Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 1: And we have a very special guest in the studio
Speaker 1: with us today. And if you have never in your
Speaker 1: natural life ever watched a reality show, you probably still.
Speaker 2: Know this name.
Speaker 3: Yes, vander Pump Rules. It was everywhere and it still is.
Speaker 3: It's been going on for eleven seasons, by the way,
Speaker 3: but season ten, this was last year. Things hit a
Speaker 3: fever pitch.
Speaker 1: Okay, And you didn't have to be watching to know this,
Speaker 1: because the truth of the matter is you and I
Speaker 1: robes we okay, below Deck? Yes, what else are we
Speaker 1: hooked on.
Speaker 3: When it comes to reality show ninety fiance?
Speaker 1: That's new to us, but we just started but yes,
Speaker 1: just started it. But below Deck is the one we
Speaker 1: were really into your head.
Speaker 3: Below Deck got us through last year.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So I never, to be honest with you, I've never
Speaker 1: seen vander Pump Rules. I hadn't really heard of it,
Speaker 1: but for in the past several months, six months plus,
Speaker 1: it was everywhere to where I thought it was a
Speaker 1: new show.
Speaker 3: Right, you said, what is this show called vander Pump Rules?
Speaker 3: The hashtag scanned of all was everywhere and so it
Speaker 3: kind of led people there but to go way back,
Speaker 3: as I had to explain it to you, and I
Speaker 3: think a lot of people might not know. This all
Speaker 3: began with the storied franchise The Real Housewives, and this
Speaker 3: was The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Lisa vander Pump,
Speaker 3: who was a main star in that. She took her
Speaker 3: time from there and spun off another reality show which
Speaker 3: was called vander Pump Rules. She is a restaurant tour.
Speaker 3: This was a reality show about her staff members and
Speaker 3: who knew the drama would be what it became, and
Speaker 3: it certainly I think even surprised the show producers, everyone
Speaker 3: who was involved with it, because they had over eleven
Speaker 3: million viewers last year. That is huge for any cable
Speaker 3: streaming show.
Speaker 1: And not just that it's a matter of look you
Speaker 1: hear it you. I mean, you could read an article
Speaker 1: a day about how the television landscape is changing and
Speaker 1: how viewership is going down on television across all genres.
Speaker 1: But to see a show that's been on now for
Speaker 1: eleven seasons to survive eleven seasons is big in the
Speaker 1: first place, but to actually be increasing your viewership, and
Speaker 1: in some cases they're getting the highest numbers they've seen
Speaker 1: over at Bravo in almost a decade. In some demos,
Speaker 1: that tells you something is going well over there. But
Speaker 1: something's going well because something would really really bad.
Speaker 3: Exactly. I was like, high ratings might be great for
Speaker 3: the network and for perhaps people's paychecks, it doesn't necessarily
Speaker 3: mean it was great for people's personal lives. And that's
Speaker 3: exactly the case that happened over at vander Pump Rules.
Speaker 3: But we've all been watching and we actually were able
Speaker 3: to catch up and are so excited about our next
Speaker 3: guest because he is a big player and a huge
Speaker 3: part of what ended up being. As I mentioned before,
Speaker 3: that hashtag scanned of all, we all know him and
Speaker 3: you have probably a very strong opinion about him either way.
Speaker 1: And that's I think that was I was saying this
Speaker 1: to you earlier a moment ago. But the reason I
Speaker 1: know about the show is because of the scandal. And
Speaker 1: I didn't, to be honest with you, I started seeing
Speaker 1: scandalval everywhere. I didn't know there was a scandal attached.
Speaker 1: I thought it was actually I said, okay, what is that.
Speaker 1: I didn't research it. I just see scandabal, scandabal, scandabal.
Speaker 1: I actually didn't know what it meant. I didn't know
Speaker 1: what they were talking about. And his name is Tom Sandoval,
Speaker 1: kind of clever hash jack yep, give him credit for that.
Speaker 1: But yes, there was a scandal with him and his girlfriend,
Speaker 1: and people were taking sides, and they were taking signs
Speaker 1: not just okay, Tom Sandival, you're a bad guy, but
Speaker 1: people associated with him, including his business partner. They have
Speaker 1: what two restaurants together, and they have.
Speaker 3: Two ventures together. And his name actually happens to be
Speaker 3: Tom too, so it's one of their Oh yeah, Tom,
Speaker 3: Tom is one of their businesses. Makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: But the other Tom, the best friend, Tom got completely
Speaker 3: sucked into this scandal because he knew about it before
Speaker 3: everyone else.
Speaker 1: So a lot of people who are hating on Tom
Speaker 1: Sandi all, well, there was some residual height. They went
Speaker 1: to Tom Schwartz, his really really good friend. He got
Speaker 1: a lot of that blowback as well, and a lot
Speaker 1: of people had a lot to say about Tom Schwartz,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people had a lot of questions
Speaker 1: for Tom Schwartz.
Speaker 3: We have Tom Shwarts with us. Welcome to the I
Speaker 3: Heard Studios.
Speaker 2: Thank you for the applause, and thank you for emphasis
Speaker 2: on very special it is I heard that now?
Speaker 1: Is that natural? You naturally threw your fist in the
Speaker 1: air when the intro came right, Yeah, that's me.
Speaker 3: I feel good. It feels cozy in here, oh good,
Speaker 3: And hopefully it feels safe.
Speaker 2: Very safe.
Speaker 1: Good God, How does it feel these days after all
Speaker 1: they went through last season, which we don't have to
Speaker 1: explain to people, But when you go out and when
Speaker 1: you would go out, did you feel safe? Did you
Speaker 1: feel like people were eyeing you? Did you always feel
Speaker 1: like somebody was looking at you in a negative light?
