Whether or not Ariana Madix returns for Season 12 of Vanderpump Rules is still up in the air. But apparently, at least one of her friends thinks she should move on.
When asked during an Instagram Q&A whether Ariana should return to Pump Rules, Brad Kearns simply responded, “No.” For emphasis, he added a video clip of Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge shrieking, “That’s my opinion!”
Ariana has been through a lot since joining the VPR cast in Season 2. She faced her biggest challenge during Season 10 when she discovered her boyfriend of nine years, Tom Sandoval, was having an affair with their mutual friend and cast member Rachel Leviss.
A fractured cast
The #Scandoval drama continued into Season 11. Ariana received support from the majority of her cast members, with the exception of Sandoval’s BFF and business partner, Tom Schwartz, who tried to play both sides. Loyalties shifted, however, during the season as some of the cast members made peace with Sandoval.
Though some of her costars tried to urge Ariana to film with her ex, she stayed strong and refused to interact with him. She walked out of filming during the season finale when Tom tried to speak to her and avoided so much as making eye contact with her ex at the three-part reunion.
Though she and her new boyfriend, Daniel Wai, left the Treasure Island party in San Francisco, producers forced her to re-watch the final scene of the finale at the reunion. They had hoped to instigate a conversation between her and Sandoval, but Ariana wasn’t having it.
“It felt [like], ‘Well, we have her trapped in this room now. We didn’t get what we wanted [during the finale]. We didn’t get to break her down in real life,’” Ariana told Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan on their Disrespectfully podcast in May. “‘So we’re gonna retaliate by doing that right now in a place where she’s contractually obligated to be here and try to force this moment now.’ Great, I cried. Are you guys happy now?”
Ariana gave “good reality TV”
Ariana also defended her decision to walk out of the season finale when Sandoval tried to trap her into having a conversation. “Here’s the thing that’s so stupid,” she added. “I gave them the best f*cking ending [to the season finale] by leaving. It was real and it was exciting to watch … I gave you good reality TV.”
“As far as real-life stuff, that’s always been real and authentic for me,” Ariana continued regarding allowing cameras into her life. “What did I not show you? I showed you my storage unit of a f*cking bedroom. If you watch the season and you don’t see how low I am during the whole time, you need glasses. I showed all of that stuff. And if there’s stuff that they filmed and then decided not to air, that has nothing to do with me. But I gave it all.”
To give cast emotions a chance to cool off, Bravo decided to press “pause” on Season 12, which was scheduled to film over the summer. Ariana’s not worried about missing the paycheck, though. She’s had multiple opportunities since Scandoval took place, including commercials, movie roles, Dancing with the Stars, a starring role in the Broadway show Chicago, and hosting the current season of Love Island USA. She’ll be fine.
All episodes of Vanderpump Rules are now streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK VPR WILL PICK UP AGAIN AFTER THE “PAUSE?” OR DO YOU THINK IT’S DONE? SHOULD ARIANA LEAVE THE SHOW IF IT CONTINUES?
