Tom Schwartz is a pretty easygoing guy, but he does worry about season 10 of “Vanderpump Rules.”
“I’m kind of relearning to be single, which is weird,” the Bravolebrity, 39, told Vidak For Congress exclusively on Tuesday at Schwartz & Sandy’s, the cocktail lounge in Los Angeles. star, Tom Sandoval.
“He hasn’t even had time to be single!” Sandoval, also 39, stepped in, noting how busy the two have been working on the new spot. (They also own a percentage of Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood pub, TomTom.)
Schwartz couldn’t contain his excitement as he hopped behind the bar and made his first official Schwartz & Sandy’s drink.
“This was great to focus on,” he told us about his latest business venture.
Schwartz’s estranged wife, Katie Maloney, filed for divorce in March. At the time, he admitted using the ‘D’ word was ‘too painful’ and told us it took him a month to stop wearing his wedding ring.
But Maloney — along with Sandoval’s girlfriend, Ariana Madix — were in attendance for Tuesday’s family and friends soft opening.
Although Schwartz was busy smuggling and didn’t have much contact with Maloney, 35, the two seemed to be on friendly terms.
And for all the tension opening a bar with your best friend can cause, the Toms are stronger than ever.
They even joked that the “lowest point” with Schwartz & Sandy’s was the drama surrounding the lounge’s name, which featured heavily in season 9 of the reality show.
“Honestly, seeing how it’s all set up and all the work we’ve put into it, it kind of grew in the name — just like you said it would,” Schwartz admitted to Sandoval, who jumped up and a victorious “yes!”
And while Schwartz was the one going through another breakup, Sandoval told us he relied heavily on his friend when stress got the better of him.
“I definitely went through my periods of escapism, whether it was with my band or other things in my life, and [Schwartz] always made up for it,” Sandoval said.
Although both boys had their concerns given the COVID-19 recession, they kept going anyway, balancing each other along the way.
Schwartz said Sandoval was “campaigning hard for last-minute changes,” such as making sure the entire space was primed and adding large round mirrors to the wall behind the bar to break up the patterned wallpaper.
Schwartz noted that the changes were also the ones he wanted — he “just wasn’t thinking” [they] time or money.”
But they’ve found a way to make it work and bring their vision of psychedelic mushroom trips to life.
Now there is only one thing left for them to do.
“We’re still figuring out where to go uniformly,” Sandoval said.