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a moment there where I always felt
Speaker 2: like someone was watching me, and it felt very Truman
Speaker 2: Show esque. It wasn't nearly as bad for me as
Speaker 2: it was for Sandoval. He couldn't go anywhere without paparazzi
Speaker 2: following him, sitting outside, camped out of his house like
Speaker 2: twenty four to seven for like three months. And you know,
Speaker 2: they would follow me around every once in a while.
Speaker 2: And I have a tendency just to ramble on when
Speaker 2: someone shoves a camera in your face, because it's kind
Speaker 2: of jarring. I'm sure you guys know, we know a
Speaker 2: little bit.
Speaker 3: About it, just just a little bit about that. Sorry,
Speaker 3: Like I said, it's a safe space.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah. And I remember a few interviews like TMZ
Speaker 2: where it's like, you know, it's alarming when they shove
Speaker 2: a camera up in your face and you you it
Speaker 2: like intrinsically, you instinctually you smile awkwardly, but like even
Speaker 2: though they're talking about a serious, you know, heated topic.
Speaker 2: And I don't know, I remember just making a fool
Speaker 2: of myself a lot of the time. But uh, it
Speaker 2: was a trip. The whole thing was a trip, you know,
Speaker 2: add a very bad.
Speaker 3: Message trip, because there actually is. I'm sure you found
Speaker 3: this out if you looked at the headlines or the
Speaker 3: pictures afterwards. There is no actual appropriate facial expression you
Speaker 3: can make because they'll make something out of whatever facial
Speaker 3: expression you're making. Yes, thank you, yes, right, yeah, it's
Speaker 3: hard to be you. Let me ask you this. People
Speaker 3: have always said this, and they still say it. There's
Speaker 3: no such thing as bad press. Do you believe that?
Speaker 2: I think the past year has proved that saying wrong honestly,
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe good for the show, the network, good
Speaker 2: for ratings, bad for the soul, you know. I think
Speaker 2: I'll stick with that. Yeah, yeah, but I mean it did.
Speaker 3: It did.
Speaker 2: There was a great human cost, of course, but like
Speaker 2: it did revitalize the show and it brought on a
Speaker 2: whole new audience. You know, I've got so many people.
Speaker 2: We have two bars and Tom, Tom and Schwartz and
Speaker 2: Sandies would love to host you guys, if you're ever an.
Speaker 1: La, we will be there.
Speaker 2: So I would love to set you off for beers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, still too hot around you.
Speaker 3: We just get Yeah, do you really want us to
Speaker 3: come there? Actually, by the way, maybe we're not the
Speaker 3: appropriate We're kidding, of course we're kidding.
Speaker 2: It's a safe place.
Speaker 3: But uh yeah, Well I want to ask you because
Speaker 3: you mentioned something that is first and foremost on my mind.
Speaker 3: The show vendor Pump Rules was declining in viewers. It
Speaker 3: was not doing as well as it had been in
Speaker 3: the past. So a lot of people said, this scandal
Speaker 3: is bs. This scandal thing is a made up, scripted
Speaker 3: thing that isn't true, and they did it for the
Speaker 3: ratings solely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's blowney. There's no way you could pull
Speaker 2: that off in this day and age. There would have
Speaker 2: been a whistleblower at some point, you know, someone would
Speaker 2: have went rogue and be like, this is fake, this
Speaker 2: is thrived. You know, it's a PR stunt. But the
Speaker 2: truth is, aside from me and a few other people,
Speaker 2: no one on production knew. Lisa didn't know, Ken didn't know,
Speaker 2: none of the executive producers knew.
Speaker 3: How long had you known?
Speaker 2: I knew, I knew, I knew, and even when I
Speaker 2: didn't know, I knew. That's my little song, I sing.
Speaker 2: I gave myself a lobotomy, and I've removed that whole
Speaker 2: chapter from my life from my memory. So I had
Speaker 2: it surgerly removed and it's just much more pleasant now.
Speaker 1: You know, for everybody, What difference does it make? You
Speaker 1: did know? Right? You knew that he was stepping out
Speaker 1: on his girlfriend, and depends on like people want to
Speaker 1: judge you by when you knew, So why is that?
Speaker 1: Is that still not clear? Because you, like you said,
Speaker 1: it's like a you kind of faded into some way
Speaker 1: you don't really know for sure. So but and then
Speaker 1: people criticized you for that, like come on, man, so
Speaker 1: what is the definitive answer there? And why is it
Speaker 1: so important?
Speaker 2: I honestly I did my best to reconstruct that whole storyline.
Speaker 2: But like, also it wasn't my life. I wasn't the
Speaker 2: one having an affair. And I'm telling you, I'm telling
Speaker 2: you my brain was just not functioning properly. I was
Speaker 2: under constant duress. I was in a constant state of
Speaker 2: like fight or flight. Fresh off of divorce. I almost
Speaker 2: lost my daddy was in the hospital for seven months,
Speaker 2: like he almost died four times. My brother got cancer.
Speaker 2: My other brother had was, you know, almost lost his
Speaker 2: life because of cirrhosis. And it just I was going
Speaker 2: through it was I was absolutely just mired in my
Speaker 2: own melodrama. You know what I mean, We get it.
Speaker 3: I mean, when you only can take so much, and
Speaker 3: especially with all that other drama going on in your life,
Speaker 3: real actual personal drama, life or death drama, it gets
Speaker 3: all muddled. Sometimes you see it in slow motion. Sometimes
Speaker 3: you can't remember. That makes perfect sense. I think to
Speaker 3: anyone who's gone through anything traumatic, let me ask you this,
Speaker 3: what how would you describe you know, you chose to
Speaker 3: put your life in front of the cameras. What has
Speaker 3: the price of fame cost you?
