Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Vanderpump Rules star Raquel Leviss has taken a lot of heat for her season 10 hookups with Tom Schwartz. But according to the 28-year-old model, she did plenty of dating around in the months that followed her December 2021 split from James Kennedy, 31.
As Tom, 40, admitted that their rendezvous was “a little disrespectful” to ex-wife Katie Maloney, 36, and James said Raquel “certainly spread her wings,” Raquel confirmed she’s not looking to settle down — and noted that she’s enjoying her single life.
“I’ve dated around. I’ve had a few, like, flings and casual stuff and I’m not really looking for anything serious [right now],” she told Us Weekly on February 7. “I kind of like being single and doing my own thing. I feel like I’m dating myself. I feel like I really only recently started figuring out who I am as a person and what I really, really like and what I don’t like. So I don’t think that I’m ready to settle down anytime soon.”
Instead, Raquel wants to continue having fun after taking the title of “makeout sl-t” from Tom.
“Schwartz and I only made out, so, I’m literally just like a makeout sl-t,” Raquel admitted. “[We only] made out a few times. It was fun, I enjoyed it. I think he did too.”
While Raquel and Tom may have enjoyed their time together, it did not come as good news to Katie, who shaded her as a “fan girl.”
“We’re not in the best place,” Raquel said of herself and Katie. “I ran into her on Sunday and I figured I would be like the bigger person and at least break the ice and go over there and say hi. And it was like a ‘death glare’ straight through my soul. So I was like, ‘OK, I feel like I just need to like back off and give you some space.’ Clearly, I really hurt her and that wasn’t my intention at all.”
“I’m just navigating single life and thought that Schwartz might be someone cool to pursue something with. So it sucks, but it is what it is,” she added.
In another interview with Page Six at last week’s Pump Rules premiere party, after confirming she and Tom are “really good friends,” Raquel suggested their romance was cut short by Katie.
“As far as a romantic thing, it was more his decision to not pursue that. I think Katie had a big reasoning as to why. But I respect his decision, and I gained a really good friendship out of it,” she shared.
Then, after James said Raquel “certainly spread her wings and flew away” after their breakup, and hinted her hookup with Tom was what led to his trailer-teased drink toss, Tom confirmed he does not regret his encounters with Raquel.
“It was only a kiss. I don’t regret it,” he explained. “Now, if we want to get into some of the intricacies, maybe the timing was a little disrespectful. In the moment, I was so caught up in my own little world. Something was in the air. … I regretted it in the sense that it hurt some people that I care a lot about, like maybe James and Katie — not so much James, but Katie.”
When asked for an update on her and Tom’s relationship, Katie said the two of them are “good.”
“It’s just been a process to find that foundation of our friendship that is healthy for us both and not crossing any boundaries,” she revealed. “We are still in each other’s lives, and we want to be. He’s still like my family, and I still have love for the guy.”
And during her own interview with Us Weekly, Katie said that when it comes to Raquel, she is staying “very far away.”
“Some things are just not meant to be, and our friendship is probably one of them,” she added.
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.