Ariana Madix must feel like a kindergarten teacher most days – you know, that moment when you look around and notice that you are literally the ONLY adult in the room? Despite this phenomenon, the Vanderpump Rules star says she’s been fairly happy with how this season has gone thus far, and with the fan feedback she’s been getting. But she does warn that things are about to get crazier (than usual?) during the second half of season five – and that she’ll inevitably get caught up in the madness.
Of the mid-season VPR trailer released this week, Ariana says, “It looks really intense. It’s funny, because everything has been pretty good so far, but now I’m getting kind of nervous for the rest of the season. It’s really ramping up.”
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Offering that personal feedback this year has been “mostly positive,” Ariana shares in an AOL Entertainment interview that “most people tend to get what I’m about, or they get who I am. There are some people who don’t, but I can’t seek all of them out and try to explain myself.”
Although the mean girl trio of Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, and Katie Maloney seem hell-bent on berating Ariana and Tom Sandoval for “defending” Lala Kent (and, by extension, James Kennedy) lately, Ariana says she has no regrets about taking sides.
Ariana explains, “I feel as though there was another perspective that was getting lost. James and Lala are both different; they have different perspectives. But then the group had this other perspective, and there was this outlying idea that had been forgotten, which was this: You guys know that you want to be this moral high ground at this point — and maybe you are — but you have to understand that even though Lala and James are talking a lot of crap about everybody, [that’s exactly] what you guys have done in the past…Also, James is really funny! I just don’t take what he says seriously — because you can’t.”
Gushing about her perfect birthday trip to Nascar in Sonoma, Ariana does admit she was bummed that Lala ditched the event. Moreover, she thought Lala missed out on a prime opportunity to show a different side of herself on camera. (Like…the one that fends off a drunken Jax Taylor in a different city??). She reflects, “I really felt as though Lala sold herself short. First of all, I had told her multiple times that, nobody else would’ve even tried to be rude to her [besides Jax]. Even if [Tom] Schwartz doesn’t like someone, he’ll go off and do his own thing; my brother is friends with her, and I honestly felt as though she and Brittany would’ve gotten along by the end of it.”
“Jax will say [offensive] things when he’s in company that will encourage it,” Ariana continues, “but he would’ve been in company that wouldn’t have wanted to hear it, so he wouldn’t have said anything. But, if he had, I told her he would’ve been out! Same goes for her, too, but I honestly felt like it would’ve gone well. It was a missed opportunity for her. That’s the thing about Lala: I’ve seen a side of her that I really feel is genuine, but she doesn’t show that very often. I was trying to encourage her to show that genuine side of herself.”
RELATED: Ariana And Tom Weigh In On Stassi’s Harsh Words
Ariana adds that, had she known Lala would be a no-show, Scheana Marie would have definitely gotten a pity invite. In other matters of pity – or, rather, pitiful behavior – Ariana says she had no idea Stassi lost her damn marbles all over the bathroom floor at Mike Shay and Carter’s “surprise” party after she spoke to her. But she does clearly recall what went on before the drunken meltdown – and Ariana claims Stassi’s messy behavior had nothing to do with bad editing (something Stassi has been crying foul about for weeks now!).
“You know, I’ve seen things that Stassi has said since the episode aired about the editing [being misleading], but I remember it being pretty close to what was shown. We couldn’t get a word in! She wasn’t there, so the whole point of it was for me to be able to prove that Scheana was not trying to be friends with Lala. I don’t know why it escalated — I think alcohol had to do with [Laughs] — but I do think that in that moment, Stassi was at least three sheets to the wind.”
Of Stassi’s pathetic bathroom-floor sobbing, Ariana says, “I could not believe that reaction! I didn’t know until I saw the episode that she had sobbed in the bathroom. I had no idea. I just thought she had walked away, but I didn’t feel like it warranted such a thing.”
As for the three-headed viper that is Stassi, Kristen, and Katie, Ariana dismisses their dysfunctional dynamic as nothing new. She offers that their so-called friendship “consistently implodes. I will say, there are even recent instances [of that] when we haven’t been filming. They have a relationship where they really love each other, and they fight a lot, so it’s hard for me to relate to that. I don’t say that in a condescending way — although, sometimes I do sound like that because I get really frustrated and can get kind of bitchy about it — but it is hard for me to relate to that. I’ve had the same group of girlfriends — who are not on the show — for, like, 10 to 15 years. We don’t agree on everything, but we’ve never had that [level of fighting].”
Despite her ups and downs with Scheana, Ariana claims that their friendship (a term used loosely on VPR!) is just fine these days, if not super close. “Honestly, I think that our friendship is in a place that’s better than even when we were super close. When she used to describe this yesteryear of when we were besties, I used to think that that was a little exaggerated. Now, though, we’re in a much more open and honest friendship.”
So, does this mean Ariana will be helping Scheana through her impending divorce? Or will that be the job of “besties” Stassi, Kristen, and Katie? 😉
TELL US: ARE YOU DIGGING ARIANA THIS SEASON? SHOULD SHE ‘GET INTO IT’ WITH THE OTHER WOMEN, OR LEAVE THEM ALONE TO SELF DESTRUCT?
Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
