Tom Schwartz shared new details on his relationship with his new girlfriend, Sophia Skoro, in an April 15, 2024 interview on “The Viall Files” podcast.
The “Vanderpump Rules” star split from his wife, Katie Maloney, in 2022, but fans noticed he can’t stop talking about her—even while talking about his new love.
Tom Schwartz Slipped in a Katie Mention While Gushing About Sophia Skoro
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Schwartz, 41, first sparked dating rumors with Skoro, 23, in early March. At the time, The Daily Mail reported that the Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner hammed it up with the recent college graduate in a TikTok video. The clip was posted less than two weeks after Schwartz appeared on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” to tease that he was “hanging out’ with a mystery lady.”
On Nick Viall’s podcast, Schwartz said he met Skoro “on a whim” at TomTom, the West Hollywood bar he’s partnered in with Lisa Vanderpump. “And it’s funny, I ironically around that moment, I made a pledge not only to myself, but to the universe, that I will not hang out or date,” he shared. “I’m just gonna be single and work for the next two years. Official, And then I bumped into her and I was just like…”
“I don’t wanna scare her, but she’s, can I give a shout-out to Sophia please?” Schwartz continued. “One of the coolest human beings on planet Earth. The baddest [expletive] alive. She’s got this unconventional sense of humor. She’s sharp as hell. Super successful. …She’s a vintage clothing curator. She has a store called ShopSosko. She’s so good at what she does.”
When asked about his favorite thing about how Skoro makes him feel, Schwartz replied, “She overlooks all my baggage.”
The “Vanderpump Rules” veteran said he is not bothered by questions about the nearly 20-year age gap between him and his new lady. “Honestly, if I was like, if I was a lecherous old man trolling bars, like seeking out young women, I think I would feel gross,” he said. “But we just kind of bumped into each other. We hit it off. We literally just bumped into each other and man…”
Viall asked, “What was it? Serendipitous.”
“It was, you know,” Schwartz replied, adding, “Love that word and that movie. Katie. Katie loves that movie. Oh,” he added in reference to his ex-wife.
On Instagram, fans commented that Schwartz can’t get through an interview without bringing up his ex-wife.
“It’s really sweet the way he talks about Sophia, but the way he can’t help it at the end. Lol,” came a comment on the @realityops Instagram page.
“Haaad to find a way to bring up Katie 😬,” another wrote.
“It will always come back to Katie 👏🏾,” another chimed in.
“Why would anybody wanna date him? Clearly he is still very much hung up on Katie,” another commenter agreed.
Katie Maloney Has Agreed That Schwartz Still Has Feelings For Her
Schwartz and Maloney were together for almost 10 years and they still work together on “Vanderpump Rules,” so it’s not surprising he still talks about her. But things got weird when he filmed “Winter House” in early 2023 and had a brief romance with another Katie—Katie Flood from “Below Deck.” The bar owner refused to call Flood by her first name because it was the same as his ex-wife’s. When Floody heard Schwartz was dating Skoro, she joked, “At least her name isn’t Katie.”
According to Bravo.com, at BravoCon 2023, co-star Ariana Madix spoke out during the “STEW vs. SUR” to tell Maloney, “I think he (Schwartz), like, has a crush on you. It’s very weird.”
“He should,” Maloney replied.
In December 2023, Maloney appeared in Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast and agreed with Bristowe that Schwartz still had a crush on her. “My friends seem to think that. And other people seem to think that,” she said. “And I don’t know maybe — we did spend years and years together.”
But she added that she wanted her ex to “date or to move on.”
“Whether it is serious or casual or whatever, I do want that for him,” Maloney shared. “And he seems to say over and over that he’s not interested in that. …So if he truly, really doesn’t, then that’s fine. But I don’t want it to be because of, like, me.”
During an April 16 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live,” Schwartz revealed he’s been with his new girlfriend Skoro for about five months. He also shared that before that, he had some “minor PTSD” from his split from Maloney. “I was just kind of messed up,” he admitted.
