Winter House‘s Danielle Olivera and Jordan Emanuel are proud of Tom Schwartz for moving on from Katie Maloney with Below Deck‘s Katie Flood.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Danielle, 34, discussed Schwartz’s instant connection with Flood, 31, while filming season 3 in March. “They were vibing pretty early on,” the Summer House star said.
According to Danielle, Schwartz, 41, was apprehensive about making a move on Flood because her first name is the same as his ex-wife, Katie Maloney. “[They connected] pretty early, but her name … It was definitely hard for him to get past a lot of things,” she added.
Jordan, 31, said it took having a “conversation” with Schwartz to get him to shoot his shot. “We were like, ‘Listen, You need to get over the name thing and just go for it. Have a little fun,'” the Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard star told Us. “We started calling her by her last name just to support it.”
Season 3 of Winter House follows stars from various Bravo shows as they go on a trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Viewers will see plenty of familiar faces from Vanderpump Rules, Summer House, Below Deck, Family Karma and Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard.
Schwartz originally made a cameo on season 2 alongside Tom Sandoval. This time around, Schwartz was on his own since cameras started rolling days after Sandoval, 41, made headlines for cheating on Ariana Madix with their costar Raquel Leviss.
Although Schwartz explored the dating scene briefly on season 10 of Vanderpump Rules, his stint on Winter House marked the first time he was really putting himself out there.
Schwartz and Maloney, 36, confirmed their split in March 2022.
“Well this sucks. 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,” Schwartz wrote via Instagram at the time. “It would be far sadder if she decided to stay with me whilst not happy.”
He continued: “How am I supposed to capture 12 years of love in a f—king canned Instagram caption. I’m not quite ready to use the ‘D’ word [because] it’s too painful. 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.”
The former couple ended up at odds when Schwartz made out with Raquel, 29, at Scheana Shay and Brock Davies’ wedding in August 2022. Schwartz later admitted that he knew Sandoval had hooked up Raquel by that point.
Schwartz owned up to the mistakes he made in his marriage, telling Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in February, “I strayed a few times. There were times I thought the relationship was going to come to an end and I was a sloppy douchebag. I don’t think I’ll ever get married again. I’ll fall in love, I just don’t think I’ll ever be married again.”
The TomTom cofounder has since been linked to hairstylist Jo Wenberg — which will be addressed further on season 11 of Vanderpump Rules. Schwartz’s costars from Winter House, meanwhile, concluded that his brief bond with Flood was exactly what he needed.
“I think it was an arousing success,” Danielle told Us about Schwartz finding his confidence, to which Jordan added, “Apparently, yeah.”
Winter House season 3 premieres on Bravo Tuesday, October 24, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