Speaker 2: Hmm, Well a lot of sleepless nights. And I don't
Speaker 2: do this anymore. But like dwelling on worst case, hypothetical
Speaker 2: scenarios or like dread after it's in the can you
Speaker 2: filmed the season and you're like, oh my god, I'm
Speaker 2: going to have to relive this in front of millions
Speaker 2: of people and get absolutely roasted, castigated, just flamed on
Speaker 2: the internet, and you know, but for the most part,
Speaker 2: I have nothing but good things to say about the
Speaker 2: whole experience. I mean, how lucky are we You get
Speaker 2: to be on a show with people you love, some
Speaker 2: of your best friends in the world, and they follow
Speaker 2: you around and the highs, the lows, everything in between. Like, overall,
Speaker 2: I just feel I'm full of gratitude. It's been such
Speaker 2: a wow. I'll ride and it's been a wave and
Speaker 2: I know one day it's gonna crash, But for now,
Speaker 2: I think we're still riding high.
Speaker 1: Still riding high. What has where are you now compared
Speaker 1: to where you were after that season finale last year? Like,
Speaker 1: how have things have things slowed down? Calmed down? You
Speaker 1: talk about paparazzi and things like that. That's one thing,
Speaker 1: but how do you think you've settled back into your
Speaker 1: life in some way? Now?
Speaker 2: I love that question. Yeah, I was a basket case
Speaker 2: last year for a multitude of reasons. And you know,
Speaker 2: I was like often dejected. I kind of was turning
Speaker 2: into a hermit, snuggled up in my little hermitage, which
Speaker 2: you know, at times was lovely with the dogs. Shout
Speaker 2: out to Gordo and Butters, my surrogate therapists, and my plants.
Speaker 2: Shout out to my plants, all twenty three of them.
Speaker 3: Oh, yes, you have a lot of plants.
Speaker 2: I have a lot of plants. But I gotta say
Speaker 2: right now, like I don't want to jinx. It is
Speaker 2: there wood in here I can knock on. But like,
Speaker 2: right now, everything feels kind of stable, and I'm smiling
Speaker 2: a lot more. I feel a little lighter on my
Speaker 2: my feet and or is it lighter on your toes?
Speaker 1: My feet?
Speaker 3: I think?
Speaker 2: So didn't sound right again, But no, I feel I'm
Speaker 2: like kind of brimming with optimism again. I got levity
Speaker 2: in the system. I'm a little more like happy, go
Speaker 2: lucky Schwartz. But like also, I feel like I've matured
Speaker 2: significantly just with the stuff I've dealt with the past
Speaker 2: few years. You know, I had a little bit of
Speaker 2: a well some would say boyish charm, others might say
Speaker 2: Peter pant syndrome. Whish I take offense to or.
Speaker 3: I'm very mature and I thank you no, but I felt.
Speaker 1: That over here by the way in the corner here, yes,
Speaker 1: getting there. You mentioned the dogs and and and the plants.
Speaker 1: Did you seek professional help? Have you been helped by
Speaker 1: a professional through some of these times? I?
Speaker 2: Uh no, I've just referring to my surrogate therapists, like
Speaker 2: you know, snowboarding reading. Uh, Cody from Peloton's always there
Speaker 2: for me, Lorie's there. My manager Ryan, he was mad
Speaker 2: at and give him a shout out last time, Ryan Ravell,
Speaker 2: thank you for consoling me. And in times of need.
Speaker 1: We're gonna edit that out just to piss him.
Speaker 3: I love that, Honestly, I have gotten.
Speaker 2: I've gotten therapy before and and I think for the
Speaker 2: most part, uh, it was great. You know. I signed
Speaker 2: up for Better betterhelp dot com and I actually put
Speaker 2: my down payment, but I never actually moved forward with
Speaker 2: the sessions.
Speaker 3: But it's there just in case.
Speaker 2: Thank you. But I am an advocate for seeking council therapy,
Speaker 2: life coaches. I love reading you know, motivational book big
Speaker 2: on stoicism lately, Yeah, I like the Daily Stoic You guys.
Speaker 2: But it's a good way to start your day. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I will check that out.
Speaker 3: You know, people oftentimes say that these types of shows
Speaker 3: are especially if they're portrayed in a negative way. They're
Speaker 3: edited a certain way to make people feel a certain
Speaker 3: way about certain people. Did that happen? And what do
Speaker 3: you think people got wrong when they watched the season?
Speaker 3: What do they get wrong about you?
Speaker 2: It's such a cop out to cry editing, Like it's
Speaker 2: almost like it's a big no no in our world.
Speaker 2: Don't cry editing. Just take ownership, radical accountability, whatever you
Speaker 2: want to call it. But yes, there's times where I'm like, wait,
Speaker 2: hold on a sack, did I is that the way
Speaker 2: that went down?
Speaker 3: Exactly?
Speaker 2: And by the way, shout out to our whole production
Speaker 2: team behind the scenes, our editor it's like a masterclass
Speaker 2: in editing. Our editors absolutely crush it. But yeah, there's
Speaker 2: times where I'm just like, man, did it really go
Speaker 2: down just like that? But I gotta say our show
Speaker 2: stays pretty true to form. It's organic, it's authentic, and
Speaker 2: yeah that's something I'm proud of and sometimes like great
Speaker 2: cost to my sanity. But there's very few moments where
Speaker 2: I've ever felt like contrived or forced, or like we
Speaker 2: were phoning it in or performing, you know, and that's
Speaker 2: a testament to everybody on the cast.
Speaker 1: Help us with the schedule there a little bit, like
Speaker 1: let's say you were shooting today, right cruise with you.
Speaker 1: Everything's being shot, how long before? What was shot on
Speaker 1: this day before it actually hit the air? What was
Speaker 1: that lifetime?
