Why Pump Rules Cast Struggled With Ariana

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Lisa Vanderpump explained why she didn’t attend the soft opening of Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney‘s sandwich shop, Something About Her, on Monday, days after the event was attended by the likes of Katie’s mom, Teri Maloney, and Ariana’s boyfriend, Daniel Wai, 40, and The Valley star Janet Caperna.

As she also commented on the Vanderpump Rules filming break and her thoughts on Kristen Doute, 41, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 63, admitted that the Pump Rules season 11 reunion was “different” amid season 11 and confirmed she’s waiting to visit Something About Her.

“I’ve been out of town. I’ve been in Lake Tahoe. I’ve been in Vegas. I’ve been in New York … I’ve been everywhere,” Lisa explained of her absence at the soft opening during a May 20 interview with Us Weekly.

“I also think that they need to take the time a bit,” she continued. “Like, we’ll have a soft opening in a restaurant, but we won’t really invite people until you’re kind of two or three weeks in so you can iron out the things. So I don’t want to go there and judge that now. Let’s give them a couple of weeks, a month, to settle in, and then I think that’s normally what we normally do in the restaurant business.”

On the finale episode of Pump Rules earlier this month, Ariana faced backlash from the cast after failing to engage in a conversation with Sandoval — despite living with him at the time. And looking back, Lisa admitted that Ariana and Sandoval’s arrangements were “ridiculous.”

“I think that’s some of the things that the other women called out, saying, ‘Wait a second. I can’t be friends with him but you’re living in the same house?’ I think that was the thing people were struggling with,” Lisa noted. “People have drawn lines in the sand whereas I’m not really like that.”

Also speaking to Us Weekly, Lisa addressed Pump Rules being on “pause.”

“We’re taking a little breath. I’ve got to open another restaurant. I think we’re done talking about ‘Scandoval.’ So I think everybody needs to have it kind of all breathe a little bit,” she reasoned. “Every year, I think, ‘This is gonna be the last year.’ I’ve gone on and done other things. I’ve opened another restaurant and been on other shows, created Vanderpump Villa, which, people are like, ‘Oh, how’s it different?’ It’s very different.”

Lisa also produces The Valley, which stars Kristen, who she’s butted heads with for years.

“These people, Jax and Kristen, have been friends, and [Brittany Cartwright], for years. So I understand how she fits in. Did she always drive me crazy? Yes. Will she still continue to? Yes. No surprises there,” Lisa laughed.

Meanwhile, on the May 18 episode of Access Hollywood, Lisa admitted that the season 11 reunion was different from past years.

“It definitely had a different flavor, and I think that’s one of the things that really works about Vanderpump Rules: It keeps evolving, and I think everybody’s pretty smart on their feet, and production, the fact that they can make these twists and turns and we have to break the fourth wall much more because the whole world was talking about ‘Scandoval.’ It wasn’t just this group. So we have to talk about that,” she shared. “I think there were feelings, there was resentment from some of the cast, there was almost some kind of hypocrisy, and it wasn’t easy at all.”

Because of that, Lisa felt that their production break was important.

“The show needs to breathe a little bit, needs to settle down so we’re not just talking about the same thing,” she explained. “We’ve gotta just take a moment, I believe, so I think it’s gonna be a little bit later on this year [that filming will begin].”

Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for part two of the three-part Vanderpump Rules season 11 reunion, which airs tonight at 8/7c on Bravo. Feel free to comment and chat below as the episode airs!