Vanderpump Rules star Tom Schwartz is in hot water. He seemingly took advantage of Jo Wenberg’s feelings for him while he hid their relationship and pretended they were just pals.
At the Pump Rules Season 11 Reunion on May 15, Jo was finally able to share her side of the story. Even though she claims they exchanged the “L-word” several times, the Schwartz and Sandy’s owner says they were always “just friends” — with benefits.
“Schwartz and I were boyfriend and girlfriend,” Jo insisted. “Even though he hid it … I didn’t really know how to navigate that.”
Schwartz has moved on … or has he?
Months later, Tom has a new girlfriend, Sophia Skoro, but Jo says he still texts her now and then. Out of respect for his new relationship, Jo doesn’t respond.
“When you go through a breakup, as a female, I decided to lean into my emotions and stay in bed for months until I had to go to my job,” the hairdresser said. “He decided to move on with [Sophia], and we are not talking. Even though he will text me, I‘m not going to text him back because that would be really disrespectful to his girlfriend.”
Fans were surprised to learn that Schwartz occasionally texts Jo since she previously claimed he blocked her. During an Instagram Live earlier this month, Jo read alleged messages from Schwartz in which he laid down the law.
“Please don’t mention me or my girlfriend anymore,” Jo read from her cell phone. “Why would you waste another second of your life chasing someone who doesn’t want to be with you?”
She claimed Schwartz was attempting to disengage by blocking her. “Respectfully blocking you so whatever you say will fall on deaf ears,” he added.
Were they a rebound relationship?
Tom and Jo initially got together following his divorce from Katie Maloney. They were casually seeing each other, convenient sexual partners, and even allegedly roommates at one point.
As Bravo viewers were introduced to their relationship, it was pretty clear to most that Tom was sending Jo mixed signals. They were sleeping together and allegedly exchanging verbal expressions of love. Jo caught feelings, while Schwartz thought they were just having fun.
He treated her very poorly. Although Jo was basically his girlfriend at the time, he never introduced her to his friends as such. He repeatedly told everyone they were just friends.
“There were maybe mixed signals there a little bit,” Schwartz admitted on Watch What Happens Live in February. “We had a lightning-in-a-bottle situation for a while there. 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.”
“The one thing that wasn’t there probably was trust,” Jo told Rachel Leviss in an April episode of her Rachel Goes Rogue podcast. “What I need to do is … to move on and work on myself. 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 still has hope that they can reunite at some point. “I do [think he is my other half],” she said in another Instagram Live. “But I think it is going to take some time … Maybe in the future [we will get back together], but I am not sure.”
Vanderpump Rules is now streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK TOM SENT MIXED SIGNALS? DO YOU BELIEVE THEY WERE EVER ACTUALLY IN A RELATIONSHIP?
