Over the weekend, it was reported that Ariana Madix snagged a stunning $1.6-million home in Los Angeles, ending the year-long feud over who would remain in the home she shared with Tom Sandoval.
The whole sharing the house storyline has been huge this season on Vanderpump Rules. And while some people are thrilled for Ariana finally being able to enjoy her own space without Tom, his white noise machine and the penis statue, a lot of others are joining the growing chorus of people who are calling for a stop to the pity party because of just how well she’s fared after Scandoval.
Recently, castmate Lala Kent has been making appearances on podcasts and shows like The Talk, really trying to muster up some excitement for the rest of the Vanderpump Rules season, which many say is falling flat. She’s also trying to build anticipation for the reunion, reported to be full of drama, revelations, and a huge falling out with Lala, Ariana and Katie Maloney. In terms of why this season is falling flat, though, I think has to do with the fact that people were expecting more confrontation between Ariana and Tom. But with Ariana’s refusal to film with him or even remain friends with anyone who stays friends with Tom, it’s caused a bit of a logistical nightmare, as Scheana has pointed out in recent episodes.
Going into this latest season, I predicted that most people would be changing their tune about Ariana and withdrawing their support for her in the ongoing Tom vs. Ariana feud. It appears that that is precisely what’s unfolding, obviously not for cast members like Katie, but certainly for people like Scheana and Tom Schwartz. But beyond just the castmates, we’re even seeing a bit of this shift in the audience, too.
So why are people are cooling off, perhaps not necessarily in their disdain for Tom, but certainly in their support for Ariana, which, to be clear, ran rampant this time last year? What has changed?
I think Lala is kind of the perfect conduit to explain the changing temperament. She went through an awful split. She, too, faced betrayal. And while it didn’t involve a best friend, it did involve her fiancé being predatory, dishonest, and an absolute sleazebag. But in her case, there was also a child involved. Her split ended her up in court, unable to film with her daughter, and left her so adamant on wanting a child that was her own, without the drama and stress of a “baby daddy” again, that she quite literally chose a sperm donor instead of doing things the old-fashioned way.
It’s no secret that Ariana fared way better than Lala did with respect to each of their breakups. Ariana got out without a child (despite the freezing of eggs and whatnot), which would have tied her to that monster Tom for the rest of her life. She flipped a pretty hefty profit. And the opportunities have not stopped falling into her lap, including a Dancing With The Stars gig, which Scheana admitted on camera she was after for herself. So while I attribute part of this to a bit of envy on the parts of friends like Lala and Scheana, I do think there is still validity in looking at Ariana’s actions, too.
In a recent interview with Jeff Lewis, Lala pointed out how strange it was that Ariana has been giving her friends an ultimatum – they either remain friends with her or Tom, but they can’t do both. People like Scheana and Tom Schwartz are having an incredibly difficult time with this considering their closeness to Tom. As Scheana put it in a recent episode, she can’t “keep hating Tom for [Ariana]”.
Lala also made an interesting point in that interview about how quickly Ariana moved on, questioning the depth of her disappointment, finding a new guy in ten days? It’s a fair question, but we all know the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.
I don’t think Ariana is exaggerating her pain or her trauma. As a matter of fact I think she’s handled this whole debacle masterfully. She’s carefully toed the line of being graceful, rageful (rightfully so) and, yes, capitalizing on this opportunity. But the fact that there was something for her to capitalize on is what is giving people a lot of pause. Because so many of us have been through awful ordeals with men, with friends, with family members, and have not capitalized on anything.
One thing I try to remember in life is that there are a lot of people who want to see you doing well, but never better than them. So when Ariana was down and out, it was really easy to grant her sympathy, pity, a listening ear. But as more and more people saw how much this boosted her visibility, her net worth, her likeability, the more of a threat she became. The more it served as a reminder that we have had unfortunate experiences and didn’t get lucky the way she did. So a lot of this 100% has to do with our own internal sh-t.
If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that Scandoval breathed life into this show that it needed, and that the cast needed too. The show was getting stale and was going to be competing with new shows like The Valley, which recently premiered on Bravo, and another new show, Vanderpump Villa, which is set to premiere on Hulu soon. The boost that Scandoval gave to the show is invaluable, and perhaps had something to do with the fact that Lala was just able to purchase a new home in Sherman Oaks with some pretty strict security, which we know isn’t cheap.
Hopefully the cast can learn to give credit where credit is due – and not project their own failures and lessons on to how someone else has fared in the wake of absolute devastation, even if that looks like having a new guy ten days later. That’s actually pretty badass. Ariana deserves so much of the amazing things that came out of this experience. And if her friends have got their wits about them, they’ll stay close and enjoy the ride.
