Tom Schwartz‘s friend Jo Wenberg will be making her highly anticipated debut on season 11 of Vanderpump Rules — and her costars already have plenty they want to say.
“I wish I could spill tea on Jo. You’re going to have to see that play out on camera,” Lala Kent said on Thursday, September 7, during her Amazon Live. “I don’t know when the season is going to air [or] when teasers are going to be out there. But we just wrapped last week so I think we have a minute.”
Viewers learned about the new woman in Schwartz’s life during season 10 following his divorce from Katie Maloney. (Katie, 36, and Schwartz, 40, announced their split in March 2022 after six years of marriage, finalizing the proceedings later that year.)
Schwartz attempted to clarify his status with Jo after he mentioned her on screen, telling Us Weekly in February, “We’re not living together and we’re not dating either, but she’s just someone who I appreciate on a deep level and she’s a really cool human being, and we’re just hanging out.”
One month later, Katie said her impression of Jo was not a pleasant one.
“Jo is spooky. I mean none of us could stand to be around her. Her energy is on par with a crack head,” she wrote in an Instagram comment at the time. “But when Tom and I announced our divorce almost a year ago the last thing she text[ed] me was ‘Bieber loves you / I love you, and I’m so supporting of your inner thoughts and visions / live in the moment, you’re a gem and I’ve always respected you. I love you. Xo Jo.’ She is a psycho and I will also light her on fire.”
Schwartz subsequently defended Jo from his ex-wife‘s comments. “Katie don’t do that, don’t disparage her. You’re going to get a cease and desist if you keep attacking her in the comments, too,” he said during the reunion special in May.
The TomTom cofounder continued: “No, [Jo] wasn’t [my girlfriend]. Especially not at that point. It did evolve into a situationship or a friends-with-benefits thing with clearly defined boundaries. We were both coming out of long-term relationships and for a minute there we were each other’s happy places.”
Fans have since seen Jo film with several Vanderpump Rules stars for season 11. After footage surfaced in July of Jo spending time with Schwartz, Tom Sandoval, James Kennedy and Ally Lewber at SUR, Katie took to social media to offer her opinion.
“I can feel that energy from here. Yikes,” she quipped in an Instagram comment.
Meanwhile, Lala reminded fans to not set their expectations too high when it comes to the new season of Vanderpump Rules. Although the upcoming episodes bring plenty of drama, the “Give Them Lala” podcast host said viewers shouldn’t compare it to how season 10 played out in the aftermath of Sandoval’s affair with Raquel Leviss.
“There will never be another season as dramatic as season 10. So many relationships had dissolved — and you can’t make that up. So if anyone is looking at season 11 to be insanity — season 10 level — it’s never going to happen,” Lala continued on Thursday. “If that happened again for season 11, you then know this is a scripted show because things like that, they just don’t happen. They happen once in an entire season of television — if that.”
She concluded: “We’re going to have a funky season 11 but that does not mean that it’s not going to be great. I do think it’s going to be great. But if anybody is sitting there waiting for a repeat of season 10, you’re dreaming. That moment is never coming back again because that was real life.”
