Lala Kent has some regrets about season 11 of Vanderpump Rules — but that doesn't include her criticism of costar Ariana Madix.
During the Monday, June 10, episode of the "Two Ts in a Pod" podcast, Lala, 33, answered some burning questions about the backlash she received from viewers. Lala, however, stood by her approach to season 11, which included asking Ariana, 38, about the aftermath of Tom Sandoval's high-profile cheating scandal.
"I think I'd be lying if I said I gave no s—ts this season, because I feel like what I was saying was just so clear as day," Lala noted. "But no one else saw it that way."
Lala also stood by her decision to break the fourth wall while filming the season finale, adding, "I was biting my tongue until a producer walks in and says, 'Lala, everything you've been feeling outside of filming this show, the fourth wall that we've been [keeping] tight — break it.'"
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When Vanderpump Rules returned to Bravo earlier this year, Lala originally sided with Ariana over Sandoval. Lala's loyalty started to waver once she let go of her anger for Sandoval and started to question how Ariana was navigating their split after the scandal.
Lala subsequently came under fire on social media — and she issued an apology for fans who she may have offended. However, Lala hasn't walked back her issues with Ariana and even leaned into them more during Monday's tell-all interview.
Ariana, for her part, admitted at the season 11 reunion that she was hurt by Lala's comments. After the Bravo special aired, Ariana flew to Fuji to film an upcoming season of Love Island and hasn't been weighing in on all things Vanderpump Rules.
Keep scrolling for every dig Lala made about Ariana:
Lala's Questions About Ariana Not Working Hard Enough During Season 11
According to Lala, Ariana hasn't been bringing enough to the table while filming Vanderpump Rules over the years. Lala expected that to change once Ariana became the focus of the show, but she didn't think her costar brought her all.
"They both for many years have kind of played this role — which Ariana said this season — of gray rocking [which is a strategy to deal with narcissists]. I'm like, 'You've been gray rocking from the jump, babe,'" Lala said about Ariana's decision to keep her distance from the drama. "There's no change here. Except this year, we actually need you to do something."
Lala was aware that her comments might sound "not nice," adding, "I'm not meaning for it to come across that way. But it was for many, many seasons before this happened, it was like it was OK for her to kind of be in the background. It was fine. It worked well. [Now] you're the main story, babe. I'm going to need a little bit of something."
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Why Lala Thinks Ariana's Romance With Daniel Wai Proves She Wasn't Upset
Days after pulling the plug on her nine-year relationship with Sandoval, 41, Ariana met Daniel at a mutual friend's wedding, and they started seeing each other casually. Lala used the long distance romance as proof that Ariana wasn't grieving her past connection with Sandoval as much.
"I think where I was struggling to make sense of it and Ariana said, 'It doesn't need to make sense to you.' Just like I said to Katie [Maloney], 'My life doesn't need to make sense to you.' That's absolutely true," she noted. "But personally, where I was like, I just don't understand when [Scandoval] happened on March 1st. Then I believe she had a wedding by March 10th and had already met a new guy. And they weren't exclusive, but you started dating. You don't just meet someone and fall into boyfriend [and] girlfriend."
Lala asked why Ariana remained in her shared home with Sandoval when she was seeing someone new.
"You stayed in the house. You came back to this show. And that's where I think I was feeling very conflicted," Lala continued. "I'm like, 'I understand the pain you're going through.' But if I'm relating to it and then I'm seeing how you could move on from something so traumatic. I just don't see how you could be that devastated."
Lala Claims Ariana Thought She Was 'Bigger Than the Show'
"I want to be around women who work hard and have things that are really cool," Lala shared. "I have constantly tried to be very supportive. Not tried — I wanted to be supportive. These are my friends. When Ariana started getting opportunities outside of Vanderpump Rules, that's great for all of us."
Lala shut down fan claims she was jealous about Ariana's success.
"The show reached a level that it never would have reached without this. And even though it was horrible, I was not mad at the opportunity she was getting outside of the show," she explained. "What I started getting upset about is now we're bringing a little bit of divaness to my place of work that I've been doing for eight years. And I have a hard time when people think that they are bigger than the show."
