Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent on Off-Camera Feud With Katie

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Lala Kent explained the confusing fight she was seen having with Katie Maloney on Tuesday’s episode of Vanderpump Rules on her podcast, sharing that something went down between them behind the scenes that fueled the encounter.

While also dishing on Scheana Shay‘s struggles with Ariana Madix, 38, her need to come to Scheana’s defense, and the cast’s efforts to please the outside world, Lala, 33, revealed that she and Katie, 37, suffered an off-camera falling out ahead of the season 10 reunion, which filmed in March 2023, just weeks after Tom Sandoval, 41, was caught cheating on Ariana with their now-ex-castmate Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, 29.

“Right before the reunion of season 10, Katie had gone on a podcast saying that the vibes were off with us. Something had happened and we, we just, or I, I don’t know about her. We just never came back to where we were,” Lala admitted on the March 13 episode of Give Them Lala. “It may be talked about [at] some point in time, I don’t know, I’m not going to talk about it today. But I felt like after that happened, we looked at each other differently, and we distanced ourselves.”

Although Lala and Katie are in a “different place now,” Lala said season 11 was “a lot of trying to correct” their friendship.

“There was just never resolution. It was one thing after the other that we just could not quite conquer and see eye to eye. As the season goes on, though, you’ll see that we soften up with each other,” she teased.

During Tuesday’s show, Katie didn’t appreciate how Lala defended Scheana as she considered reconciling with Sandoval, despite her friendship with Ariana, nor did she like the comparisons Lala made to her split from Randall Emmett, 52.

“I was mad at Katie in that moment. I was like, ‘How dare you take me to a place where I look at you like you’re my enemy?’ And I asked her, I said, ‘Why are you bringing this out of me right now? You know me,’” Lala recalled. “And that’s why at the end I apologize to Ariana because if I’m bringing my experience into something, it’s almost me trying to let the person know that I’m talking to, ‘I see you.’”

In recent weeks, Scheana has faced backlash for commenting about how her feelings about “Scandoval” have been neglected, even by Ariana, who was clearly far more impacted by the betrayal. But as Lala noted, there was more to Scheana’s hurt.

“The one thing that she continued to talk to me about was, ‘This was one of my closest friends and I feel like I’m finding out about her life with fans on social media,’” Lala revealed.

One particular issue for Scheana was Ariana’s role on Dancing With the Stars, which she previously expressed interest in joining. However, when she mentioned that Ariana had been her “backup dancer,” the statement didn’t sit well with fans.

“At times I want to come to Scheana’s defense because I don’t know if it’s maybe the tone of her voice… And I think sometimes it doesn’t hit the way,” Lala reasoned. “[But] I understood because she was battling that. She’s like, ‘I don’t want to say that I am bummed for me because I am so happy for her, but I don’t want for people to think that I’m making it about me.’”

“I was so happy to see the world rally around my friend when this happened, but I couldn’t help but feel like ‘Damn, that would’ve felt really good to have that.’ That doesn’t mean I wish my friend didn’t,” Lala continued.

Looking back at the season, Lala said it’s been tough to see so much criticism against Scheana.

“I don’t like that my friend can never win with the audience. It’s very, very annoying … The audience is freaking tough,” she shared.

In fact, it’s so tough that the rest of the cast has been impacted as well.

“That’s what we struggled with with every single person this season and that was the hardest part, is that people were trying to please the outside world,” Lala explained.

Vanderpump Rules season 11 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.