topic on everyone’s mind was Schwartz’s hookup with Leviss amid his divorce from Katie Maloney. Off screen, however, news broke about the model’s affair with Sandoval.
Us Weekly confirmed in March 2023 that Sandoval and Madix had called it quits after nearly a decade of dating due to his infidelity. The Bravo series ultimately filmed more footage for the season finale that addressed the scandal.
Amid the drama, viewers questioned when Schwartz found out that his friend and business partner was being unfaithful. The Minnesota native later revealed that he was told about Sandoval and Leviss’ relationship shortly after it started.
“I learned about the affair in August. The one-night stand was in August and then it became, from my point of view, it became an emotional affair. Which is still inappropriate, but I didn’t think it was linear,” the bar owner, who had his own makeout with Leviss in August 2022, said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in April 2023. “(Then) in January, he came to me and told me that he was in love with Raquel.”
Schwartz went on to detail a trip he took with the Missouri native and the former beauty pageant queen during their secret romance. “Just for the record, that trip was mine and Tom’s trip,” he added at the time. “He smuggled Raquel in. What was I to do at that point? I knew that they were in love.”
The Schwartz & Sandy’s cofounder added: “At that point, also, I was under the impression that he was more or less broken up with Ariana, and he was in love with Raquel.”
As the drama played out on screen, Madix made it clear that she wasn’t happy with how Schwartz kept Sandoval’s affair a secret. The Paradise City star recalled getting emotional watching Schwartz cover up for her ex on Vanderpump Rules.
“That was the first thing that I saw after not watching the show for weeks,” she said on WWHL in May 2023, referring to a scene where her ex-boyfriend and his best friend discussed Leviss’ potential “crush” on someone in their friend group. “That was the first time I cried in a long time because watching Tom Schwartz fully cosign and alley-oop the whole thing disgusted me to my core.”
The Florida native, who unfollowed Schwartz on social media in March 2023, confirmed they weren’t on good terms because of his continued loyalty to Sandoval.
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Scroll down to relive Madix and Schwartz’s ups and downs:
