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Ariana Madix is sharing her thoughts on viewers potentially softening toward Tom Sandoval on the new season of Vanderpump Rules.
While also reacting to Rachel “Raquel” Leviss‘ decision to leave the show and commenting on the way in which she’s profited off “Scandoval,” Ariana, 38, offered an update on where she stands with Scheana Shay, 38, discussed how she feels about reliving Sandoval’s affair, and explained why fans may soon have a change of heart about her ex.
“I haven’t seen any of it. I only know what I lived… I just know that oftentimes, when women set boundaries or when women are angry or feeling a certain way that it’s not always received well,” Ariana said on the December 11 episode of Chicks in the Office of why viewers may turn on her. “I was not holding back with how I felt at that time, and so I think that people might not like it.”
According to Ariana, she filmed with Sandoval in “May and June.” But, because the season doesn’t begin until next month, she suspects people will be confused by why she hasn’t moved on.
“They’re going to be like, ‘Why isn’t she over it?’ and ‘Why isn’t she being like nice and cordial and making everyone else happy?’ … I wasn’t about to make anyone else feel more comfortable. It was about me at that moment,” she explained.
While she and Sandoval will be seen navigating their lives post-“Scandoval” on the new season, Sandoval’s former mistress, Raquel, opted out of filming.
“I mean I get it. I don’t think I would [return],” Ariana said of her exit.
Being cheated on after spending nine years with someone was certainly devastating for Ariana. However, after being thrust into the spotlight due to Sandoval’s affair, she landed several partnerships, a book deal, a role on Dancing With the Stars, and more.
“It makes sense, a lot of people being like she only got this or that because of this thing that happened in the media earlier in the year,” Ariana reasoned. “[But] it’s like, ‘Okay, that’s cool maybe that got the eyeballs or maybe that initially got the attention on it,’ but I’m going to while I’m there prove to you that I deserve to be there.”
In the month since BravoCon took place in Las Vegas, Ariana has been tied to rumors of a potential feud with Scheana, who admittedly spent time with Sandoval in his hotel room during the three-day fan event.
“Me and Scheana, we’re good,” Ariana confirmed of where they stand today.
“In the moment, it was like I found out about it without having seen her or talked to her, and I didn’t know what was going on or being talked about, so when they asked, I was like, ‘Well that’s weird.’ But I’m never gonna tell anybody what to do or how to act or who to talk to,” she explained. “I’m just going to do what I can, and all I can do is control what I do.”
“I’m going to protect my peace, and if that means sometimes like removing myself from situations or if I’m uncomfortable then yeah but yeah, it was a whole thing,” she added.
As she prepares for the start of the new season, Ariana said “it’s tough” reliving certain moments.
“Online, so many people are like, ‘We’re over it!’ And I’m like, ‘Well it was filmed, like the season was filmed and then it doesn’t come out for another many many months,’” she noted. “So what’s in the new season is going to be like going back in time a lot … It’s like you, in a way, want to move past or be like, ‘Okay, I’ve said what I can say and how I feel,’ and then have it just be gone. But yeah, it’s just the nature of being on a show like that. I’m glad that I’ll be busy in January.”
As Pump Rules fans may have heard, Ariana is headed to Broadway to star in Chicago.
“I was a theatre major. I was a theatre kid. I moved here after college to try to have a career in theatre… It’s like 13 years after moving to LA, now there’s this opportunity. It’s just one of those things where the hustle and the grind just never stops. And then eventually at some point, something happens,” she said of the role.
Ariana is also busy promoting her new cocktail book, Single AF Cocktails: Drinks for Bad B*tches, which chronicles “Scandoval” through adult beverages.
“Maybe there’s something that like people hopefully can take away or relate to. For me, it was like really therapeutic and cathartic to kind of go through and fill it out with all these stories and recipes so I feel like hopefully that can be a shared experience,” she said of the publication, which she began writing at the end of March.
“It was quick. It’s a quick turnaround for it to have like a December release date,” she added.
Vanderpump Rules season 11 premieres January 30 at 8/7c on Bravo.