Speaker 2: We usually film in the summer, sometimes around like May
Speaker 2: or June, and we'll film for like three months principal photography,
Speaker 2: which is always a rush, and then you know, we'll
Speaker 2: do pickups, we'll do talking head like confessionals, you know,
Speaker 2: and by the way, which is like torture for me,
Speaker 2: just having to listen to myself talk for like two
Speaker 2: point five hours in a dank little room anyways, and
Speaker 2: then you know, usually turn around is like another two
Speaker 2: or three months from then.
Speaker 1: Okay, so yeah, you're talking some stuff you end up
Speaker 1: seeing in an episode with some something that went down
Speaker 1: month ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, almost, yes, And you know, sometimes sometimes your memory
Speaker 2: gets a little cloudy with you know, I'll call consumption
Speaker 2: or other things and stuff like that, and then you're
Speaker 2: like you're watching and you're just like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: the shame the.
Speaker 1: Deep sense of shame you feel, Oh God, but you've
Speaker 1: been through it enough and you know how this how
Speaker 1: it works. But have you gotten close to quitting the show?
Speaker 2: You know? I think season three where I was in
Speaker 2: this weird kind of a big us phase where I
Speaker 2: was kind of recognizable. I won't say famous, but like
Speaker 2: I was still working my regular jobs, going on castings
Speaker 2: for print, commercial work, bartending, catering, all that stuff, and
Speaker 2: like people. It was weird because I wasn't really getting paid,
Speaker 2: but I was recognizable.
Speaker 3: And I think season three, I sat.
Speaker 2: Down with my manager and he's like, what do you
Speaker 2: want to do here? I think you should either go
Speaker 2: all in or just you know, walk away and pursue
Speaker 2: acting and everything. And I was like, Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 2: I saw so many good things happening for my friends
Speaker 2: and great opportunities coming their way, so I was like,
Speaker 2: screw it, I'm gonna go all in. And I haven't
Speaker 2: looked back since, but for sure in the beginning, uh yeah, man,
Speaker 2: there was still like a stigma attached to it back
Speaker 2: in the day, like it started in twenty eleven. And
Speaker 2: in my mind, if you did a reality TV show
Speaker 2: like your Dreams of being an actor. Were kind of
Speaker 2: jeopardized compromised, right, I don't know. But now it's like,
Speaker 2: I mean, reality TV people are like, I'm not saying
Speaker 2: I'm an A list or maybe B minus.
Speaker 3: C plus would they they call y'all bravoleberties. Is that
Speaker 3: what it is that I say it?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you said it right, Bravo celeberties. What's been the
Speaker 3: financial impact for you of Scandalval? You say, you look
Speaker 3: back and you're happy, you've done what you've done and
Speaker 3: all in you're you're happy to be a reality TV
Speaker 3: show star. But you got two businesses right associated with
Speaker 3: Tom Sandoval. How are they doing? Because I was looking
Speaker 3: up it's like they're saying, your moments from closure, Tom, Tom,
Speaker 3: and so give us the status of where you are
Speaker 3: with your businesses.
Speaker 2: Well, it's kind of harrowing. It's like, you know, when
Speaker 2: you have a business with your name on the side
Speaker 2: and someone does something shitty, it's like people can apply pressure,
Speaker 2: and they did. Yes, we kind of got docs. It's like,
Speaker 2: I mean, I have no I don't have any bitterness
Speaker 2: in my tone when I say this, because I want
Speaker 2: to see everybody succeed, even people that I'm not super
Speaker 2: tight with you know, I want everybody to eat.
Speaker 3: And eat they did. People got fat.
Speaker 2: And happy off of that whole affair. You know a
Speaker 2: lot of people blew up their podcasts merch. Yeah, man,
Speaker 2: a lot of people got fat and happy. Me not
Speaker 2: so much. It's like, you know, you got your name
Speaker 2: plaster on the side with the guy who had the
Speaker 2: you know, did the thing. I'm sorry, I just can't
Speaker 2: even say the word anymore. This you know what of
Speaker 2: all word.
Speaker 3: But it's tiring, right.
Speaker 2: It was brutal, I gotta be honest. It was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I saw like a dark side of humanity,
Speaker 2: like it got ugly. Without going into specifics, like it
Speaker 2: got ugly, you know, there was there was times where
Speaker 2: I was legitimately nervous about going into Schwarts and Sandy's
Speaker 2: maybe like watered down vague threats. I don't know about
Speaker 2: death threats, but like, you know, people threatening to come
Speaker 2: in and like I didn't want to say it.
Speaker 1: But folks wishing you physical harm. Yes, harm.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was scary and sometimes odd and sometimes hilarious.
Speaker 2: But it was scary, man. But looking back, uh, I'm
Speaker 2: just processing it now. I'm finally at a place where
Speaker 2: I feel uh yeah, Like I said earlier, I feel
Speaker 2: optimistic again. We're giving the bar a revamp. We just
Speaker 2: install the new sound system, we got new drinks, new food,
Speaker 2: and it's like Schwartz and Sandy's two point oh and
Speaker 2: I feel good. Yeah, I feel like we have momentum
Speaker 2: again and it's incredibly refreshing.
Speaker 3: People have suggested you change the name. Did you ever
Speaker 3: think about it?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I mean I never Sorry, Tom, if you
Speaker 2: ever hear this. I never liked the name from the
Speaker 2: get go, but I didn't have a better suggestion, so
Speaker 2: I was like, all right, that's just college shorts and
Speaker 2: Sandy's I don't care.
Speaker 1: I wish you put some thought into it. Now.
Speaker 2: I remember having that exact conversation. I'm like, you know,
Speaker 2: you put your name on the side. You know you
Speaker 2: have to hold yourself to a higher standard. What if
Speaker 2: people like joking? I remember saying, what if people decide
Speaker 2: they hate us and like us laughing over a beer,
Speaker 2: Come on, people love us.
Speaker 3: That's never gonna happen until they don't.
