Is a new costar couple on the horizon? Vanderpump Rules‘ Tom Schwartz is speaking out amid rumors that he was getting cozy with castmate Raquel Leviss at Coachella.
The TomTom co-owner, 39, replied to a fan on Tuesday, April 19, after the social media user shared a screenshot of a message alleging the Bravo stars were “boldly holding hands and making out” at the music festival. The first weekend of Coachella ran from Friday, April 15, to Sunday, April 17.
However, the Minnesota native was quick to dispel the speculation. “Guys hate to break it to you but I wasn’t at Coachella 😂,” he tweeted.
Schwartz is one of the original stars of the Bravo hit, which has been airing since 2013. Viewers saw his relationship with Katie Maloney play out across the show’s nine seasons, with the twosome tying the knot in California in 2016. Maloney, 35, and the bartender later revealed that their marriage wasn’t legal since they misplaced their license. Cameras were rolling on their second wedding ceremony in 2019.
Earlier this year, fans began to wonder whether the pair were on the rocks when the “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast host was spotted without her ring. She and Schwartz officially announced their split on March 15.
“Well this sucks,” Schwartz wrote via Instagram at the time. “I’m not the victim. Not gonna write too sad a song. Fully respect Katie’s decision and we’ve had healthy, productive conversations about it. It would be far sadder if she decided to stay with me whilst not happy. … We had some of the most blissful, romantic, fun times humanly possible over the course of our relationship. I’m talking heaven on earth level joy. She taught me so much about love & being a better partner.”
Us Weekly later confirmed that the former SUR waitress filed for divorce on March 22. She went on to address her breakup during an emotional episode of her podcast, telling listeners that she “wanted to be with [Tom] forever.”
Maloney continued, “But ultimately, I just wasn’t happy. For a long time, I sat with it. I thought about it and I didn’t talk to anyone about it for a long time. I wanted to know, if it was just something else that was making me feel this way [and] that it was coming from a different place.”
Leviss, for her part, announced her split from fiancé James Kennedy in December 2021 while filming the season 9 Vanderpump Rules reunion special. The former couple were together for five years before calling it quits. While the DJ has moved on with Ally Lewber, the California native is taking a slower approach to dating.
“Last night, I went out for drinks with Peter [Madrigal], and it was just a fun little time,” she said on Maloney’s podcast earlier this month. “I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to just get back out into the dating world because I haven’t had an official date since the breakup. … Let’s not get carried away. It was one friendly date, but no one else has asked me out on a date. So, this is literally the first person who asked me out on a date, and I said, ‘Why not?’ It’s good practice after five years.”
The pageant queen called the night out “scary,” but “also invigorating” following her broken engagement — and even threw a little shade at her ex-fiancé. “I am judging you if you have a girlfriend after your engagement has ended in a one-month period,” Leviss said. “It is quick. … We all cope with breakups differently. But I do feel like being single isn’t a bad thing. It is a great time to relearn who you are and heal from your past traumas and to figure out what you really, really like.”
