Ariana Madix Talks ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Season 11 Return After Scandoval
Vanderpump Rules fans couldn’t blame Ariana Madix if she decided she was done with the Bravo reality show. After all, Vanderpump costar Tom Sandoval cheated on Madix with costar Raquel Leviss. The news of that #Scandoval made headlines this March as Madix ended her and Sandoval’s nearly-10-year relationship, and fans saw Madix confront Sandoval over the affair in the Season 10 finale on Wednesday, May 17.
But Madix intends on returning to Vanderpump Rules for the show’s 11th season.“I think I’ll be back,” the reality star told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Today With Hoda & Jenna on Thursday, May 18. “If they’ll have me back, I’ll be back.”
Why would she come back for more during such upheaval in her personal life? “I think that, especially in reality television, I think the real is the most important thing,” she said. “And I think that being able to tell my story, hopefully, will help other people be able to… maybe we can connect and relate on what we’ve gone through. And I think that that’s actually been super helpful for me over the years. Because years ago, when I was talking about my struggles with depression and anxiety and grief, I would meet people who would come and say, ‘It really helped me that you talked about it.’ But what I would say to them is, ‘That really helps me that you said that because now I feel like I’m not alone.’”
When Kotb asked whether Madix would only return to Vanderpump if Sandoval and Leviss didn’t, the 37-year-old replied, “That’s not up to me. I can’t control any of that. I have no interest in speaking to either of them. I don’t have anything to say.”
Nicole Weingart/Bravo
And when Bush Hager asked Madix if she could put up boundaries about being in the same room with Sandoval and Leviss, Madix said, “Usually no. But I’ll try.”
Meanwhile, Madix is in a new relationship, dating fitness trainer Daniel Wai, according to Bravo’s Daily Dish. “You know, I’m enjoying myself. And I would say I’m very happy right now,” she said on Today. “I met him at a wedding about 10 days after all of this. And in no way shape or form did I go into that thinking anything, and you know, I’ve just been taking things very, very slow and really enjoying myself. And it’s just really lovely to interact with someone who’s just so nice and kind and lovely and caring.”
And as Vanderpump fans have learned ahead of the Season 10 reunion — which kicks off on Wednesday, May 24 — Madix is still living with Sandoval, despite their breakup. “I’ve been on the phone with a real estate agent,” she said on Today. “I would like to sell that house and move somewhere, own my own place, on my own, and start a new life.”
Vanderpump Rules, Wednesdays, 9/8c, Bravo
