Tom Schwartz has finally stopped wearing his wedding ring one month after wife Katie Maloney filed for divorce.
“I’ve been wearing it for the past few months, but I just woke up one day and I was like, ‘Maybe it’s time to stop wearing it out of respect for Katie,’” the “Vanderpump Rules” star, 39, exclusively told Page Six Thursday night at the grand opening of Vanderpump à Paris in Las Vegas. “There was no specific catalyst, though.”
He continued, “I don’t want to seem like I’m clinging onto something, but the reason I kept wearing it is because A) it’s a beautiful ring and B) I still have a great love and admiration for Katie. I love her with all my heart.”
Schwartz — who debuted a bare left hand at boss Lisa Vanderpump’s Sin City celebration — explained that he felt uncomfortable without his Kyle Chan-designed band until recently.
“Here’s the thing. I am still madly in love with my wife, Katie. I’ll always love her,” he said. “I wore the ring for a long time because I feel naked without it and I feel so vulnerable without the ring.”
The Schwartz & Sandy’s co-founder went on to say that Maloney, 35, has been “so accommodating” as he processes the end of their journey as a couple.
“Katie’s been so f—king great. I hate the word accommodating. It sounds so sterile, but she’s been amazing,” he said of the “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast host. “We’ve been respectful of each other’s boundaries. But she’s my girl. Even though we’re separated, I would do anything for her.”
Maloney — who also attended the Vegas bash — told Page Six that she and Schwartz will “always have each other’s backs,” especially as they navigate the early stages of their separation.
“I’m glad that we have had time to take our time, do it together, untangle together and not have it be this abrupt, cold turkey situation,” she said, adding that it has been a “relief” to acclimate to single life without Bravo cameras rolling. (The network has yet to announce plans for a 10th season of “Pump Rules.”)
“We needed this time to figure it out and take those next steps. It’s one step at a time,” she elaborated. “He had to get there on his own time with the ring and everything, which I completely understood.”
While Maloney has expressed an interest in dating — “I just want a little bit of attention, nothing serious,” she told Page Six — Schwartz admitted that he is “f—king terrified” of putting himself out there again.
“I went out the other night and I was at the bar and there was a couple on a first date and they were talking, like, ‘Where are you from, what do you do?’” he recalled. “And I wanted to crawl into a hole. It sounded awful. I don’t want to have to go back to the beginning like that. I’ll be OK, but I’m terrified.”
Still, Schwartz said he “wholeheartedly” supports Maloney in her current romantic pursuits.
“I want her to get out there, do what she has to do and find love. But yeah, I’m not going to be dating for a long time,” he said before joking, “I’m going to be a hermit. I’m going to grow a beard. I might go ahead and become a cobbler. I don’t know, I have no idea what’s going to happen with my love life.”
Maloney officially filed for divorce from Schwartz on March 22 after nearly three years of marriage. They had been together for 12 years before announcing last month that they were going their separate ways.
“I don’t think we were ever a model couple. Maybe we are model divorcées. A dubious title I suppose,” Schwartz wrote on Instagram at the time, ending his post saying that he will be fine.
“So I’ll shut up now and say it one last time, love you Bub. Always & forever you’ll be in my heart.”
