Tom Schwartz can’t stay up for Us to peer Jo Wenberg’s debut look on Vanderpump Regulations season 11.
“Honestly, I feel like Jo is a breath of fresh air. She has a charisma and energy unlike anyone else I’ve ever met in my life,” Schwartz, 41, completely advised Us Weekly on the solid’s Wednesday, January 17, premiere celebration. “Not everyone loves that energy. I happen to be fond of it. But, she’s kind of like a superstar in her own right.”
He added, “She’s straight out of the Midwest — Wisconsin [girl] through and through. She’s got a beautiful soul and yeah, man, I’m always rooting for her. Shoutout to Jo [and] if you need your hair done, hit her up. DM her.”
Jo, a hairstylist based totally in Los Angeles, has been recognized the Vanderpump Regulations team for years, to start with turning into buddies with Kristen Doute. She grew nearer with Schwartz following his divorce from Katie Maloney. (After a decade in combination, Schwartz and Katie, 37, introduced their separation in March 2022. They finalized their divorce in October 2022.)
In a deleted scene from Pump Regulations season 10, Schwartz confessed that he was once residing with Jo, 35. Via the season reunion, he printed that their dating had advanced right into a “situationship” or a “friends with benefits thing” however with transparent barriers. Then again, the pair don't seem to be recently an merchandise.
“I think we’re just friends now,” Schwartz stated on the Hollywood Palladium celebration on Wednesday. “You’ll see that kind of play out this season. I know that’s the lamest answer ever.”
Katie, in the meantime, hasn't ever been Jo’s largest fan. When requested on Wednesday about Jo’s debut on Vanderpump Regulations, she performed coy.
“Who? I don’t know. Some things aren’t avoidable, I guess,” Katie quipped, seeking to recall in the event that they filmed any scenes in combination. “I don’t know if I did. Maybe I did. Maybe — you’ll see. I forget.”
Along with Jo’s on-camera arrival to SUR, Schwartz teased that season 11 will probably be a “good” one.
“It has so much heart, and there’s moments that are very explosive, eruptive, but then there’s also a lot of funny, light-hearted moments. There’s still levity. I know it’s very doom-and-gloom lately. I know there’s kind of this cloud cast over us by you-know-what-avol, but, for sure, there’s a chasm [afterward],” Schwartz stated, relating to BFF Tom Sandoval’s affair scandal with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.
Information broke in March 2023 that Sandoval, 41, and longtime female friend Ariana Madix break up after he had a months-long affair with Rachel, 29. Each Sandoval and Rachel have since apologized for his or her movements, with the previous attractiveness festival contestant opting to go away the display earlier than season 11. The scandal’s fallout additionally affected the remainder of the Pump Regulations solid.
“This [separation within the cast] was unlike anything we’ve experienced in our group dynamic. But I’m happy to say, at least speaking for myself, it was redemptive,” Schwartz advised Us. “I had a lot of great moments. I reconnected with some people I had strained relationships with.”
Vanderpump Regulations returns to Bravo Tuesday, January 30, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by way of Hannah Kahn