Speaker 2: I know that was an actual conversation we had in
Speaker 2: the honeymoon phase of opening a bar restaurant, Which does
Speaker 2: not last long. I don't care how much you love
Speaker 2: that business, passionate you are about food, drinks, customer service,
Speaker 2: like that honeymoon phase does not last long.
Speaker 1: We talked about there what happened with the with your businesses,
Speaker 1: but she mentioned like opportunity. You talk about other people
Speaker 1: they got fat, right, even people who printed T shirts
Speaker 1: were stalling on the street. They were making money off
Speaker 1: of what was happening. But was there any opportunity that
Speaker 1: did anything that came your way as a result.
Speaker 2: I actually I got to go to Mars.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he did a show.
Speaker 2: I did a show called Stars on Mars, and I
Speaker 2: don't know if it was because of I mean, we
Speaker 2: had a lot of eyes on us. And you know,
Speaker 2: I got to go there in Australia and it was lovely.
Speaker 2: You know, I got to wake up next to like
Speaker 2: Lance Armstrong, Richard Sherman, Adam Rapond. It was cool. It
Speaker 2: was such a trip and I needed that as one
Speaker 2: of the best reprieves of my life. And it was magical.
Speaker 2: I'm very, very fond of that trip. I wish I
Speaker 2: wouldn't have been such a Debbie downer on it. You know,
Speaker 2: It's like because I felt like our business was kind
Speaker 2: of like floundering, and I felt like I I kind
Speaker 2: of abandoned ship when they needed me the most. But
Speaker 2: also I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity
Speaker 2: to film a show in Australia, go to Mars. It
Speaker 2: was awesome. So yeah, I guess, and yeah, that was
Speaker 2: that was something special. I'm very grateful for that opportunity.
Speaker 2: It was cool.
Speaker 3: What is the status of your friendship with Sandoval? Now?
Speaker 2: I think we are officially off of our break. Now
Speaker 2: we're cool. We're cool. We've had so many healthy, productive
Speaker 2: conversations and uh, for better or for worse, I love
Speaker 2: that bastard. And he's actually, despite you know, what he
Speaker 2: did recently and what you see in the headlines, he's
Speaker 2: a really good person. I swear he's got a he's
Speaker 2: got a hell of a heart and uh, you know,
Speaker 2: he's been a great friend to me.
Speaker 1: Helpless most of the time. Yeah, helpless with that you
Speaker 1: called it. You call him a bastard because of what
Speaker 1: America knows he did or is there a bastard because
Speaker 1: of things that happened with you all and you were
Speaker 1: personal and your friendship I was.
Speaker 2: Just a term of endearment. I was just being kind
Speaker 2: of like cheeky. He's he just he just brought a
Speaker 2: lot of stress into my life with his actions and
Speaker 2: some of his very questionable choices.
Speaker 1: You said a break, like, what what take me to
Speaker 1: the past few months and after everything? What happened to
Speaker 1: you all's friendship? Was there are times where you all
Speaker 1: weren't talking at all and then tried to mend it
Speaker 1: did you did you make a concerted effort to hey,
Speaker 1: we need to make sure not just as business partners,
Speaker 1: but as friends take us through kind of that evolution
Speaker 1: of your relationship since the scandal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had to take a break. I had to
Speaker 2: distance myself because, like I said, my life truly got
Speaker 2: absolutely consumed by someone else's affair and it was insane
Speaker 2: and it was detrimental to the business, and you know,
Speaker 2: some of the other projects we were working on and
Speaker 2: we had to put on hold and it just sucked.
Speaker 2: Can I just say that, Yeah, it just kind of sucked.
Speaker 2: And he totally understood. I had to take a break,
Speaker 2: and because it's like I swear at one point and
Speaker 2: I was like I started having an identity crisis, you know,
Speaker 2: I look in the mirror and I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: am i Tom's end of all? What happened to Tom Schwartz?
Speaker 2: But uh, yeah, it was. It was a much needed
Speaker 2: hiatus for mister Sandoval. And you know, we had some
Speaker 2: very healthy we kind of did like our own a
Speaker 2: couple of therapy sessions, you know, without a therapist, but
Speaker 2: we had a lot of healthy, solid, productive conversations. And
Speaker 2: I think we're in a good place though. We're in
Speaker 2: a great place where we have we have synchronicity again
Speaker 2: and we're communicating clearly, respectfully, and yeah, I think we
Speaker 2: got our Tom.
Speaker 3: Tom Tom. Tom. You you obviously when when something like
Speaker 3: this happens, you you saw the fracture of the friendships.
Speaker 3: People take sides and you were teamed up with with
Speaker 3: the other Tom right as they say, what is the
Speaker 3: status of your friendship with the other cast members and
Speaker 3: how have you repaired those relationships?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll see that kind of play out in this season,
Speaker 2: especially the next few episodes. But yeah, that was the
Speaker 2: first time that I had really ever been an outcast
Speaker 2: in my life. It was not a nice feeling, kind
Speaker 2: of like a prie you know, I felt like strange
Speaker 2: from the group. For the first time ever. But I
Speaker 2: put a lot of work into rebuilding and repairing those friendships,
Speaker 2: and I feel like I'm in a really good place
Speaker 2: with everybody. Sheena, Katie, La La. Maybe not so much, Ariana.
Speaker 3: But are you trying to get closer to Arion?
Speaker 2: Very respectfully? She's so busy right now. I mean she's
Speaker 2: literally on Broadway. She's probably performing tonight. She's killing it.
Speaker 2: So she's so busy. I haven't even seen her lately,
Speaker 2: but I'm very happy for her.
Speaker 1: You want to see her in the show. Have you
Speaker 1: seen the show?
Speaker 2: I would love to see the show. Yeah, I can't
Speaker 2: this trip, but next time I come back, if it's
Speaker 2: still running, I want to us.
Speaker 3: Have you guys seen it?
