\n<\/p>\n
The fallout from Tom Schwartz<\/strong><\/a> and Raquel Leviss<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 make-out session continues. Us Weekly<\/em> is breaking down how the Vanderpump Rules<\/em> costars\u2019 relationship has sparked a feud between Katie Maloney<\/a><\/strong> and Scheana Shay<\/strong> <\/a>\u2014 and nearly a year\u2019s worth of drama.<\/p>\n The idea of Tom and Raquel exploring a romance began in April 2022, one month after the former bartender and Katie announced their split.<\/a> (The spouses had quietly ended things in February 2022 after 12 years together<\/a> and five years of marriage.) At the time, Tom denied \u201cmaking out\u201d with Raquel at Coachella \u2014 an event he wasn\u2019t even at.<\/p>\n The rumors made waves within the friend group, however, with Scheana and Katie seemingly having a conversation about the situation in Las Vegas that same month.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere was a conversation that happened between Katie and I \u2026 and Katie said, \u2018I think they would make a good couple,\u2019 or, \u2018They might be a good match,\u2019 or something along those lines,\u201d the \u201cGood As Gold\u201d singer recalled on Page Six\u2019<\/em>s \u201cVirtual Reali-Tea\u201d<\/a> podcast in February 2023. \u201cSo I took that and ran with it and I told Raquel, \u2018Katie kind of gives you her blessing if you want to pursue that.\u2019 And then you\u2019ll see the rest play out.\u201d<\/p>\n Katie denied Scheana\u2019s recollection of the story, sharing a series of text messages between the two women dated May 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cYou literally told me in Vegas that you want tom to move [on] bc it\u2019ll make it easier for you bc you had already. And you encourage me to push him to move on,\u201d Scheana wrote.<\/p>\n Katie claimed that her ex-husband moving on is \u201cnot really what I\u2019m getting at,\u201d<\/a> slamming the idea that Scheana needs to \u201chelp tom with anything.\u201d She implied that the \u201cScheananigans\u201d podcast host pushed Tom and Raquel together.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pretty clear that I didn\u2019t mean or cosign s\u2014t \u2026 so why go through with this?\u201d Katie captioned the screenshots of the texts. \u201cAfter starting to lay some ground work. Inviting Schwartz and Raquel to her birthday (not me) it was very obvious but sure too busy to check in with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Three months later, Us Weekly<\/em> exclusively revealed that Tom and Raquel made out during Scheana\u2019s wedding weekend in August 2022.<\/a><\/p>\n During the February 2023 premiere, Katie declared that the \u201cone rule\u201d for her and Tom to stay friends post-split \u2014 something they both wanted \u2014 was no hooking up within the cast.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we are sharing custody of dogs and share mutual best friends, creating boundaries is necessary,\u201d Katie explained via Instagram after the episode aired. \u201cI wasn\u2019t telling him what to do. I was saying it would create a toxic environment and he agreed. We had seen it play out in our friend group a million times before.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom and Raquel ultimately decided to stay friends and aren\u2019t dating, but the implications of the wedding hookup haven\u2019t slowed down.<\/p>\n