Katie Maloney shares reason behind her split with Tom Schwartz

Katie Maloney is sharing the reason behind her split with Tom Schwartz.

The Vanderpump Rules star, 35, reflected on what caused her and Schwartz, 39, to go their separate ways after 12 years together during an episode of her podcast, You're Gonna Love Me, on Friday.

After thanking supporters for their kind words amid the breakup, Maloney said, "I know [for] some people [it] may seem like a shock, or it may seem like an abrupt thing, but for us it's not like we just decided this this week or yesterday or the day before."

"There wasn't some kind of crazy incident that happened, there wasn't some crazy fight that resulted in this," she continued, speaking through tears. "It was my decision, which was probably the hardest and most painful decision I've ever had to make."

Noting that she wanted to "deny" and "push" the negative feelings surrounding her relationship with Schwartz "out of my head," Maloney said: "I love Tom, we built a life together, and he was my person and I wanted to be him with forever. But ultimately, I just wasn't happy."

"It just became more clear, and I could just no longer deny it," she explained. "There were so many happy moments, even day to day. I love being with him, but ultimately, I was just not fulfilled."

But telling Schwartz about her decision to separate, Maloney said, was not an easy feat. "It was the hardest, hardest thing to do," she said. "The hardest thing to tell him, because I knew it was gonna crush him."

Still, Maloney felt it was what she needed to do for her own happiness. "I had to really just start prioritizing myself and my happiness as well," she explained. "It just needed to happen."