Speaker 2: Well, shall we go see it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2: I have to watch what Happens Live tonight, but I
Speaker 2: would love that. I want to go. Anyways, I'm hype
Speaker 2: for her, and yeah, we'll get there.
Speaker 1: Maybe it sounds like that's still going to take some time.
Speaker 1: Your relationship with Tom though, one of the first things
Speaker 1: that jumped out at me when and again this has
Speaker 1: to do with editing, possibly, so I'll let give you
Speaker 1: a chance. But when you all first when he first
Speaker 1: came to you after the affair was revealed in that episode,
Speaker 1: and he comes in and one of the first things
Speaker 1: on your mind, and I think it's fair was business like, Look, dude,
Speaker 1: we need to stop this bleeding. We have a business
Speaker 1: to run. Do you look back at that, and some
Speaker 1: might have seen that as wait, this is your friend.
Speaker 1: You need to take care of that on a personal
Speaker 1: level before professional When you go back and look at that,
Speaker 1: or tell us more about that moment of how did
Speaker 1: you separate or how did you deal with trying to
Speaker 1: be a business partner. A lot of people you're responsible to,
Speaker 1: including employees, and this is my guy, have his friend
Speaker 1: and he's in trouble.
Speaker 2: I think I'll give myself a little pat on the back.
Speaker 2: I think I did a pretty good job compartmentalizing because
Speaker 2: I was. I was there for him even though I
Speaker 2: had taken a break. You know, sometimes a few times
Speaker 2: he hit me up and he really needed me, and
Speaker 2: I was always there for him. I didn't cut him
Speaker 2: off completely, but you know I was always there if
Speaker 2: he needed a shoulder to cry on. Well, not for
Speaker 2: like three months.
Speaker 1: I did take a three month break, a hard break builder.
Speaker 1: He'll be available later, yes, in a few months.
Speaker 2: Yes, but I was really upset because it's not just
Speaker 2: the money, you know, it's like big money. We put
Speaker 2: a lot of money in there, and he jeopardized my
Speaker 2: you know, half million dollar whatever it was investment, and
Speaker 2: not just that, but the time and energy and the
Speaker 2: sacrifices I made in my life to get that place open.
Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, you know that some
Speaker 2: choices he made in his personal life had a very
Speaker 2: adverse impact on our business. And I couldn't help but
Speaker 2: be paid. That was my you know, that was my
Speaker 2: first like Tom, Tom, we're minority stakeholders. I'm so proud
Speaker 2: of that. But like, this was our baby, our business baby,
Speaker 2: and we had just given birth to this beautiful baby.
Speaker 3: It's not coming out right, the words aren't coming out.
Speaker 1: We're following.
Speaker 2: This beautiful business baby. And yeah, it was hard. Like
Speaker 2: just his face, this this this dude that I love,
Speaker 2: one of my dearest friends in the world. Like his
Speaker 2: face became synonymous with everything that went wrong, at least
Speaker 2: in my mind that's the way I was thinking about it,
Speaker 2: everything that went wrong in our business. And so it
Speaker 2: was hard. It was hard to look him in the
Speaker 2: eyes that first time when we sat down. You know,
Speaker 2: but you know, I'm pretty damn quick to forgive. I
Speaker 2: think people know that about me, and maybe I try
Speaker 2: to see the best that everyone to a fault, mister,
Speaker 2: give them the benefit of the doubt. I love I
Speaker 2: love getting in there, and you know, I love nuance.
Speaker 2: I like hearing where people's heads are at when they
Speaker 2: do stupid shit. I don't like making snap judgments, although
Speaker 2: once in a while, recently watching The Bachelor, I've made
Speaker 2: a lot of snap judgments.
Speaker 3: You saw it from the other side, yes.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, I know Tom is a good dude.
Speaker 2: I hope. I think I'm not gonna say he's gonna
Speaker 2: get redemption. I know a lot of people have written
Speaker 2: him off, but I I think as time goes on,
Speaker 2: you know, he's gonna get some of his humanity reinstilled.
Speaker 2: And uh, I know a lot of people have been
Speaker 2: coming into the bars late and then they're like, Schwartz,
Speaker 2: can I like pull you aside like a little confessional.
Speaker 2: They're like, I wanted to murder your friend. I don't
Speaker 2: know why, but it's just like something about what he
Speaker 2: did reminded me of a very dark chapter in my
Speaker 2: life when someone I loved cheated on me and and
Speaker 2: I just wanted to apologize because I kind of wanted
Speaker 2: to murder you too. And it's like, but I think also,
Speaker 2: like I hate the term silver lining, but like so
Speaker 2: many people have come into like the bars, Tom Toms
Speaker 2: orts insand he's and just online, and like I was
Speaker 2: in a similar situation and low key, high key this
Speaker 2: incident with sand of all caused me to step up,
Speaker 2: have the uncomfortable conversation and prevented an affair. So I think,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I get trouble for I feel
Speaker 2: like it, I feel like whatever. I'm not calling it
Speaker 2: that anymore. The incident, it honestly prevented possibly hundreds of
Speaker 2: thousands of affairs.
Speaker 3: I mean it's a cautionary tale. It's a cautionary tale
Speaker 3: for sure, right, I mean that is the way it is.
Speaker 3: Were you surprised that Tom and Raquel Rachel? Which one
Speaker 3: did she go by? She's Rachel? Now? Were you surprised
Speaker 3: that they didn't make it?
Speaker 2: Honestly, I was very surprised. Do you think some are
Speaker 2: do you think some are in a parallel universe? They
Speaker 2: have a podcast together and they made it.
Speaker 3: I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: I was surprised by what you're saying. I was surprised
Speaker 1: that they given all that happened and what they were
Speaker 1: willing to sacrifice at least and hiding behind the back
Speaker 1: of the show in America. Essentially, I was surprised if
Speaker 1: you're going to put that much effort in. I was
Speaker 1: surprised to hear that they didn't work out.
