The Vanderpump Rules star also talks about the “demise” of her friendship with Katie Maloney and whether she would have been interested in coming back for a new season of the Bravo series.
Lala Kent has an issue with Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney running around saying that everyone’s fine with the upcoming cast shakeup on Vanderpump Rules after “Scandoval” basically broke the show.
“I don’t want to say that I’m fine with it because I’m not,” Lala said during an appearance on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “It was like the greatest time of my whole life.”
At the same time, the reality star couldn’t say that the decision makes zero sense, adding, “But at some point, you have to look at the bigger picture and say, ‘Are we even able to film it any longer?'”
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When she was asked her thoughts about Katie saying she hadn’t been planning to come back anyway, and Ariana appearing to actually be happy that this chapter of their lives has come to a close, Lala doesn’t see it as like perfect, serene closure moment.
“I just don’t think we were able to film it any longer,” she said. “So anyone who’s acting okay with it, I feel like it’s a slap in the face.”
She then took a moment to acknowledge what Vanderpump Rules has done for the cast outside of the show, like Ariana’s new hosting stint on Love Island USA, Katie’s new Disrespectfully podcast, and their joint sandwich shop venture.
“There are moments where I look around and I’m like, ‘Do we realize we have all these opportunities that are fabulous because of Vanderpump Rules?” she wondered.
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“Without this show, no one gives a f–k about any of us,” she continued, “and I just tried to always remember that. I always tried to remember what got me to this place, because before Vanderpump Rules, I was just a bitch trying to beat the streets, a squirrel trying to get a nut.”
“This show changed my whole life,” she said.
It was a month ago that Maloney said on her podcast that she’d already decided to leave VPR ahead of its upcoming 12th season, even before the recasting decision was made.
“I didn’t plan on returning. I had made a decision months ago after this past season. I needed to move on with my life,” she said. “I had talked to our producers about it and I told them my decision on that. I felt personally ready to move on from the show.”
“I felt like my life and where I was at was moving in a different direction. Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, I was prepared to move on from the show,” she added.
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As for Ariana, while she hasn’t explicitly said she’s happy about the show ending, she also hasn’t expressed any regrets. Instead, when the news came out, she was grateful she didn’t have to hold onto that secret anymore, telling Us Weekly, “It’s nice that that news is out there and yeah, now I don’t have to sit here holding that.”
Ariana — like her costars — posted about her appreciation for Vanderpump Rules after the news about the Season 12 cast shakeup was announced, writing that she will be “forever grateful to have been a part of such an incredible cultural phenomenon.”
The rift between both Ariana and Lala isn’t anything new, either, as fans have watched it play out since Season 11 of VPR, which chronicled the fallout of the cheating scandal involving Madix and her longtime boyfriend Tom Sandoval, who cheated on her with Rachel Leviss.
“It was the strangest season that I’ve ever been a part of. It was all very sad,” said Lala of the season that saw cast members refusing to film together and experiencing more tension than ever before. As for Katie, she said the pair “have two very different viewpoints on what happened and the demise of our friendship.”
They also have different viewpoints on what kind of person Lala is, apparently, which does not sit well with her. “I don’t like that I was painted to be someone who pockets information and brings it out at a convenient time,” she said, “because that’s not what happened.”
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This came about because Lala accused Katie of saying negative things about Ariana off-camera in the wake of the cheating scandal that rocked the show. What’s the truth of it all? Honestly, Lala doesn’t care anymore.
“We can go over this all the livelong day, it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done,” she said of her seemingly irreparably damaged relationship with Katie. “We may be able to rebuild at some point or we may never see each other again. Who the f–k knows, right?”
“But I do want her to be happy in her life,” Lala added. “She deserves that.”
While Katie and Ariana appear to be moving on in their careers, Lala is reportedly not moving quite as far from her VPR roots, as Deadline reported in November she is one of several cast members who have filmed for Season 2 of The Valley.
Others expected to appear include Scheana Shay, Brock Davies, and Tom Schwartz, though how much each will appear remains unknown — as well is if any other cast members might show up and if any will join the show as regular cast members.
