Tom Schwartz on 'Comforting' Tallulah Willis Connection (Exclusive) - PEOPLE

Tom Schwartz found an unexpected kindred spirit in Tallulah Willis during his time on Stars on Mars.

The Vanderpump Rules mainstay tells PEOPLE he was understandably nervous when he committed to joining Fox's outer space simulation series. And yet at the same time, the competition came as "a welcome retreat" from the drama he was facing on Earth (a.k.a. life in Los Angeles), which was consumed by fallout of a months-long secret affair his friend and business partner Tom Sandoval had been carrying on with costar (and Schwartz hookup) Raquel Leviss.

Given that Schwartz, 40, is the kind of guy who never met a situation he didn't find a way to silently stress about, he says of Mars: "I'll be honest, when I first got there, I was a little claustrophobic. I felt like the reality of what we had committed to set in and, yeah, I don't know, all of a sudden the air felt a little stagnant."

He continues, "But that all kind of dissipated once I got to know everyone on the cast because the energy and the camaraderie in there, it was palpable. It was uplifting as hell just being surrounded by such greatness."

Brook Rushton/FOX

Among an eclectic mix of celebrities including Porsha Williams Guobadia, Ariel Winter, Tinashe, Adam Rippon and Marshawn Lynch, the Bravo star most notably connected with Willis, 29.

"Tallulah, she had this great kind of wise-beyond-her-years, old-soul, maternal instinct," he recalls of the artist, who clearly made an impact in her brief time on the series. "We had some great conversations that were very therapeutic and productive."

Like Willis, whose father Bruce Willis has been living with a frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, Schwartz has also been confronted with his own father's declining health in recent years.

"We did riff about [our dads]," says Schwartz, "and she was super empathetic."

He continues, "She almost has this oracle vibe to her. She has oracle undertones, you know what I mean? She was really comforting to be around and she's hilarious, by the way, too — and super talented. She made me laugh a lot."

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Schwartz's time on Stars on Mars came after years of personal and professional stress, though his father's health battle — coupled with a cancer diagnosis for his younger brother Brandon — stands out.

"Just so many things happened at once with my family," he tells PEOPLE. "I guess the most intense was almost losing my father. He was in the hospital for seven months — I think three different hospitals. Like, everything that could go wrong with the human body went wrong with my father. But somehow, some way, he's a tough mother-effer. He really is. And he persevered. And thanks to all of the great doctors, the nurses and all of my family members, my sisters, my brothers. Like, everybody just came through and somehow, some way, he was lucky enough to make it through."

The overlapping family health crises also coincided with the beginning of a draining divorce from his VPR costar Katie Maloney and several make-or-break months for Schwartz & Sandy's restaurant, which he was in the process of launching with Sandoval, 40.

"So many things happened at once, and I'm not necessarily proud of how I responded to those events. I kind of floundered a little bit and I retreated in a little bit," Schwartz admits.

He continues, "I had never been under so much pressure opening this new bar. We were financing it. I've never been under such immense financial pressure. And I'm not going to lie, I kind of crumbled beneath the pressure."

That said, he affirms, "I feel stronger because of it now. One thing's for sure, I've definitely been out of my comfort zone, and I guess that's when you grow the most, right? So I've grown a lot."

With trademark self-deprecation, he quickly follows up: "I don't know if I would say I've matured. That's debatable. But I've grown. I've grown in some ways. I feel more stoic. I feel a little more virtuous."

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Stars on Mars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, and Vanderpump Rules can be streamed in full on Peacock.

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