Tom Schwartz Says Tom Sandoval Told Him He Was 'in Love' with Raquel Leviss in January: 'She's His Heroin'
Schwartz told WWHL host Andy Cohen that he learned in August about a "one-night stand" between Sandoval and Leviss that ultimately ended his friend's nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix
Tom Schwartz was bracingly real about his Vanderpump Rules costar Tom Sandoval's affair with Raquel Leviss during a sit-down with Andy Cohen on Wednesday's Watch What Happens Live.
"Tom was having, like, a midlife crisis," the 40-year-old Schwartz & Sandy's co-owner said bluntly.
"I learned in August, in late August about the affair, the one-night stand — allegedly," he said, later adding that "there was a lot of grey area there" as to how deep the infidelity ran.
He added, "From my point of view, it became, like, an emotional affair — which is still inappropriate."
Cohen, 54, noted that at the Vanderpump Rules reunion filming late last month, Schwartz claimed he didn't know about the affair until early this year.
Schwartz explained, "In January, Tom came to me … and he told me that he was in love with Raquel. I was flabbergasted."
Once he'd come clean to his best friend, Sandoval's cheating had become "an open secret."
"After that, I mean, Tom kind of got flagrant — he was brazen," said Schwartz. Saying the relationship "was a release for him," Schwartz also confirmed rumors about a boys' trip onto which Sandoval, 40, "smuggled" Leviss, 28.
As for why he didn't tell Madix, 37, about the affair, Schwartz claimed he was "being fed a narrative that [Tom] has broken up with Ariana, or attempted to multiple times — many, many times. And he's not happy, they're not healthy, they're not intimate, blah blah blah."
He continued, "He did a good job of placating me. ... And he told me he has a game plan, he's gona do the right thing — and then he just kind of continued to kept procrastinate."
When Cohen asked if Schwartz was also angry with Leviss, he admitted, "I'm more upset with Sandoval because he took advantage of my kindness. And he put a lot of people, not just myself, in very compromising situations where our integrity was at stake."
Schwartz said Sandoval "became obsessed" with Raquel, that she had become "his heroin. He's addicted. It's an infatuation of all infatuations. Raquel is Tom's heroin. ... Man, he got lost in the sauce."
"Is he still lost in the sauce?" asked Cohen.
Schwartz affirmed, "I think he is."
Schwartz's fellow WWHL guest John Owen Lowe, the son of Rob Lowe who co-created Netflix's Unstable with his dad, asked Schwartz is he had been too complacent while knowing about his friend's infidelity.
"Yes, admitted Schwartz. "By necessity, though. I was going through some real-life, high-stakes stuff. I was in the middle of a divorce, I was going bankrupt, my dad almost died, my brother got cancer…."
Related:Tom Schwartz Admits He Got 'Addicted to Sadness' After Announcing Split from Katie Maloney
"I'm not morally bankrupt," he insisted. "I was consumed in my own little world. And maybe I should have been more proactive about it. In my defense, I did tell Tom exactly what he needed to do. He agreed, and then he didn't do it."
Nearly three weeks after the VPR reunion filming, Schwartz said Sandoval is "in shock … he's like a shell of himself. He's not realizing the impact this has on other ventures — his business, his band, first and foremost Ariana. ... It's bad, man."
Reflecting on the "very loud, very enraged" castmates Sandoval had to confront on March 23, Schwartz recalled, "I have never seen such a ruthless denunciation of two human beings in my life. Ariana had a fire in her. I mean, she eviscerated those two. I didn't know she had it in her. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Tom [got more heat], for sure. Raquel took some blows, but, yeah, Tom got just eviscerated."
RELATED VIDEO: Vanderpump Rules: Ariana Madix Confronts 'Stranger' Tom Sandoval After Split and Says She Wants Him 'to Die'
Schwartz did make a point to clarify, "I'm not trying to evoke any sympathy for Tom, he knows what he did was disgusting. He knows he could not have handled that affair any worse."
Asked by Cohen to share his parting thoughts, Schwartz said, "Tom, I know the whole world hates you, but I'm not gonna abandon you, old buddy. I'm not gonna abandon you."
Speaking to fans, he added, "[Tom] knows he's a monster for what he did. If you see him, give him a hug. Maybe he doesn't deserve it, but give him a huge. He's down bad."
Schwartz told TMZ in mid-March that Sandoval had been doing "OK" after Madix and the world found out about his affair with Leviss.
"I mean, he has a sense of profound sadness, rightfully so, that he's a piece of s—. And to some extent, maybe he is," Schwartz said. "But he knows he f—ed up, and the whole thing is just really sad."
Five days after that, Schwartz's ex-wife Katie Maloney said on WWHL that if she found out Schwartz had been covering up Sandoval's affair, she "would light him on fire."
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