Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval has continuously butted heads with his co-star Katie Maloney in Season 9, and much of the drama stems from his newest business venture with his best friend (and Katie’s husband) Tom Schwartz.
The vast majority of Sandoval and Schwartz’s storylines this season revolve around their new bar, a venture that they’ve decided to take on without the input of SUR boss Lisa Vanderpump. However, when Katie stepped in and suggested that she wanted to take part in the business, Sandoval wasn’t too keen to have another set of hands in the cookie jar.
In a recent interview, Sandoval hinted that Katie had ulterior motives in her desire to be part of their business and suggested that it was simply so she could acquire more screentime.
Tom Sandoval hints that Katie Maloney wanted to increase her screentime in Vanderpump Rules Season 9
Speaking on the No Filter with Zack Peter podcast, Sandoval dished that his Vanderpump Rules co-star called him up prior to the beginning of filming to ask a favor.
According to Sandoval, Katie asked, “I’m getting ready to go meet with production. I just wanted to see if it’s cool if I tell them that I might help out in the office or take some phone calls or maybe help train some staff [at the new bar].”
The request seemingly surprised the TomTom boss since they were so early in the planning stages for the new bar.
“I understand what she was asking,” Sandoval revealed. “Like, ‘I know you guys are gonna be filming and talking about this, and I wanna be able to film,’…I can tell you that it’s always great when you’re involved with more things because then you can film more, that’s the way it is.”
Katie and Sandoval clash on everything from the bar’s name to its mission statement
As the season has unfolded, Katie and Sandoval have continually been on opposing ends. From the very beginning, Sandoval was set on the bar’s new name but Katie couldn’t stand it.
Although Schwartz initially agreed with his wife that the bar’s name of Schwartz and Sandy’s was a little odd, he has since gotten on board with the idea.
Katie, however, has continued to push the issue and went so far as to call the name “uninspired.” Adding insult to injury, during a meeting with Sandoval and Schwartz’s potential business partner, Katie managed to wiggle her way into helping with the new bar’s mission statement as well.
During an interview with Yahoo, Sandoval’s longtime girlfriend and co-star Ariana Madix revealed that Katie actually went back on the initial agreement for the new venture.
“When Tom and Tom first started doing this project of opening a new bar together, they agreed that me and Katie — they literally shook hands — that [we] wouldn’t be involved,” she revealed
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.