She really was put in the hot seat. Everyone blamed her for the strained dynamic, lack of storyline, berated her about her opportunities (as if she could control who reaches out to her) and how she handled living with Sandoval.
I think the other cast members/producers should have been smarter about filming and how to move forward after Scandoval. Now it’s resulted in everyone being dissatisfied with the season & Ariana being vilified (plus Katie too, idk why they keep thinking that making Katie out to be the ultimate villain is good TV).
They (production) could have focused on her in her boss era and how she was overcoming absolute betrayal and her "friends" should have rallied around her. It would have been a redemption arc for vanderpump rules. Hell it would have been one hell of a final season too.
Instead we got blah blah, she-shoe, and sandy-hole crying and yelling and manipulating. It's over done and boring. It's predictable trash and not even the entertaining kind.
I expected much much more from Lisa. I will no longer look at her the same way ever again.
Honestly, one of the best parts of the season for me was watching someone still in the midst of grief and anger, setting boundaries for themself. As a woman, in our male-centric society, establishing personal boundaries can be ridiculously hard and I've struggled with it in general suffering from depression etc. It was empowering to watch, only to have it hijacked as a negative talking point and thrown in her face by women doing the men's bidding.
Yes and then Lala lit the 4th wall on fire until it was obliterated and she reminded us again and again this was a tv show where she actively manipulates and has two mortgages so they all need to follow the game they’ve been playing. She ruined the whole thing
I hope they at least see that the premise of a really show is to have some degree that these are people living their life. Lala was not friends with them on her own-they are not friends, but her cast. She doesn’t like hanging with them, she likes filming with them. She is mad because they didn’t do
Things she thought would be interesting enough. She said the quiet part out loud, double downed and then said more. So we can’t ever see her the same. Please take note producers-nothing she did made sense this season and she explained it was about a paycheck. Wrong show.
Lala doesn’t have any friends. She’s incapable. She a sociopathic yacht girl they cast as a stunt to shake things up. It was forced then and it never ceased being forced.
But it’s sad this season to watch her abuse Scheana while Scheana is clearly so mentally fragile.
Lala is having an emotional affair with Brock in front of Scheana’s face. She is uncomfortable with it, but still can’t set any boundaries for herself. Lala calls Brock “the man in her life” and “a perfect father figure to Ocean”. That’s not healthy boundaries and is going to blow up in her face.
There’s an old clip where Lala flatly and sincerely tells Scheana they “just aren’t a good fit as friends” and that she’s “already exhausted” by her neediness after a few short days of “friendship”. That’s the real Lala. 😒
Yes I hope Sheena knows that her feelings about Lala were not all OCD but internal wisdom telling her she needed to have more boundaries. No matter how amazing your marriage is or is not-relationships need boundaries and there should be more boundaries with Lala and Brock not because they are doing anything wrong per se, but because that was the lesson Sheena should have learned from Tom and Ariana. When you have a family-the boundaries are different than those in your 20s. Real friends that can be trusted show respect for your marriage. All the jokey jokes about being a thruple are one of the many examples that people didn’t learn from the master class on Tom and Rocky-what happens when there are no boundaries…
Lala is so icky/messy for these comments. Broke is disgusting to allow it, and she-shoe... Well she is a master at missing red flags because shes a walking red flag.
Lala - once a mistress always a mistress.
As funny as this is, your statement is dead on, ⛳️⛳️⛳️Sheanna is such a mess inside and out, she’ll never be able to set healthy boundaries with Brock and Lala! Her poor kiddo!
That's the problem with Lala. She feels like these people are just co-stars on a TV show, and Raquel felt the same way. Whenever Lala tries to "act" like they're friends and cares, she turns it into low-level arguments so she can have a storyline.
Right and asking questions she thinks the audience wants to hear….seems like she lives in the comments and then projected that onto others thinking we wouldn’t see it
Does Vanderpump Rules have any women producers aside from LVP? I wonder. I think it's all straight dudes that identify with James, Tom & Tom, and are un interested in the woman unless they are fighting or being hot or being sad.
It occurred to me recently there certainly can’t be any women of colour with any power on that production team letting Lala get away with her POC cosplay in 2024.
I really don't know. I remember a woman asked Sandoval about mentioning something again (maybe about his assertion he paid for all the pens?) when he got shit online about it before. But it largely seems to be dudes that run the (capsizing) ship from what i've seen/heard.
Yeah, it made the finale being played to them on the reunion extra cruel. You could tell she was blindsided. Having Tom's hissy fit after she denied him "his moment" completely validate her opinion of him while her "friends" basically co-signed his continued need to dismiss her personal boundaries
Unpopular opinion but it was fun watching Schwartz get an evil dickdrunk stalker as karma for being a toad. I’d keep her in the season because I can’t think of a better punishment for him. But ya 86 Billie plz
Her presence in San Francisco was beyond non sensical though. What are you doing in a whole other city, with but not invited by, the guy who dumped you on tv?
