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Scheana Shay addressed feeling “differently” about Ariana Madix walking away from the Vanderpump Rules season finale and her reunion drama with Lala Kent. She also discussed her past convo with Lisa Vanderpump about Tom Sandoval’s mental health, and she suggests a producer swayed her actions after telling her the season wasn’t going well midway through filming.
During the finale, Ariana refused to speak to her ex Tom despite producers and castmates wanting to make a good episode. The move angered Lala, who ranted about Ariana’s decisions throughout the season. Scheana backed her up in the moment, though at the reunion Lala insinuated that Scheana wasn’t sharing her full thoughts.
Earlier in the season, Lisa approached Lala and Scheana about checking in on Tom, who had told her he was having suicidal thoughts. Due to Lisa’s attempt to help them understand, Lala and Scheana felt bad that their former friend was facing this alone.
On her Scheananigans podcast, Scheana shared that she feels “differently” about Ariana choosing to walk away at the finale.
While she understands why Lala “lost her s**t,” Scheana shared that Ariana’s decision was “real” for her, and she “respect[s]” that Ariana stood her ground.
“I feel like with Ariana walking away, after we filmed the reunion and all of that, I do feel a little differently. And this is where I get in trouble in this friend group because I live in the gray, and I always see both sides, completely understanding Lala being like, you know what, you still live in the house with him, you still are on a show with him, then you should film the season finale with him,” said Scheana. “Then I also understand Ariana being like, but this isn’t real, and we’re supposed to film our real lives.”
But the “frustrating thing” was feeling like the cast had to “walk on eggshells” all season.
According to Scheana, producer Alex Baskin said by mid-season the show was not in a good place, and certain things needed to happen or the season would be cut short and the show would be “canceled.”
“I know Alex Baskin has said that midseason, the show was not in a good place. It was you know, X,Y, and Z needs to happen, or we’re going to have a short season, and the show’s going to be canceled, and that’s it,” recalled Scheana. “I think Lala and I felt a lot of pressure after that day.”
Scheana felt pressure to make the show continue, not only for her family but also the crew of 80 to 100 people. She indicated that Ariana walked away in the finale as if she doesn’t “care if the show ends.”
Addressing her reunion drama with Lala, Scheana said there were so many “layers” of complexity given that she didn’t want her to feel alone, though she also understood Ariana’s side.
According to Scheana, Ariana approached her after the reunion wrapped, gave her a hug, and said “I love you.” Scheana then went into the dressing room to check on Lala, and they later played mini-golf with their families.
Though she and Lala are still “very close,” she hinted it’s going to be “tough to navigate” her friendship with Ariana in the future.
She then addressed her on-screen conversation with Lisa, who made her feel like Scheana would have “blood on [her] hands” if Tom “does something” while facing “suicidal” thoughts. She also felt that Lisa in a way was trying to guilt her into being friends with Tom again, as she knew the “heartstrings” she could “tug.”
“In a way, I think [Lisa] knew the heartstrings of mine she could tug on, and having lost a brother to suicide, having me lost someone very close to me from suicide, that is something I take extremely seriously,” shared Scheana. “And in that moment, I was like, okay, I don’t like what you’ve done to Ariana, but I also don’t want to see you dead.”
Scheana claimed Ariana wouldn’t tell her if she believed Tom was “suicidal,” and she didn’t help her figure out how to handle the situation. Because of this, Scheana had to “figure it out” for herself, and she decided to have more conversations with him to check in on him.
But Scheana claimed Tom had “ample opportunity” to have a conversation with Ariana before the season began filming, so she suggested that his attempts to talk to her on camera in the finale were too late.
