Tom Schwartz Calls Dating ‘Last Thing’ on His Mind Amid Sophia Romance

Tom Schwartz isn’t in a rush to put a label on his relationship with Sophia Skoro — far from it, in fact.

During the Tuesday, January 28, episode of the “Lady Gang” podcast, Schwartz, 42, was asked whether he was seeing anyone special, to which he replied, “Dating is like the last thing on my mind. There’s someone I really enjoy hanging out with [though].”

Schwartz said challenges in his personal and professional life led to his hesitation. “[This is] after the past — the most insane two years of my life — and that’s not me crying or being a victim or anything. I did a lot of it to myself.”

Earlier in the episode, Schwartz admitted that not having kids yet has been “the biggest void” in his life.

“I don’t want to get too emotional but I want to have kids. I want to have two kids and I want to live on my property,” he explained. “One thing I’m really excited about, I finally have this kind of idyllic little property in Florida. It’s like three acres. I have this little magical pond and I’m finally going to start building a little house for my dad and my family.”

He continued: “I’m super stoked about that. The long-term goal would be to turn it into a ranch. I want llamas, pigs and goats. I want produce.”

Schwartz’s insight into his life comes nearly one year after he sparked romance rumors with Skoro, 24. He hinted in February 2024 that he was seeing someone special. “I would say I am not, not dating. I’m hanging out,” he said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “I think she would prefer that I didn’t say, but I’m hanging out.”

At the time, Schwartz noted that his mystery woman preferred to stay out of the spotlight, adding, “I think she would prefer that I didn’t say, but I’m hanging out.”

The Vanderpump Rules alum ultimately went public with Skoro later that year. “I just want to be in the most perfect place,” Skoro shared when appearing alongside Schwartz on “The Viall Files” podcast in April. “I like to be very, at ease.”

Schwartz, meanwhile, told host Nick Viall he didn’t want to “put pressure” on Skoro.

“We enjoy our time together,” he noted before elaborating on how they started dating. “We actually met on a whim at TomTom,” Schwartz shared. “It’s funny, ironically, around that moment, I made a pledge, not only to myself, but to the universe, that I will not hang out or date. I’m just going to be single and work for the next two years. … Then I bumped into her.”

Schwartz praised Skoro for overlooking his “baggage” before clapping back at critics of their age difference, saying, “Honestly, if I was a lecherous old man trolling bars, seeking out young women, I think I would feel gross, but we just bumped into each other. We hit it off.”

The pair’s last public appearance was in December 2024 when Skoro supported Schwartz on the last day of Schwartz and Sandy’s before it closed. Ahead of his romance with Skoro, Schwartz got engaged to, married and divorced Katie Maloney while filming Vanderpump Rules.

Schwartz and Maloney, 38, remained on good terms until Schwartz hooked up with their costar Rachel “Raquel” Leviss while filming season 10. (Leviss, 29, later revealed she was actually involved in an affair with Schwartz’s business partner and costar Tom Sandoval amid his nearly decade-long romance with Ariana Madix.)

Schwartz was also briefly linked to Below Deck Mediterranean’s Katie Flood after they connected on season 3 of Winter House. He went on to have a casual relationship with Kristen Doute‘s former friend Jo Wenberg, which was documented on season 11 of Vanderpump Rules.

“Jo is a human being — Jo is a light in my life,” he gushed during a February 2024 episode of Vanderpump Rules. “I want to clear things up. Jo was never living with me. Was she staying with me sporadically? Yes. She’s not my girlfriend, she never was. We had a whirlwind romance but we are just buds now.”

Schwartz subsequently walked back his comments, telling Andy Cohen that same month, “There were maybe mixed signals there a little bit. We had a lightning in a bottle situation for a while there. I don’t know if it was sustainable given my mental state of being. I don’t know if I was equipped to be in a conventional relationship.”

Schwartz joked he “should have been committed” instead of seeking out a girlfriend, noting, “I was in a very weird place like I have never experienced in my entire life. I’ll shut up now.”