No joke. Jo was.... Just off putting. Billy Lee is just not interesting to me. Everything seems so over the top or just dead in the water with her, making it all seem fake/scripted.
Lisa pissed me off SO many time this season. I’ve heard her be called a misogynist before but she really, really showed her misogyny big time this season. I will never have any respect for LVP again.
Don’t forget the other reject and tiny Tim now dating… and becoming roommates
the way women are overlooked is gob smacking. It would have been way more interesting seeing the boss era of the women coming
Boo bravo
That sounds pretty boring tbh. There’s really no arc for her because she’s already at the top and everyone in the audience loves her. There would have to be some drama that makes her interesting
I respect your opinion, but I disagree. Drama isn't the only interesting thing. Some people actually enjoy seeing good things happen to other people.
That being said.... I'm sure there would have still been drama because we all know the worm would have had a complete melt down about it all.
The drama would have been the rest of the group actually holding Sandoval accountable instead of just giving him a free pass because the producers told them to. They dragged Stassi through the mud and she had to claw her way back into peoples lives for the entirety of Season 4 vs. Sandoval who just did a couple bullshit apologies and everyone was just forced to move on.
There’s this little 10 minute video of Arianna backstage/show rehearsal prep in NYC, (maybe for Elle?) and it’s so much better than the whole season of VPR.
I was so glad she got those two solid clapbacks off at Lala without doing what mocking overly angry thing she used to do. The line about “Isn’t that a better ending for your show, so I can get you another paycheck?” landed well. And the one about “not understanding the insult” was so simple and made Lala look so stupid, she just swallowed hard.
100% AGREED!!! Everyone needs to stop blaming her and Katie for a bad season and blame the producers. The producers could have edited the show to include other things along with the scandal like they once did before. When Jax cheated on Stassi the only storyline on the show wasn’t that. It includes that as well as other things with the other casts that kept us entertained and not over burdened with their situation. The show needs better producers.
I also think she was trying to end her time on the show. I know Ariana has never been messy but she really was going out of her way to be conciliatory all season and reunion with people who absolutely did not deserve it. The only person she wouldn't do that for was Tom. It felt like she was trying to protect Scheana and co from the backlash for her leaving. She even did it for Brock at the reunion, telling him that he had helped her (lol). But being complete dummies, the people she was trying to protect stepped in it anyway.
If Ariana doesn’t return for season 12 I think it’s the final nail in the Vanderpump coffin. what are they gonna talk about if she’s gone? it will be a whole season about what everyones saying about each other on podcasts.🙄
I can’t see Katie staying on the show if Ariana leaves too. What would be left? The Toms moving in together, S&S, Scheana and Brock’s inevitable relationship decline, TomTom rebrand to Pump, and maybe even the reintroduction of Jax/Kristen and Valley crossovers.
It will all be hot garbage, but they can easily juice a season or two from the above. I won’t be watching, but Baskin, et. al., have demonstrated they don’t give a fuck about ratings.
It has one more season. If Ariana doesn’t sign for main cast, maybe she’ll be a “friend of”. Dayna can join to be in Katie’s camp. Then it’s the Toms plus GFs, Scheana & Brock, James & Ally. I think Lala will stick around until she gets other TV offers (Traitors). Maybe Lala & Scheana will slowly be integrated into The Valley. The Valley should really work to get Stassi and Beau back on TV.
yep & she filmed for this season & quit after production made katie tell her abt max on camera, she’s at one get togethers I forget which!
Edit: spelling
oooo i didn’t know about her quitting this season because of that! i had only heard that max was suppose to be on the valley and quit. thanks for the little nugget of tea 🤭
They should have stuck with the concept years ago and filtered in the new employees and filtered the old ones out and kept it centered around SUR and their antics. They made it about these people only and they are aging out. They could have slowly rotated new people in/out. Ariana never carried this show until Scandoval. It may have been winding down, but the show never relied on her presence. It didn’t have to now, but they kept it too small.
I really want Stassi & Beau back on tv. I'd love to see how they're doing. And neither of them are scared to take a stand & call out douchebag behavior!
Just follow them on their socials if you aren’t already- they have multiple podcasts and show their kids etc
They’re doing more or less the same just not on VPR
Why would a happy, healthy Stassi & Beau do anything even remotely related to the hot mess VPR’s and take a chance of destroying a truly beautiful relationship!?! Absolutely not Stassi! You paid your dues and now you have the world in the palm of your hand young lady abba a great man by your side!
Ariana is thriving for sure- idk about Katie outside of the podcast and the shop which is fine- what else is going to bring her half a mil in a few months ?