Speaker 2: A shocked the shock of a lifetime. And I don't
Speaker 2: even say that lightly was because I really thought, like
Speaker 2: I mean, they risked at all. They burned their lives
Speaker 2: down for love or lust, whatever you want to call.
Speaker 2: It makes people do stupid things.
Speaker 1: What do you think it was? Do you think it
Speaker 1: was lover lust?
Speaker 2: I think it was lust under the cloak of.
Speaker 3: Love because there was friendship there.
Speaker 2: I think they really did at one point love each other.
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, from what I saw, they deeply cared
Speaker 2: about each other and we're in love. That's from my perspective.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know how they feel about it
Speaker 2: in hindsight. Retroactively, I think they have a much different
Speaker 2: take on it, and I think it's sort of I
Speaker 2: think they're both kind of referring it to more as
Speaker 2: an addiction or a lust or a mistake of epic proportions.
Speaker 2: But you know, at one point, yeah, man, they were
Speaker 2: It feels twisted to say this, but they were really
Speaker 2: deeply in love. I think, yeah, yeah, deeply.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: I'm curious how this has impacted you. I mean, you've
Speaker 3: been through a divorce and you're still friends with Katie, right,
Speaker 3: your ex?
Speaker 2: I think, so, Hi, Katie, we're cool.
Speaker 1: We're cool.
Speaker 2: We still have joint custody of the dogs, and we
Speaker 2: had thirteen years together and we hit a rough patch
Speaker 2: there for about a year. But yeah, I still care
Speaker 2: about her so much. I still love Katie and I'm
Speaker 2: always rooting her, rooting for from the sidelines, and uh yeah,
Speaker 2: I'd love to see her happy out there doing her thing.
Speaker 2: But we're cool.
Speaker 3: How has all of this affected your willingness, your just
Speaker 3: how you approach relationships or finding your person. Just having
Speaker 3: gone through all of this.
Speaker 2: For the first time in my life, I'm doing something crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm setting boundaries. Wow, you guys, this is not a
Speaker 2: safe place for your sins. Okay, Please do not come
Speaker 2: to me and confess anything I don't want to know.
Speaker 3: Don't tell me.
Speaker 2: Yes, no, but no, I, uh yeah, honestly, I don't know.
Speaker 3: Man, are you looking for the one?
Speaker 2: Whoa? Okay, I'm not not looking. I'm not looking, but
Speaker 2: it seems to always find.
Speaker 1: Me the one the ones?
Speaker 2: I mean, can I just say I'm super happy right now? Well,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm I don't think I'm single.
Speaker 3: You don't, I see. I thought I took it the
Speaker 3: other way that he might have found okay, but.
Speaker 1: Then he said I'm super single?
Speaker 3: What was he super happy?
Speaker 2: I'm super happy.
Speaker 3: I'm just happily hanging out and he's not super single.
Speaker 1: You're not super single. You're in a relationship now.
Speaker 3: I don't know, man, are you unless you're dating one
Speaker 3: of these two? Why are you looking over here?
Speaker 1: I like somebody, you like somebody, but you're dating somebody?
Speaker 1: Is that fair? Whoa?
Speaker 2: Whoa? No, you can't just throw out the D word.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I.
Speaker 2: Think that has you know, But I mean, yeah, I'm happy.
Speaker 3: I'm happy.
Speaker 1: Should we go through like, well, what are your folks
Speaker 1: returning to over here?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: You say different things on different podcasts. What have you
Speaker 1: said in the previous one about your relationships.
Speaker 2: That I'm going to redirect? I never thought I would
Speaker 2: be single at this age. It it sucks.
Speaker 1: So you are single?
Speaker 3: No, Like on Facebook, what's your relationship status?
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good one, not even in its complete
Speaker 2: I guess if I had to pick, I would say
Speaker 2: happily hanging. It's a new one.
Speaker 3: That's not no.
Speaker 2: But there's somebody I dig for sure, But she's like
Speaker 2: super private, so I don't want to.
Speaker 3: That's fair given that she's dating this world.
Speaker 1: That's all you had to Now, we got totally get it.
Speaker 1: We respect those boundaries, and we want to make sure
Speaker 1: you're not in trouble with the answers you gave here
Speaker 1: because you just now it makes sense. It's okay to
Speaker 1: want privacy.
Speaker 2: There's somebody I hang out with and really.
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, and she doesn't want anybody to know she
Speaker 1: has anything to do with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2: Is a shame to me. She's like, all right, yes
Speaker 2: we can hang, but don't you tell anybody? Yeah, And
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, deal, that's fair. That makes me
Speaker 2: like her, right, she gets it. How's your family handled
Speaker 2: all this? You mentioned what you were going through personally
Speaker 2: with all this happening, but you know this type of
Speaker 2: thing doesn't happen to just you. It happens to everyone
Speaker 2: who loves you.
Speaker 3: How are they doing there?
Speaker 2: It feels good to say that everybody's stable right now. Actually,
Speaker 2: I just talked to my dad before I came in here,
Speaker 2: and he's going in for blood blood clot surgery, which
Speaker 2: is always scary. He's got blood clot surgery. Today's three
Speaker 2: blood clots, I think, but they said it should be
Speaker 2: a walk in the park. The doctor reassured him, you know,
Speaker 2: he should be out of there within four hours. So
Speaker 2: I'm nervously anticipating that call from him to make sure
Speaker 2: he's okay, because I have, like we all have a
Speaker 2: little bit of PTSD. It's like he was in there
Speaker 2: for the yes, in the hospital for seven months. He
Speaker 2: was emaciated. At one point, he was intubated. He couldn't
Speaker 2: do anything, you know, couldn't get up, go to the bathroom.
