Scheana says Ariana’s finale walkout felt like “a slap in the face to everyone” in the moment, though her perspective has shifted after watching the episode back.
Scheana Shay is sharing details about what allegedly happened behind the scenes after Ariana Madix’s walkout during the Vanderpump Rules Season 11 finale.
As fans can recall, on Tuesday’s finale, Tom Sandoval attempted to speak with Ariana at a party in San Francisco, but Ariana refused, before getting heated with the show’s executive producer, Jeremiah Smith, about her reluctance to talk to him on camera. She then walked out of the event with her boyfriend, Daniel Wai, before both Sandoval and Lala Kent went off on Ariana for her behavior, breaking the fourth wall as cameras were still rolling.
During Friday’s episode of her Scheanaigans with Scheana Shay podcast, Scheana claimed Smith was “frustrated” with Ariana over her refusal to talk to Sandoval, and encouraged her and the other cast members to share their real opinions.
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“Jeremiah said, ‘Let it all out. Whatever you wanna say, ‘Go. Go for it,'” Scheana told her guests, comedian Matt Rogers and The Valley star Janet Caperna.
“Do you think because he was frustrated with her?” Rogers asked, to which Scheana agreed, “He was very frustrated that day.”
“To get walked out on, it was, it was a slap in the face to everyone,” she added of how they felt in the moment. After watching the episode back, however, her perspective on the situation has changed.
“In hindsight, watching it back, I’m like, ‘I understand. That was your truth. In that moment, you were living your real, authentic life and you’re not really going to talk to him,'” she said.
Still, Scheana said Ariana’s walkout upset her and her cast members.
“For the rest of us, it felt like, in that moment, like, ‘F–k all of your jobs, f–k making the end of this show. I’m gonna do what I wanna do because I set my boundary. Peace out,'” she explained. “And then for Tom for be like, ‘She talks s–t about all of you.’ It was just like, ‘What the f–k?”
Rogers jokingly noted that Tom “really swept in on that opportunity” to get others on his side. “He really saw what happened and he said, ‘This is my chance,'” he said.
On a more serious note, Scheana admitted that “people can get in [her] head very easily,” and got choked up while recalling her reaction to Tom’s claim Ariana allegedly talking bad about her behind her back.
“To hear that about someone who I’ve cared about for so long, like, ‘Maybe she doesn’t feel that way about me,'” Scheana said tearfully, to which Caperna reassured her, “I think Ariana loves you. And, to be honest, Ariana of all of us talks the least s–t.”
Meanwhile, Scheana reflected on how Sandoval’s actions — AKA his affair with Rachel Leviss — changed the group dynamic and ultimately impacted her.
“Where things have been in this group that Tom Sandoval shattered will never be the same. I look at everyone differently, and I don’t trust anyone completely and it’s really sad,'” she said.
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Elsewhere on the podcast, Scheana opened up about what she believes is the only way for the show to move forward after the way the season ended. This after TMZ reported the show will be pausing production, and won’t be filming Season 12 over the summer.
After Rogers suggested that viewers are going to question what’s “real” or “constructed” from now on, Scheana said, “It’s opening up a new place for Season 12 to go where I think the fourth wall has to be down because we do have to address all of those things.”
She continued, “If the show can move in a direction like The Kardashians and The D’Amelio[s Show], where you’re talking about the show on the show like we just did for the finale this week, I feel like there is so much room for the show to go, and there is room for Tom and Ariana to stay on the same show if we’re acknowledging, ‘I’m not filming with him.’ ‘I’m not filming with her.’ They can both be on it.”
“But the way this last season worked, it was, ‘This is an ensemble show about a group of friends. So if y’all aren’t filming together then there is no show. We’ll wrap it up, the season will end early, and move on with your lives, Vanderpump Rules is done.’ None of us were willing to do that,” Scheana added.
And when asked who she’s “better friends” with — Ariana or Sandoval –, Scheana gave a surprising answer. “Right now, I don’t speak to either of them that much,” she revealed.
The three 3-part Vanderpump Rules reunion event kicks off next Tuesday on Bravo, and will be followed by a Secrets Revealed episode May 29 on Peacock.
