Tom Schwartz and Raquel Leviss.Photo: Ralph Bavaro/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Emma McIntyre/WireImage
Tom Schwartzis reflecting on kissing hisVanderpump RulescostarRaquel Leviss.
During an appearance onWatch What Happens Live with Andy CohenWednesday night, the 40-year-old admitted that he has regrets about locking lips with the 28-year-old beauty queen.
“In hindsight, I don’t think it was [worth it],” he told hostAndy Cohen, 54, reflecting on the pain it caused ex-wife and costarKatie Maloney. “I never wanted to hurt Katie. The fallout I got, the blowback I got from that kiss, my God!”
Maloney and Schwartz had previously agreed that they wouldn’t hook up with anyone within their friendship group following theirsplit, which they announced in March 2022. Theirdivorcewas finalized seven months later in October.
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Many fans have questioned whether Schwartz and Leviss' smooch was to distract away from hermonths-long affairwith Schwartz’s best friend and business partnerTom Sandoval, which was exposed on March 3 and ended hisnine-year relationshipwith girlfriend and costarAriana Madix.
But Schwartz said that his smooch with Leviss was real, and had nothing to do with that. “I just feel like there was so much of a buildup. The chemistry was building,” Schwartz said, of him and Leviss. “… It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t a decoy kiss. It was a real kiss.”
Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz and Raquel Leviss.Tommy Garcia/Bravo
Like Schwartz, Leviss has alsoclaimed the kiss was organic. “I genuinely had an interest in Tom Schwartz and there’s a genuine curiosity there, so it wasn’t a cover-up,” shetold TMZlast month.
The pair’s smooch was shown duringWednesday’s episodeofVanderpump Ruleswhen the cast was in Mexico celebrating thewedding of their costars Scheana Shay and Brock Davies, which took place in August 2022.
During the episode, Schwartz said thathe would be open to hooking up with someone at the wedding. Leviss, who had previously asked Schwartz if she could kiss him during a Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras gig, then led him away from the group during a pool party to a table for some privacy.
“This is a romantic table. Raquel, what is this? Are you seducing me?” Schwartz asked her.
“Why, do you feel seduced?” Leviss quipped. “A little bit actually,” Schwartz admitted.
Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss.Araya Doheny/Getty
As Schwartz and Leviss inched ever closer toward each other, Davies could be heard in the distance yelling for them to make out.
“Raquel, you’re f—ing gorgeous. You’re beautiful,” he continued. “It was never even a thing. Katie made it a thing and now you’re forbidden fruit.”
Leviss agreed, “She made it more of a thing than anything, and now I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
In a confessional interview, she shared, “There’s a lot of things that attracted me to Schwartz. He is so sweet, kind. Love his sense of humor. My attraction for Schwartz definitely outweighs my desire to be friends with Katie.”
The two costars then leaned over the table and gave each other multiple kisses as a partygoer cheered in the background and Leviss giggled.
During his appearance onWWHL, Schwartz also revealedwhen he found outabout Leviss and Sandoval’s affair.
“I learned in August, in late August about the affair, the one-night stand — allegedly,” he said, later adding that “there was a lot of grey area there” as to how deep the infidelity ran.
He added, “From my point of view, it became, like, an emotional affair — which is still inappropriate.”
Cohen then noted that at theVanderpump Rulesreunion filminglate last month, Schwartz claimed he didn’t know about the affair until early this year. Clarifying, Schwartz explained, “In January, Tom came to me … and he told me that he was in love with Raquel. I was flabbergasted.”
Asked if he would have made out with Raquel when she first asked if the cameras weren’t around, Schwartz said “yes.”
Watch What Happens Live withAndy Cohenairs Sundays — Thursdays on Bravo.
source: people.com
