Ariana Madix reacted to Lala Kent reaching out to Rachel “Raquel” Leviss on the premiere episode of Vanderpump Rules season 11 during an appearance on Wednesday.
As she also addressed potential hypocrisy regarding her decision to cut ties with Tom Schwartz, 40, accused Tom Sandoval, 41, of using “psychological warfare” against her in their $2 million shared home post-split, and reflected on her anxiety-ridden return to TomTom, Ariana suggested that when it came to Lala’s message to Raquel, 29, she was simply making “good TV.”
“I have no issue with Lala sending that message at all,” Ariana confirmed at a book tour appearance on January 31, as seen in a clip shared by Christina Cocca on Instagram.
“Also,” she continued. “Lala knows how to make good TV. She’s incredible.”
Also shared on Instagram this week were a couple of comments Ariana made in regard to Lala’s message.
“Did Lala overstep by reaching out to Rachel behind Ariana’s back?” a meme asked on X, formerly known as Twitter, as seen in a post shared by Comments by Bravo on Instagram.
“Not in my opinion! Nobody needs my approval to do anything,” Ariana replied.
Then, when a fan mentioned her treatment of Schwartz, wondering how it was different, Ariana also offered a response.
“Great answer … Except, you unfriended Tom Schwartz for saying what he said about that schum. Are you unfriending Lala? No judgment here just asking … I’m team Ariana,” the viewer had written.
“That’s not why I’m not friends with him,” Ariana clarified. “Just happened to be the last text I sent.”
In a sneak peek at the February 6 episode of Pump Rules, after Ariana described her living arrangements with Sandoval as “stupid,” and he said they were “awkward,” Ariana explains what has annoyed her most.
“He has done some weird things like open my mail and put my plates on my car. His most recent thing is that he got this white noise machine. It’s literally just the loudest like, ‘Shhhhh…’ Is this some sort of like, psychological warfare?” she wonders as the machine is seen outside of Sandoval’s bedroom door.
“I got a white noise machine because when the ‘Scandoval’ fever was at its pique, things I was saying were being overheard by Ariana and her friends,” he explains of his decision to get it.
During another scene, Sandoval’s assistant approaches Ariana about his plans to throw a party (“Ariana’s obviously invited if she wants to come,” he says) at their house, noting that he’s willing to get her a hotel room if she doesn’t want to attend.
“That’s not happening. I think that’s very disrespectful and inappropriate,” Ariana replies, going on to say that if Sandoval wants to have a party, he has to do it somewhere else.
“If there are people here making noise, I will call the cops,” she adds.
Meanwhile, in a confessional, Ariana admits she’s “spiraling” thinking about what Sandoval’s parties used to be like.
“There would be loud music playing, mess, disgusting everywhere, and it would be like three, four, five, sometimes six, in the morning. But now that we’re not together, I’m not putting up with that sh*t.”
As for her return to TomTom, which was featured on Tuesday’s premiere, Ariana said she “definitely had some anxiety.”
“I hadn’t been there since March 1, and then I ended up sitting in the same spot,” she explained to PEOPLE on January 30. “And I was like, it felt weird, like, it was weird for a second.”
“But then, like just having all the girls there that definitely made me just like… If I got my girls, I’ll be OK,” she reasoned.
On the show, after sharing that she was “nervous” to go back to TomTom for the first time since she caught Sandoval having an affair with Raquel at the bar, Ariana told her new boyfriend, Daniel Wai, via FaceTime, that she hadn’t “been there since that night that all of that transpired.”
Vanderpump Rules season 11 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.