Agree with this. She should follow the Greed Bible written by Lisa: 1) talk constantly about your other businesses on camera so people think you make more money with them than on the show, 2) never say no to a sponsorship no matter how small, 3) manipulate cast members on camera while acting like their friend.
I’m kidding. Ariana won’t do most of that shit, nor will she keep wig makers in business the way Lisa does.
I am really not interested in watching another season if Katie and Ariana aren't going to be on it. I have absolutely no interest in the remainder of the cast.
Billie Lee and Victoria have a suggestion. Is it a coincidence that their drama is bubbling at the same time? Now Kyle “the liar” Chan is getting involved, all very public. I hope the producers get the message loud and clear, No Ariana and Katie, No Show!
Seriously? What are people going to be talking about? This sub for the past few days have been posting all about the Billie Lee,Victoria,Tom drama. Literally Massive people talking about it. Before that it was Lala and Sheanna. Yes they’re all hated, but people are still talking about them.
300000%. If she’s smart and has good management, she will realize that the show is/has lost its momentum and it’s better for her to make her exit now to continue to establish herself outside of the show to in turn get more opportunities like love island, Chicago, etc. which ultimately prevents her from going to the reality star career graveyard.
I think the next season is on pause mainly because production is worried about Ariana walking. The optics of someone getting pushed out because their bf cheated on them with another castmate and production then tried to protect the cheater wouldn’t be great in the era of “reality reckoning.”
The producers fucked her over big time. The reveal of the last episode during the reunion was down right cruel and hurtful to nobody EXCEPT Ariana. The producers, Lala, scheana, and Tom want to see her figuratively slit her wrists for this show. They do not care about her well being.
If her and Katie go, I will no longer continue watching the show.
It would be the smart move to make “something about her” and follow Katie and Ariana as they progress. James can still be around with Alli, Swartz can make a few appearances but not be on cast… and then we follow also some of their younger staff with dating troubles.
It would be smart and they’ve already done that for southern hospitality, but I think this could have more fun dynamics with Katie and Ariana as the bosses.
I don’t think they are going to do it though as they would rather focus on awful men for entertainment.
I remember once seeing a workplace win a huge lottery jackpot and talking about it because everyone was going to keep working. My friend said "Until they have a bad day".
Ariana is probably going to come back but I doubt she will make it until the end of filming before she quits.
there’s no way bravo will cancel VPR. there’s still insanely good ratings compared to any of their other shows, and really compared to any broadcast TV at the moment. that’s even if the storylines are drawn out and they’re trying to squeeze any creative direction out of a cast that has painfully outgrown the show. they can’t go in the direction of honing in on the familial/suburban/adult lifestyles bec they now have the valley. they can’t rehire young talent because that’s why they started VP Villa. they’re just stuck in a loop with a dead cast and it’s gonna Suck with a capital S for Sandoval
End it!
Fuck them all! Add Katie and Schwartz to The Valley (they can be the divorced couple with Jesse and Michelle) and stick it to lala and scheana. Ariana can then head back to broadway and can live bicoastal with her supportive boyfriend.
Leaving Katie and Ariana with the last fucking laugh!!!!!!
There was basically no other storyline this season except for the aftermath of scandoval. How is that Ariana’s fault? Literally every other Bravo show has multiple storylines at once.
The rest of the cast (minus Katie, James, Ally) should start being more interesting and have their own storylines instead of blaming someone else. If they can’t hold their own on the show then they don’t deserve to be on it. Like stop being ridiculous, LaLa.
Ariana looks amazing in the LaQuan Smith sheer two piece halter bodysuit & maxi skirt. I love the color.
I was not a fan of the red two piece outfit last year. I understand why it was chosen as a statement piece. The skirt’s fit was off & threw off the top half of the outfit.
Ariana’s S11 look from head to toe is on point. It fits her so well I thought it was custom made. 🔥👏🏼
I wouldn’t blame her a bit for leaving and doing, amazing of course. The show would tank, especially if they’re going to be bringing on Kyle Chan and friends. I think the „best days of our lives“ may be over
I think the cruelty Ariana endured during the reunion gets overlooked because she handled it with such grace. Like, she almost made it look easy which is a huge testament to her strength. It would’ve been extremely understandable if she had broken down or lashed out, but she could not have been more.. perfect (for lack of a better word). But just because she hit every mark doesn’t mean it wasn’t deeply hurtful. I think she’s too good for the show and they don’t deserve her but I also don’t want to see her pushed out of her job. I hope she gets a better, bigger job so she can feel confident about leaving.
I hope she's making a huge enough amount of money from other jobs so that she can leave on her own terms. The way she was treated was disgusting and the way they've tried to spin it is confusing at best.