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Lala Thought Ariana Didn't Respect 'Vanderpump Rules' Enough
"It's no secret this is a produced show. If you watched us every single waking moment of the day, you couldn't have a show. This is months of filming, and it goes to a producer for months of editing. What you're seeing is very much real," Lala noted. "But there's also the part where it is a TV show to make sure that you are entertained. Although these things happened, the goal is to entertain you."
Due to the hard work that went into Vanderpump Rules, Lala felt slighted by Ariana allegedly not giving it her all.
"It was hard this season. I was talking about things that we've all spoken about. And then when a camera comes up, everyone runs scared. I have Ariana, who I personally believe really forgot why she was catapulted into opportunity," Lala claimed. "Again, [I'm] so happy for you, but let's not forget where we come from. None of us have anything without Vanderpump Rules. What we built outside of it, we should be very proud of."
Lala Once Again Questions Ariana's Finances
A major point of contention for Lala was Ariana staying in her shared house with Sandoval despite being offered a multitude of opportunities. Lala said multiple times on screen that she thought Ariana made enough to rent something else. (Ariana purchased a home several months after filming came to an end.)
"I was asking those questions like, 'Why not just get an apartment for your mental health?' I can't imagine going home to a house that I share with my ex who did something really traumatic to me. And she said she couldn't afford it," Lala fired back. "Those are the questions that I had that I was looking at."
Lala said "nothing was questioned" when it came to Ariana, adding, "Her word was bible. ... No, I have questions. You have been all over the map and I know what I make outside of this show. And I have to assume you're making the same — if not way more. So how can you not afford an apartment?"
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Whether Lala Knew Something About Her Was Open
Despite Katie claiming Lala's assistant, Jess, knew her and Ariana's sandwich shop was open, Lala had a different take on the situation.
"Let me explain two things. I knew they were having, like, 500 soft openings. So when I said I didn't know they were open, I didn't know that they were open any given weekday," Lala clarified her recent comments about Katie and Ariana's business. "Come have a sandwich. I'm sure that it was something that people were very excited about. This has been in the works since the season 9 finale. So I didn't know that they were actually open for business. I knew they were doing a soft opening."
Lala threw shade at Katie as well, saying, "Even with the sandwich shop [being open], you're still scrolling through Reddit and who is viewing your stories. Like, girl, you got so much time on your hands."
Lala's Concerns About Katie and Ariana's Friendship
"Trauma bonds run deep. I've had trauma bonds before and they are thick, but neither of you better get over the trauma," Lala pointed out on Monday. "Because once you start healing, bond is over."
Lala's insight comes after she claimed at the season 11 reunion that Katie, 37, would vent to her about Ariana off screen. Katie didn't deny she had frustrations but shut down Lala's claims that she wasn't discussing the issues on the show on purpose. Katie clarified that she was no longer annoyed by certain situations when cameras started filming season 11.
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Lala's Experience With Ariana While Filming 'Vanderpump Rules'
"It's extremely difficult to film a reality TV show with someone [who doesn't want to discuss certain topics]. Cameras shut down [during] season 10 for producers to talk to Ariana like, 'You gotta give something. You gotta care a little bit,'" Lala claimed about a scene where Ariana didn't want to dig deep. "And if you're the type of person where you're like, 'I just don't care.' Excellent. First of all, I am very jealous. I wish I could just not care. Second of all, I don't know that this is the space for you."
Ariana recently addressed Lala's accusations that she wasn't giving enough by not filming with Sandoval.
"Arguably, if you want to talk in show terms, me walking away from that conversation was a lot more interesting than me sitting there and having it," she said at the reunion. "Was that not a better ending to your season? To give you another season for another paycheck?"
Last month, Ariana elaborated on what she considers misguided accusations against her.
"Here's the thing that's so stupid. I gave them the best f—king ending to what that season could have had in that moment by leaving. It was real and it was exciting to watch. Sorry, if you literally are only looking at it from a perspective of like good reality TV, I gave you good reality TV," she added on the "Disrespectfully" podcast. "[A conversation] would have been a boring cap to a boring ass season, to be honest."
Ariana continued: "As far as real life stuff, that's always been real and authentic for me. I can't fake that. What did I not show you? I showed you my storage unit of a f—king 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."
Vanderpump Rules season 11 is currently streaming on Peaco*ck.
