'Vanderpump Rules' stars open up about Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney's 'very shocking' split: 'They're doing as best as they can'
- Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix spoke to Insider about Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz's split.
- The "Vanderpump Rules" stars said they found their costars' break-up to be "very shocking."
"Vanderpump Rules" stars Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz shocked fans last week when they announced via Instagram that they were separating after 12 years together.
And costars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix were just as surprised when the couple told them they were splitting.
"We talked to them before the Instagram posts, a while before that. But finding out for the first time was very shocking," Madix told Insider at the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
"Very shocking," Sandoval added.
Maloney and Schwartz announced their break-up with joint Instagram posts on March 16. Schwartz wrote in his that he wasn't "quite ready to use the 'D' word because it's too painful," but that he "fully respects Katie's decision." Maloney officially filed for divorce on Tuesday, according to TMZ.
Sandoval told Insider that the couple are "doing as best as they can" through the split.
"This is a big thing that they're going through and we're just trying to be here, we love them both very much," he said. "We just want to be there when they need us."
When asked if they feared that Maloney and Schwartz's split could hurt their tight-knit group of friends, Madix said "it's been very positive."
"Everyone's very much supportive of everyone, so fingers crossed that continues," she said. "But group trips, things like that, we have not crossed that bridge yet."
Madix said she and Maloney are still planning to open a sandwich shop together in Los Angeles, while Sandoval and Schwartz are currently working on opening their second bar. (Schwartz and Sandoval partnered with Lisa Vanderpump to open TomTom in West Hollywoood in 2018.)
As for the fate of "Vanderpump Rules," it still remains up in the air. Madix told Insider that Bravo hasn't renewed the show for a tenth season yet.