Tom Schwartz Admits Kissing Raquel Leviss Wasn't Worth It, but Says Their 'Chemistry Was Building'

Tom Schwartz is reflecting on kissing his Vanderpump Rules costar Raquel Leviss.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Wednesday night, the 40-year-old admitted that he has regrets about locking lips with the 28-year-old beauty queen.

"In hindsight, I don't think it was [worth it]," he told host Andy Cohen, 54, reflecting on the pain it caused ex-wife and costar Katie Maloney. "I never wanted to hurt Katie. The fallout I got, the blowback I got from that kiss, my God!"

Maloney and Schwartz had previously agreed that they wouldn't hook up with anyone within their friendship group following their split, which they announced in March 2022. Their divorce was finalized seven months later in October.

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Many fans have questioned whether Schwartz and Leviss' smooch was to distract away from her months-long affair with Schwartz's best friend and business partner Tom Sandoval, which was exposed on March 3 and ended his nine-year relationship with girlfriend and costar Ariana Madix.

But Schwartz said that his smooch with Leviss was real, and had nothing to do with that. "I just feel like there was so much of a buildup. The chemistry was building," Schwartz said, of him and Leviss. "... It wasn't planned, it wasn't a decoy kiss. It was a real kiss."

Like Schwartz, Leviss has also claimed the kiss was organic. "I genuinely had an interest in Tom Schwartz and there's a genuine curiosity there, so it wasn't a cover-up," she told TMZ last month.

The pair's smooch was shown during Wednesday's episode of Vanderpump Rules when the cast was in Mexico celebrating the wedding of their costars Scheana Shay and Brock Davies, which took place in August 2022.

During the episode, Schwartz said that he would be open to hooking up with someone at the wedding. Leviss, who had previously asked Schwartz if she could kiss him during a Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras gig, then led him away from the group during a pool party to a table for some privacy.

"This is a romantic table. Raquel, what is this? Are you seducing me?" Schwartz asked her.

"Why, do you feel seduced?" Leviss quipped. "A little bit actually," Schwartz admitted.

As Schwartz and Leviss inched ever closer toward each other, Davies could be heard in the distance yelling for them to make out.

"I'm so annoyed by what people have done to try and coerce us into making out. I kinda just want to do it now," Schwartz told Leviss, who squealed, "Schwartz! When did you come to this realization?"

"Raquel, you're f---ing gorgeous. You're beautiful," he continued. "It was never even a thing. Katie made it a thing and now you're forbidden fruit."

Leviss agreed, "She made it more of a thing than anything, and now I just can't stop thinking about it."

In a confessional interview, she shared, "There's a lot of things that attracted me to Schwartz. He is so sweet, kind. Love his sense of humor. My attraction for Schwartz definitely outweighs my desire to be friends with Katie."

The two costars then leaned over the table and gave each other multiple kisses as a partygoer cheered in the background and Leviss giggled.

During his appearance on WWHL, Schwartz also revealed when he found out about Leviss and Sandoval's affair.

"I learned in August, in late August about the affair, the one-night stand — allegedly," he said, later adding that "there was a lot of grey area there" as to how deep the infidelity ran.

He added, "From my point of view, it became, like, an emotional affair — which is still inappropriate."

Cohen then noted that at the Vanderpump Rules reunion filming late last month, Schwartz claimed he didn't know about the affair until early this year. Clarifying, Schwartz explained, "In January, Tom came to me … and he told me that he was in love with Raquel. I was flabbergasted."

Asked if he would have made out with Raquel when she first asked if the cameras weren't around, Schwartz said "yes."

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen airs Sundays — Thursdays on Bravo.