Tom Sandoval allegedly snuck photos of Raquel Leviss to New Zealand with him in June as he visited the country to film the second season of FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
On Thursday’s episode of his podcast, Bachelor alum Nick Viall accused the Vanderpump Rules star of breaking set rules as Summer House cast member Kyle Cooke offered an update on Tom Schwartz, claiming Katie Maloney‘s ex-husband is “stressed” as he keeps Schwartz & Sandy’s afloat post-“Scandoval.”
“I recently saw Schwartz, and I think he had already started filming [Vanderpump Rules] and, I mean, you can see it in his face,” Kyle told The U.S. Sun on August 1, referring to Schwartz being “stressed.”
“I get it – two friends working together. Money’s involved, livelihood’s involved. I mean, look, I love both those guys. I hope it all works out,” he continued.
According to Kyle, he remembers when Sandoval and Schwartz first found their restaurant space.
“When we were about to film season one of Winter House, I asked them both to come to the show and they just found the place and were finalizing the lease,” he recalled. “That was like January of 2021.”
As Bravo fans well know, Kyle is all too familiar with business feuds with friends. After all, he endured a similar experience with Carl Radke while working on their sparkling tea and spritz business, Loverboy, which Carl ultimately quit.
Although Schwartz & Sandy’s faced backlash after Sandoval’s affair with Raquel was uncovered in March amid his nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix, Kyle believes the Pump Rules stars have “kind of done the impossible.”
“They’ve made it in Hollywood… They’ve done well for themselves,” he stated. “They put their money where their mouth is. They’re trying to build a future and something – I can’t say unpredictable happens – but something unfortunate happens. The friend group kind of gets ripped apart. Now, the business is kind of feeling the ripple effect and we saw that to some extent with Loverboy.”
“I mean, reality television people, they tend to pick their sides,” he added. “I honestly feel bad. You know, take everything else out of it- it’s an unfortunate situation. But I hope people don’t hold the business and all the employees accountable for someone’s actions. It’s a lot bigger than that.”
As for Sandoval breaking set rules by allegedly bringing pics of Raquel to set, Nick shared the news on The Viall Files, via TMZ, with guest Sai De Silva of The Real Housewives of New York City, revealing that he and the rest of the cast were given a list of things they couldn’t bring.
Although Nick said he would’ve loved to have pics of his fiancée, Natalie Joy, with him, he chose to obey the rules as Sandoval showcased his Raquel pics to their co-stars.
Nick also noted that Sandoval seemed to really care about Raquel as he showed off the images.
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season two premieres on Monday, September 25, on FOX.