Speaker 2: It's rough seeing someone that you love, your hero, you know,
Speaker 2: like you know your dad just completely. But that's not
Speaker 2: really a verb, just a vegetable just turned into essentially
Speaker 2: a vegetable. You know. That was hard, really hard. It
Speaker 2: wenth heavy on the whole family, and it was in
Speaker 2: like four different hospitals and listen, I know this is
Speaker 2: everyone goes to something like this at some point. I
Speaker 2: just I had a pretty cushy, light up, pretty cushy,
Speaker 2: cushy life up into the last few years, and it
Speaker 2: came at me quick, kicked my ass. But I do
Speaker 2: feel better, better equipped to deal with adversity when it
Speaker 2: comes my way next time, for sure.
Speaker 1: And it's coming. Oh, it's just from someone who knows life. No,
Speaker 1: it's just life keeps coming. It's just how equipped we
Speaker 1: are to deal with what's coming. It's never gonna stop.
Speaker 1: So there'll be a next big thing, and a next
Speaker 1: big thing, and a next big thing, hopefully nothing that
Speaker 1: was big before you. Again, you mentioned there a few
Speaker 1: things here before we wrap up with you. What do
Speaker 1: you think about that term scandabal You said you didn't
Speaker 1: want to anymore, so I kind of understand, but just
Speaker 1: that it flows so easily in the social media age.
Speaker 1: But what do you think?
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, just hearing it literally triggers some sort of PTSD.
Speaker 2: I'm only half joking because that that dang word was
Speaker 2: like reverberating around my mind for like six months, haunting me,
Speaker 2: and I don't know, I feel like, oh, I feel
Speaker 2: like the stench of that word is no longer lingering.
Speaker 2: Did you guys smell it when I walked in?
Speaker 3: No? No, not at all anything, But it didn't come.
Speaker 4: I mean yeah, yeah, I mean I know I joke inappropriately,
Speaker 4: inappropriately about that often sometimes just when I'm nervous or whatever.
Speaker 3: But you know what, though, humor is is healing. I mean,
Speaker 3: I've been through cancer, and cancer humor works like when
Speaker 3: you go through stuff, humor gets you through it. So
Speaker 3: I get it. I get that humor.
Speaker 2: I've never heard that one humor gets you through it.
Speaker 3: I like that, it really does.
Speaker 2: I you know, I would rather laugh than cry. Usually
Speaker 2: ends up being both, but laugh now, cry later.
Speaker 3: What have you learned through all of this?
Speaker 2: Let's see. You know, people, h if you're unhappy in
Speaker 2: your your relationship and you're falling out of love, you know,
Speaker 2: have that have that hard to have conversation and I
Speaker 2: don't know, man affairs just seem like, uh stressful, it's
Speaker 2: very stressful. And uh, I've learned to be better at
Speaker 2: setting boundaries with people, you know what I mean? I Uh,
Speaker 2: It's not like I get walked all over or anything
Speaker 2: like that. But I think I'm too accommodating, honestly, and
Speaker 2: like I got a reading from Ali James's girlfriend and
Speaker 2: she's like, you are a hardcore Libra and a hardcore
Speaker 2: people pleaser. I'm not like being in a strong year anything,
Speaker 2: but I was just like I got a chill with
Speaker 2: the pleasing of other people, and yeah, I'm just trying
Speaker 2: to fall in love with myself all over again right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, give us last thing, Just give us one thing
Speaker 1: this season. I know there expectations, people expect a certain
Speaker 1: level of drama, but tease one thing that everybody that
Speaker 1: loves this show, you just hold on and wait because
Speaker 1: what's coming.
Speaker 2: This this vacation, our getaway to Lake Tahoe. I feel
Speaker 2: like I feel like it was transformative and I feel
Speaker 2: like it's a really nice reset for not just us
Speaker 2: as friends cast, but also for the audience too. And
Speaker 2: I feel like from there on, I think the show
Speaker 2: kind of takes a pleasant turn. Wow, not that there's
Speaker 2: still not a ton of drama and everything, but like
Speaker 2: it's just I feel like it's just a little more happy,
Speaker 2: go lucky, you know, and very very heartfelt. Raw.
Speaker 3: I want to believe that people root for friendships, they
Speaker 3: for love and so we're rooting for you and we
Speaker 3: can't wait to watch and see things just get better.
Speaker 2: Thank you, guys. This has been so nice. Really, I
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And it's something when you hear so much about somebody
Speaker 1: and then they walk into the room. It's just that
Speaker 1: luckily we've we we can't imagine what you did have
Speaker 1: to go through. But good luck to you in the future,
Speaker 1: and we'll go to the show with you and we'll
Speaker 1: come to.
Speaker 3: You yes to do that. You have a beautiful energy,
Speaker 3: by the way, like a beautiful energy.
Speaker 2: I felt like I lost my aura of the past
Speaker 2: two years, and I think it's kind of coming back.
Speaker 1: It's back.
Speaker 3: It's back.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys for the warm welcome and this has
Speaker 2: been awesome.
Speaker 1: This is great, all right, Well, appreciate you, Tom Schwartz.
Speaker 1: We will see plenty more from you. And for folks
Speaker 1: who want to keep listening to us, of course, you
Speaker 1: can catch Amy and TJ on Instagram at the Amy
Speaker 1: and TJ Podcast. You can find us all on Instagram
Speaker 1: and TikTok on our individual accounts. But thank you so much.
Speaker 1: And I'd never said vander plump.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he kept saying vander plump instead of Vander Pump.
Speaker 3: I was like, no, it's vander Pump. Yea like the Rose.
Speaker 2: My dad used to say, Vander Camp, Dad, you on
Speaker 2: that Vander Camp him tonight. I'm like, and are pumped
Speaker 2: and a pump? All right?
Speaker 1: Thank you brother, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: M