What's Next for Katie Maloney After Splitting From Tom Schwartz? She Says...

Vanderpump Rules' Katie Maloney recently shared her goals for her "new chapter" after recently announcing her divorce from Tom Schwartz.

By Allison Crist Mar 21, 2022 4:27 PMTags
Watch: Tom Schwartz Speaks Out After Katie Maloney Breakup

Katie Maloney is focused on her future. 

On March 20, the Vanderpump Rules star encouraged her Instagram followers to ask questions while she lounged at home during "a lazy Sunday." Naturally, many wanted to know how she was feeling in light of her recent announcement that she and her husband, Tom Schwartz, are splitting after 12 years together.

"I'm actually doing really good," Katie responded to one inquiry. "Feeling really loved and supported. I feel very hopeful." 

Another follower asked the former SUR waitress about her goals for "this new chapter," prompting Katie to reveal that she's "on a pursuit of happiness." 

"I want to feed my soul," she added. "And of course I want to prioritize my career goals." 

One such aspiration involves her Vanderpump Rules co-star Ariana Madix. The pair revealed their plans to open a sandwich shop during the show's season nine reunion, and during Sunday's Q&A session, Katie insisted that she's "1,000%" interested in following through with those plans.

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Though most followers expressed interest in Katie's future, some were curious about the past—namely, what led to her decision to divorce Tom, as one follower put it, as she previously revealed that she was the one to initiate the split.

Her response? "Trusting myself." 

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The explanation was similar to one Katie gave on the March 16 episode of the You're Gonna Love Me podcast, one day after she and Tom shared separate statements announcing their split. 

"The best and only way I can describe it," Katie said on the podcast, "is just like waking up inside of my life and having this voice that just became louder and louder and just events in my life and our relationship coming into focus and feeling the weight of them on me."

She continued, "I wanted to deny them. I wanted to push them out of my head because I love Tom and we have built a life together, and he's my person and I wanted to be with him forever. But ultimately I just wasn't happy."

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Tom hasn't spoken about the breakup at length, but he did say he blamed himself for it after a celebrity photographer asked if his Bravo co-star Tom Sandoval played a role. "No, no that's all on me," he said on March 16. "I wish I had a scapegoat, but that's all on me."

When confirming the split in a post of his own the day prior, Schwartz revealed that he's "not quite ready to use the 'D' word bc it's too painful," but eventually, he'll "be ok." 

"Fully respect Katie's decision and we've had healthy, productive conversations about it," Tom's post continued. "It would be far sadder if she decided to stay with me whilst not happy. After 9 years on a reality TV show it feels a little tone def to say 'please respect our privacy' (especially while posting this) so instead I'll ask to please be kind."

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And despite the fact that he later blamed himself for the divorce, Tom said at the time that he didn't see their breakup as "a failure" and is "happy to say there's no anger or bitterness" between them.

Katie shared a similar sentiment on her podcast, revealing that she and Tom are still living together and remain friends. "We're just trying to navigate these steps together and really work on becoming friends in that sense," she said. "And obviously we have the same friends and [are] trying to hang out in a group together going through this and not making it awkward for anyone and not make anyone choose sides—that's been important to us."

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