Ariana Madix isn’t yet sure if she will return to Vanderpump Rules for its upcoming 12th season.
While representing her Single AF Cocktails book at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California, Ariana, 38, shared what would make her reprise her role, reacted to the “villain edit” she received on season 11, and commented on the “redemption arc” producers seemingly attempted to give Tom Sandoval, 41.
“I think ultimately it would have to make sense for me,” Ariana explained on April 21, via Us Weekly. “Our show has always thrived, it’s always at its best when it’s at its most authentic and real and I have to be able to show up and be real and be authentic in order for it to make sense for me. So that’s the question I’d be asking myself going into it.”
Looking back on the 11th season, Ariana said that while producers attempted to get viewers to sympathize with Sandoval following his season 10 affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, 29, he didn’t do himself any favors.
“They’re trying really hard to give someone a redemption season and he’s just not participating in it,” she stated.
As for her own edit, Ariana made it clear she felt she received a bad one after a moderator mentioned that there were concerns for a potential villain edit.
“Oh, you didn’t think I didn’t?” Ariana asked.
According to Ariana, she believes season 11 would have been different if producers had waited longer to pick cameras back up between season 10.
“I understand why they did that,” she said. “[But] when it comes to trauma response — fight, flight or freeze — I’m a freezer so you literally see me frozen in my room with everything I own, putting things in boxes, trying to clean out my closet but I’m literally frozen. For me personally, just as an individual, I think for me, it would have been better for me [to wait to film].”
As Pump Rules fans well know, Ariana refused to film with Sandoval in the wake of his affair as the rest of the cast got back to business as usual, with many surprising Ariana with their behavior.
“You only know what you film so obviously things that are being said amongst other people when I’m not there — I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Ariana noted. “I felt like I was filming a season that felt very different than what I’m watching just in terms of the relationships. ‘We’re the Spice Girls,’ and then it’s like, no.”
In particular, Lala Kent, 33, and Scheana Shay, 38, who were previously close with Ariana, made surprising comments about Ariana’s alleged self-absorbed antics post-“Scandoval.”
“I think something that is important and part of any reality show is they always want to have conversation. They don’t want the audience to be on one side or the other so they will always try to even the playing field. They’ve always done that,” Ariana reasoned. “They always will. I knew going into that they were going to do everything they could to even the playing field.”
Also during the appearance, Ariana, who is set to star on Love Island USA as its season six host, confirmed her and Katie Maloney‘s sandwich shop, Something About Her, will open “very soon.”
Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of Vanderpump Rules season 11, which airs at 8/7c on Bravo. Feel free to comment and chat below as the episode airs!