VPR’s Jo Wenberg Thinks Tom Schwartz Is Her Other Half — Despite Him Currently Dating Sophia Skoro
Vanderpump Rules newbie Jo Wenberg isn't ruling out a future with Tom Schwartz, even though they broke up and he has a new girlfriend.
While hosting an Instagram Live over the weekend, Jo was asked a variety of questions that provided some illuminating insight into her past relationship with Schwartz, 41, and her hopes for a reconciliation.
"He was really good at having sex," Jo told Bravo fans in a clip shared by Instagram account Vanderpod Recaps. "I don't know why [his ex-wife] Katie [Maloney] didn't like his dick. He was great."
Despite bringing up her issues with Katie, 37, who was married to Schwartz for six years before their 2022 split, Jo said there was no bad blood. Jo also hinted that she and Katie were "duped the same way" by Schwartz.
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Jo responded "yeah, probably" when a fan said she was perfect for Schwartz. Jo also approved of another commentator calling Schwartz her "other half."
"Yes I do [think he is my other half]. But I think it is going to take some time," Jo noted. "In due time."
Jo's friend, who took part in the live chat, confirmed that the hairstylist said for a "long time" that she could see herself ending up with Schwartz.
"Maybe in the future [we will get back together] but I am not sure," Jo replied before bringing up Schwartz's current girlfriend, Sophia Skoro. "I have met Sophia. She's so sweet and she seems great."
According to Jo, other people allegedly told her Sophia, 23, was a "fan of the show" before meeting Schwartz.
The clips of Jo answering questions were shared on social media and some Vanderpump Rules and The Valley cast members weighed in on her responses. Kristen Doute, who was previously friends with Jo, simply wrote "lol" in response to the video. (Jo answered a question during the Q&A where she said she didn't plan to be friends with Kristen, 41, again.)
Meanwhile, Zack Wickham offered his insight as a friend of the Vanderpump Rules cast.
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"Ok so…. ????????… let’s start with a few corrections… you never talk with Tom bc he doesn’t want to talk with you and if he does it’s out of politeness," he wrote. "Sophia is not a fan of the show but you sure were when u met Kristen, and I could go on but I’ll just end on one note."
Zach concluded: "YOU are the one that gave up your friendship with Kristen and decided that being on tv was more important than someone who has been there for you, supported you, PAID for you when no one else was. Don’t say you wouldn’t be friends with Kristen again like you have a choice."
Schwartz initially started dating — or at least casually seeing — Jo in the aftermath of his and Katie's divorce. After confirming at the season 10 reunion that he and Jo hooked up, the pair was featured more prominently on the next season of the show.
As Bravo viewers watch their dynamic unfold, Schwartz and Jo individually discussed what led to their split. Schwartz specifically got backlash for seemingly stringing Jo along with no intention of actually dating her.
"There were maybe mixed signals there a little bit. We had a lightning in a bottle situation for a while there," Schwartz said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in February. "I don't know if it was sustainable given my mental state of being. I don't know if I was equipped to be in a conventional relationship."
Schwartz joked he "should have been committed" instead of seeking out a girlfriend, noting, "I was in a very weird place like I have never experienced in my entire life. I'll shut up now."
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Jo, meanwhile, hinted that a lack of "trust" led to issues.
"The one thing that wasn't there probably was trust. And that's OK, because who am I to say who [he] needs to be with or who doesn't need to be with? What I need to do is I need to move on and work on myself," Jo, who ended her relationship with Schwartz on screen, said on an April episode of the "Rachel Goes Rogue" podcast. "I look back and I feel very grateful that I had somebody in my life that made me so happy. We could not have laughed more."
Jo went on to say on the podcast that she is no longer in communication with Schwartz, adding, "It's from both Tom Schwartz's and my choosing. I think that we don't talk anymore, and we're gonna do a little bit of a boundary situation. That doesn't mean that we might not talk in the future and it doesn't mean that I don't miss him."
While watching season 11 back, Jo recalled how "depressed" she was about the split.
"It's really tough because I've never been with somebody who really made me smile almost every single second of every single day and then have it end. It's not been easy," she told Rachel “Raquel” Leviss. "We were so happy. We were in love. We would tell each other we loved each other and we would be extremely just in our own bubble. We liked it that way and the cameras would come up and it was like I didn't even exist."
Jo also claimed that Schwartz was more committed to her when the cameras weren't rolling. "It was tough. It was mind-blowingly tough," she admitted. "I'm getting goosebumps thinking about this. Then we'd film again and he would make up these things and say that we were both dating other people. I wasn't dating anybody else."
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Schwartz has since said he doesn't plan to publicly acknowledge what actually led to their breakup.
"Some things happened — which I'm not talking about publicly — but they're very valid reasons as to why I pulled away and had to distance myself," he said on "The Viall Files" podcast earlier this month. "But where I f—ked up, I should have just talked about it with her, but it would have had to be a confrontation if you knew what I was going to say. And I just didn't have the energy to do it."
He added: "I guess I sort of just passively, respectfully pulled away. I still think, by the way, I don't want to tarnish Jo. She’s a great human. I'm not going to tarnish her reputation."
On her live Q&A, Jo mentioned she didn't know what Schwartz was referring to, saying, "We don't know what that one big thing was. We don't know. ... Let him go, let him date. We are broken up. It is what it is."