Over the years Jax Taylor and Tom Sandoval have been many things including roommates, best friends, frenemies turned enemies, and everything in between.
More often than not, Jax and Tom fought over who was the “number one guy” in the group on Vanderpump Rules. Spoiler: Neither of them ever clutched the title.
Jax and Tom’s rocky friendship goes way back – we are talking long before working together at SUR.
Let’s breakdown Tom and Jax’s rocky friendship history:
Jax and Tom’s Origin Story
The friendship between Jax and Tom goes way back – long before their days slinging Pumptinis and spicy margaritas at SUR.
The two future reality TV stars met in Miami, during their early 20s, when they were both working as models in the early 2000s.
During season three of Vanderpump Rules, fans got a peak at the early days of Jax and Tom’s friendship. We also learn that both Jax and Tom spent two years living in Miami around 2003.
Roommates in Los Angeles
Around 2005/2006, Jax and Tom made their way to Los Angeles in hopes of making it big in Hollywood. This is around the time Jax Taylor came into existence. Before living in Los Angeles, Jax went by his birth name, Jason Cauchi. TBH, this time frame is is only guesstimate but Sandoval appeared on an episode of The Hills in 2006 so the timeline makes sense.
The two eventually became roommates for a time. Eventually, Tom Schwartz, who also transplanted to Los Angeles from Florida, became their third roommate.
While trying to make it in Hollywood, Jax and Tom worked various jobs to pay the bills. Tom took a job as a bartender at Lisa Vanderpump’s Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills and later began to work at SUR. Around 2012, Jax also landed a bartending job at SUR, thanks to his then girlfriend, Stassi Schroeder, who worked there as a SURver.
Vanderpump Rules
In the summer of 2012, filming for season one of Vanderpump Rules began. During season one of Vanderpump Rules, Tom and Jax were the best of friends. In fact, it seemed like nothing could break their bond.
The Kristen Doute of It All
Jax and Tom’s friendship took a major hit during season two of Vanderpump Rules when Jax admitted to sleeping with Tom’s then-girlfriend, Kristen Doute.
Despite sleeping with his best friend’s girlfriend, Jax showed zero remorse and instead acting like he did Tom a favor. Jax’s lack of remorse led to Tom throwing fists during the season 2 finale party at SUR. Fans believed that Jax and Tom’s friendship was over for good.
Time Heals All Wounds
By season 3 of Vanderpump Rules, Tom and Jax kissed and made up. From the looks of it Tom found it in his heart to forgive Jax and somehow forget his banged his ex-girlfriend.
According to Tom, he and Jax bartended together at SUR for months without speaking. As time went on they started making small talk and their friendship blossomed once again.
Despite Tom forgiving Jax, their friendship wasn’t all hunky dory from there. Jax broke bro code on more than one occasion by spilling Tom’s secrets to anyone that would listen. For some reason Tom continued to be friends with Jax despite knowing he’s a pathological liar, who will say and do anything to get attention, whether good or bad.
This is when Tom and Jax’s relationship slowly began to transform into a frenemy type situation.
Wedding Drama
By the time Jax was set to marry his now-wife Brittany Cartwright in 2019, his friendship with Tom was on thin ice. Tom questioned why it took Jax and Brittany so long to fire their wedding officiant after his public anti-LGBTQ comments came out on social media. This caused a huge fight and Jax kicked Tom out of his wedding party. Eventually, Jax reinstated Tom as his best man but later admitted that he regretted the decision. Since then Jax has claimed he felt bullied into having Tom be his best man.
Are Jax and Tom still friends?
Jax and Brittany left Vanderpump Rules following season 8, which seems to be when Tom and Jax’s friendship fizzled out for good. The two both publicly admitted that they have moved on from their friendship and they no longer follow each other social media.
The 44-year-old claims that his life has taken on a different direction than Tom’s which is why their friendship burned out.
“It’s nothing against him personally. I’m just going a different way in my life. He’s going a different way in his. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just growing,” Jax told Access Hollywood. “I’ve just kind of been hanging out with the people that are parents. You know, I don’t really have too many friends anymore that aren’t married or at least married. So I don’t have much time in my life anymore for a lot of other stuff. But no, no qualms. I just choose not to hang out, I guess.”
Meanwhile, Tom has stated that he and Jax will always have mutual respect for each other even if they aren’t friends.
“No matter what happens to us, there’s a level of respect we have for each other because whether we’ve had our ups and downs or not, we all have really put ourselves out there,” Sandoval previously said.
Scandoval
Jax’s true feelings about Tom Sandoval came to light in the wake of Scandoval. If you’ve been living under a rock lets breakdown Scandoval for you real quick. Tom Sandoval cheated on girlfriend Ariana Madix with their Vanderpump Rules co-star Raquel Leviss for nearly a year. The truth about Sandoval and Raquel’s affair came to light in early March. Ariana dumped Sandoval’s ass and his shocking affair with Raquel became public knowledge thus Scandoval was born.
Of course, Jax didn’t miss the opportunity to jump on the Tom hate train. The former SUR bartender slammed his former best friend for months as the scandal played out on Bravo.
According to Jax, he was not surprised by Tom cheating on Ariana at all.
“I got a text message. It said, ‘You were right all along,’” Jax told PEOPLE in March. “It wasn’t shocking to me. I’ve known Tom Sandoval for 20 years, we grew up together. I just know his lifestyle. I know who he is, and I’ve said it many times. No one wanted to believe me.”
“I’ve done my fair share of bad things, but where I have a problem is having your crisis PR team write you a message. You got to step down from your little pedestal for a minute. Stop making this about Tom Sandoval and making do better decisions. You should have called [Ariana] first. There’s just no empathy there,” he continued.
The Future
Fast forward to summer 2023 and it appears that Jax and Tom may have reconciled their rocky relationship. The two were recently spotted filming together for Bravo. Tom is currently in the finale weeks of filming season 11 of Vanderpump Rules while Jax just began filming for the much-anticipated Pump Rules spinoff show alongside Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute.
Jax jokingly offered Tom a job at his new sports car, Jax’s Studio City. He then insisted that he wishes nothing but “the best” for Tom.
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“We have a long history, and we like making fun [of] each other. It’s harmless. Don’t read into things. I want the best for Tom. He’s going through a lot, and I know it’s time we just let things heal or be and move on. No point in grilling the guy anymore. We have all made mistakes,” Jax shared on social media.
As for what this means for the future of Tom and Jax’s friendship, only time will tell so stay tuned.
Tell us – Do you think Tom and Jax will be friends again? Are you excited for season 11 of Pump Rules?
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