Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules went out with a bang this week– one that left at least two of the show’s cast members with some strong feelings towards production.
The day after Part 3 of the Season 11 Reunion aired, Katie Maloney dropped a new episode of her and Dayna Kathan’s podcast, Disrespectfully, joined by guest Ariana Madix. During the episode, the trio weighed in on the decision ‘Vanderpump Rules’ producers made to have the Season 11 cast watch the last few minutes of the finale together at the reunion and react to the withheld footage on stage.
When discussing production’s decision, Katie admitted that she “hated” it and felt it was specifically cruel to Ariana.
“That wasn’t for any of us,” Katie said. “There was nothing shocking in it for any of us. It was only mean toward one person, [Ariana].”
As The Ashley previously told you, the Season 11 finale ended with Ariana dodging yet another on-screen conversation with her ex Tom Sandoval and confronting a show producer about the ambush before making an early exit from an event. Ariana’s decision to “dip out” early didn’t sit well with some of her cast members, namely Sandoval and Lala Kent, both of whom proceeded to hurl insults at Ariana for allegedly not doing her job. (Ariana watched the scene for the first time while on-stage with the other cast members at the Reunion.)
Ariana told Katie and Dayna that while she wasn’t surprised by what producers did at the reunion, she wasn’t happy about it either.
“It felt [like], ‘Well, we have her trapped in this room now, we didn’t get what we wanted to get [in the finale], this like, some sort of tearful, whatever the hell. We didn’t get to break her down [in real life] in the moment, 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,’” Ariana said. “It’s like, great, I cried. Are you guys happy now?”
Katie went on to reiterate that the tactic “just felt mean.”
“Like, it didn’t affect me,” she added. “It didn’t affect anyone else in the way that it was gonna affect [Ariana].”
While Ariana admitted both on the reunion and on a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live that she hadn’t watched Season 11 but saw “plenty of clips online,” she said she stands by her decision to walk out during the finale taping.
“ … Here’s the thing that’s so stupid, I gave them the best f**king ending to what that season could have had in the moment by leaving,” she said. “It was real and it was exciting to watch. Sorry, [but] if you literally are only looking at it from a perspective of like, good reality TV, I gave you good reality TV.”
Ariana added that had she gone along and had the conversation with Sandoval, it would have been “fake” and “manufactured” and “a boring cap to a boring a** season.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter this week, ‘Vanderpump Rules’ executive producer Alex Baskin claimed that production made the decision to have the cast watch the finale together because they believed “there would be a visceral impact if they had to experience it together on the stage.” He also said the format shake up prevented the cast from being able to talk about what went down prior to the reunion.
“So I thought everyone would be held accountable for what they said,” he explained, noting that the montage at the end of the finale gave everyone watching from the control room “chills.”
“It was a super-emotional and really charged moment,” he added.
As for Katie and Ariana, they maintain that they’ve always been down to “show it all” when it comes to filming the Bravo series, despite what some viewers (and a few of their cast mates) claim.
“ … as far as real-life stuff, that’s always been real and authentic for me and I can’t fake that,” Ariana said. “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 that stuff and if there’s stuff that they filmed and then decided not to air, that has nothing to do with me,” she continued. “But I gave it all.”
(Photos: Bravo)
5 Responses
I’m sorry, but they get paid a lot more than me and you to interact with their friends and sometimes people they don’t like. Just watch the show you are there to discuss. The producers were obviously aware she hadn’t watched the season and needed her to watch it to get her authentic feelings and thoughts about the season. You’re at the reunion, for goodness sake. I know I am not a part of the majority on this one, but Ariana acted like a child during this season. You can be mad at him all you want; he hurt you, and you should absolutely act like he no longer exists. I agree; what he did to YOU was disgusting and unforgivable to you. However, you absolutely will not dictate who I have in my life! What adult says, “you can’t be friends with him/her because I don’t like them”????? Ariana should leave the show if she feels that’s the best thing for her. However, ALL of them depend on the show for other opportunities and as a primary means of income, so I wouldn’t suggest it.
Boo hoo. Missionaries are being killed in Haiti. Children are starving in Appalachia. Ariana’s feelings are hurt. Which one doesn’t belong?
Right because no one is allowed to be upset about anything ever due to children starving in Appalachia? This argument is trite, overused and just plain stupid.
What’s any of that got to do with it? Your on here reading and commenting, don’t act like you’re doing anything to help😂😂
Honestly if I was Ariana I would leave in a heartbeat. Other than Katie (at least the Katie that is the Katie that now loves Ariana) no one has Ariana’s best interests. Not the cast that most definitely are NOT her friends, not production, not LVP, no one. She needs to walk away and VPR and the vapid assholes on that show will melt away into nothingness as they should. I know Ariana loves Scheana but as Ariana is crying and Katie is holding her Scheana has the audacity to stand up, walk over and make sure that Lala was ok. As if Lala has human emotions.