Vanderpump Rules star Tom Schwartz, 43, is unrecognizable

Tom Schwartz, who sH๏τ to fame as part of the original cast of Vanderpump Rules, was unrecognizable when he surfaced in Los Angeles this week.

The 43-year-old spent his early adult life enjoying a high-octane run of reality stardom on the hit Bravo series from 2013 onwards.

However in 2024, after the Scandoval drama that reheated public interest in the show, Vanderpump Rules was rebooted and the whole cast replaced.

Since then, Schwartz has made sporadic guest appearances on the revamped series and joined the regular cast of its spin-off The Valley.

Meanwhile Schwartz & Sandy’s, one of the two nightspots he co-owned in Los Angeles at the height of his notoriety, has gone out of business.

His trademark breezy ebullience seemed nowhere in evidence when he was spotted this week, looking downcast as he walked his dogs.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Schwartz for comment.

Tom Schwartz, who sH๏τ to fame as part of the original cast of Vanderpump Rules, was unrecognizable when he surfaced this week

The 43-year-old spent his early adult life enjoying a high-octane run of reality stardom on the hit Bravo series from 2013 onwards; pictured 2019

Vanderpump Rules burst onto the Bravo scene in 2013, with Schwartz as part of a sizzling cast of beautiful young staffers at the nightspots owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stalwart Lisa Vanderpump and her husband Ken Todd. 

Schwartz’s storylines frequently involved his turbulent romance with Katie Maloney, whose early season antics earned her the nickname ‘Tequila Katie.’

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Although they made it down the aisle in 2013 in front of reality TV cameras, a mishap with the paperwork meant that their marriage was not legally binding.

They corrected the error by making their union official in Las Vegas in 2019 – also on Vanderpump Rules – only for their relationship to implode in 2022.

However they have retained an amicable equation with ‘joint custody of the dogs,’ Schwartz shared in a new interview with E! Entertainment. 

Another consistent feature of the show was Schwartz’s close friendship with his co-star Tom Sandoval, a bond that led to both profit and controversy.

In 2018, the duo helped launch a West Hollywood bar called TomTom, in which they each owned a 5 percent stake with the rest held by Vanderpump and Todd.

Slightly over four years later, the two men opened a restaurant called Schwartz & Sandy’s, this time entirely owned by the pair of them. 

In 2024, after the Scandoval drama that reheated public interest in the show, Vanderpump Rules was rebooted and the whole cast was replaced

Since then, Schwartz has made sporadic guest appearances on the revamped series and joined the regular cast of its spin-off The Valley

His trademark breezy ebullience seemed nowhere in evidence when he was spotted this week, looking downcast as he walked his dogs

Vanderpump Rules burst onto the Bravo scene in 2013, with Schwartz in cast of beautiful young staffers at the nightspots owned by Lisa Vanderpump; Schwartz pictured in 2016

Then in March 2023, Sandoval was dumped by his girlfriend of nine years Ariana Madix after she discovered his affair with Rachel ‘Raquel’ Leviss.

All three parties to the imbroglio were stars of Vanderpump Rules, which received a turbocharge of reinvigorated popularity generated by the love triangle.

As ‘Scandoval’ exploded, Madix became an object of widespread public sympathy, while Leviss was subjected to a deluge of backlash so fierce that she quit the show and retreated to a mental health facility for two months.

Sandoval became a lightning rod of particularly intense public loathing, such that fans raised their eyebrows at Schwartz’s loyalty in continuing to be friends with him.

By the end of 2024, Schwartz & Sandy’s had permanently closed, though TomTom – mainly owned by Vanderpump and Todd – remains in business to this day.

Schwartz recently reflected that his ‘life kind of went up in flames’ when his restaurant with Sandoval folded in the shadow of the scandal.

”Cause I over-leveraged myself,’ he reflected. ‘I literally – blood, sweat, tears – I put so much time and money and energy, my heart and my actual soul in that place, and then to see it just sort of go up in flames, it was tragic.’

Schwartz’s storylines frequently involved his turbulent romance with Katie Maloney, whose early season antics earned her the nickname ‘Tequila Katie’; pictured 2018

Another consistent feature of the show was Schwartz’s close friendship with his co-star Tom Sandoval, a bond that led to both profit and controversy

He is now dating and, according to him, ‘in love with’ a 27-year-old model called Kiana Carroll, whom he went Instagram official with last year; pictured in May

He acknowledged that ‘it was almost impossible not to harbor a lot of resentment towards’ Sandoval for the role his ‘f***ing circus’ had played in their business’ decline, though he insisted that ‘I love him like I love a brother.’

Meanwhile, months before Schwartz & Sandy’s closed, the two men’s exes Madix and Maloney started a sandwich shop called Something About Her that remains open.

Also in 2024, Vanderpump Rules underwent a total overhaul, with the original cast replaced by newer young staffers at the leading lady’s restaurants. 

Schwartz has rebounded by joining the third and latest season of the spin-off The Valley as a series regular, featuring alongside fellow Vanderpump Rules alumni Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute as well as a sprinkling of fresher faces.

He is now dating and, according to him, ‘in love with’ a 27-year-old model called Kiana Carroll, whom he went Instagram official with last year.