Tom Schwartz recently confessed to being a hater of reality television before joining Vanderpump Rules.
On the recent episode of More Life with Carl Radke, the 43-year-old American television personality, actor, and restaurateur articulated his thoughts about why he used to abhor the show.
Schwartz told the host, “I wanted to be on a procedural. I never wanted to be a star or a movie star. I didn’t want to do movies.”
“I wanted to be a procedural… but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would end up on reality TV,” he admitted.
“Bill Langworthy, our executive producer, famously created The Hills, which is one of the biggest shows ever on MTV, and I remember being a hater. I did not like that show.”
“I was just like, I would never do that. I’m an artist, I’m an actor. Meanwhile, I had no acting credits whatsoever,” the Winter House star quipped.
Schwartz went on to reveal that the reason he hated reality television shows was because of the “stigma” attached to them at that time.
“Now you could be a superstar. But like in my mind back in the day, if I was going to be on reality TV, it would forever compromise my artistic integrity. That’s how I thought. Again, like I had done, maybe one non-union commercial for like Modelo at that point,” he stated.
It is pertinent to mention that Schwartz, who relocated to Los Angeles in 2009 to be an actor, joined Vanderpump Rules in season 12, which premiered on December 2, 2025, on Bravo.