LOS ANGELES — Tom Schwartz has doubled down on his intent to distance himself from friend and business partner Tom Sandoval amid the fallout of the "Vanderpump Rules" cheating scandal.
Schwartz gave the relationship update this week in an episode of the new Fox reality competition show "Stars on Mars," on which he is a contestant alongside Tallulah Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Natasha Leggerro and Lance Armstrong. He had previously shared on the podcast "When Reality Hits With Jax and Brittany" that he was "taking a break from Tom right now," adding that he hadn't seen Sandoval "in a while."
Schwartz and Sandoval are co-owners of the restaurant and bar Schwartz and Sandy's in the Franklin Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. They are also junior partners at the TomTom restaurant in West Hollywood. It was unclear how the pair intends to continue running their businesses.
Representatives for Schwartz and Sandoval did not immediately respond to the L.A. Times' requests for comment.
"This thing with my friend back home, it's incredibly messed up," Schwartz said on Monday's "Mars" episode, referring to Sandoval and co-star Raquel Leviss' affair, which led to the end of his friend's nine-year relationship with fellow "Vanderpump Rules" personality Ariana Maddix.
"It seems each time I try to weigh in or talk about, ramble on about it, drivel on, I inevitably sound like I'm somehow justifying it or making excuses for it, and I'm not — there's just no excuse for it."
Schwartz went on to call Sandoval's perspective "obsolete because of the way he handled it." In March, Maddix found out that Sandoval had been cheating on her after she saw him kissing Leviss. Maddix later found a racy video of the couple on Sandoval's phone. She then found their history of inappropriate texts. The so-called #Scandoval rocked the hit reality Bravo series, which had been running its 10th season, prompting conflict among several of its main characters, including a restraining order, severed ties and teary apologies and arguments on the show's finale.
"Ultimately, that's his life," Schwartz added. "I did not have an affair. I am not him. It's just so strange that I've been absolutely mired in this. It's taken on almost a life of its own.
"After this, I'm stepping away from it permanently," he said later.
Another "Vanderpump" venture, Pump, announced that it would be closing in July. Owner Lisa Vanderpump cited rising rents in West Hollywood.
Further complicating the Tom and Tom friendship, Schwartz was also linked with Leviss after his split with another "Vanderpump" co-star, Katie Maloney. Before the off-screen cheating revelation occurred as the show's 10th season ran, producers had focused on Schwartz and Leviss' new fling, including scenes of the pair making out, despite Maloney expressing how hurtful it would be to see her ex engage with someone in their friend group.
During Monday's "Mars" episode, Schwartz also acknowledged to fellow contestant Leggerro that he had known Sandoval had been cheating on Maddix for months. But he said that he "didn't cover for him," adding that he did not know the affair was with Leviss.
"My friend had an affair that just happened to swipe the nation and it's incredibly messed up but the thing is I've become mired in it," he said to Leggerro, according to People. "That's been a huge source of just angst in my life. I've been in this extended funk."