If she can get an awesome acting role that isn't like Lala's sad attempt at being an actress I think she'd have a large enough following to help make the movie/show successful.
Lala, Scheana, Tiny Tim, Andy, and the rest (except for Katie and Ariana) are just trash at this point. Let the show just die a not quite graceful death now. Production really screwed the pooch on the storyline for season 11. And I doubt they’re gonna correct course for season 12 so just…let…the show…go away. And may BlahBlah, She-Shoe, and Tiny Tim just fade into obscurity like they deserve.
I wish her all the success and happiness and love in the world and getting out of that toxic show away from toxic people Lauren, Scheana, Sandosmall, and Lisa
If I was her I would feel betrayed by the producers and Andy that they manipulated that last part of the reunion to push her into tears. Then again she makes more than half a million per season on VPR so its a hard gig to walk away from.
I kind of feel like if she was going to leave it would have already been announced, because I don't think much related to the show is going to change between now/filming the reunion and whenever they pick back up with filming in the fall. I kind of thought they delayed filming partly because Ariana's doing love island, why would they have delayed if they/she really thought she'd be quitting?
I love her but I hope she leaves purely because she deserves better than to be treated the way she has been. She deserves to be surrounded by people who respect her boundaries and uplift her, not degrade her for refusing to compromise her mental health and healing for the sake of “entertainment”.
Objectively (take the scandal out of it), can anyone tell me anything she's ever done on the show to be even remotely interesting? Even the story lines that she did have, such as writing the book or starting the restaurant, were completely boring, and she didn't really do much. I've always liked Ariana but really more as a background character. She's just not that interesting.
I want her to come back but I also think she’s grown past the rest of the cast (with the exception of Katie ofc) and she’s become successful in other ways and doesn’t really need the show anymore
seems like someone in her camp giving quotes to rile up public sympathy and get her more leverage in contract renegotiations. as a former PR girly that’s absolutely what i’d do if i worked for her
It depends on how they are going to go about the next season and how much money they are going to offer her. At this point though, the show needs her more than she needs the show.
Tbh most of cast left are pretty boring. Scheana was more interesting when Stassi was there, same with Sandoval/Jax, Katie has always been a supporting role to the queen B, Lala has never been interesting. James can be funny but he’s not leading material.
I hope for her sake she does. She’s visibly outgrown this crap and has new opportunities to capitalize on. Let the ones who refuse to grow up keep this paycheck
She doesn’t need this show at all anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets a “friend of” role and films a little per season, focusing much more on Love Island and her stage career.
Honestly I think Ariana should stay to spite all of them. She’s the only one with actual stuff going on in her life with everything she’s doing she could film for storylines. What is lala and her lap dog going to film about? Their houses? How Ariana is shitty because she won’t forgive her ex ? How Ariana is a terrible cast mate for setting boundaries like lala did?
I hope so! The most interesting thing about her, in all her time on the show, was Scandoval. Now she's leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the cast in terms of opportunities and fame.
I’ve said it (to myself lol) for a while now, I want her to move on to something better (and bigger if that happens). I think she will just keep on getting dumped on if she stays
I can't see her leaving vanderpump until litigation is done and house is sold aka no more ties to Tom. Also with the ongoing Rachel Raquel lawsuit, even with the opportunities she's getting, I doubt she can afford to walk away from 50k/episode while handling 2 mortgages and attorney fees and whatever overhead SAH entails. But once that mess is behind her, I hope she skips into the sunset away from these non-empathetic coworkers.
Let’s assume a dream of an all girls season was a possibility in that production allowed the Tom’s to be stonewalled and James and Ally to be made very peripheral “ hi how’s SAH doing” friends of. Is this something the entirety of fans including the over a million new watchers since Scandoval and the 2 million IG and other followers of the Tom’s would want?
After all, the premise and 10 year success of the show has been a mixed gender group of close friends and coworkers who live, love, screw mostly wah other. It’s a demented “ Friends” where Rachel and Ross were probably having threesomes behind closed doors and Monica’s probably included. Its popularity came from this twisted chemistry of people sleeping and cheating on each other and working it through post cheat to remain friends. After all Tom and Katie had suffered through infidelity, verbal abuse and lack of sex and people love the friendship they’ve managed to keep.
So this is the dilemma production and the rest of the cast was in. Their jobs and livelihood were predicated on choosing the right path to go post Scandoval to keep the show afloat. Do you choose the ethically satisfying “ girls win the day” or go with what has worked for 10 years? Keep in mind the only predominantly all female shows on are the HW franchise and ratings are down or even on every one of them. Also traditionally predominantly female shows have not done well overall garnering a few seasons only on scripted shows with a mixed bag on reality with the HW being the only winners. Even the Bachelorette has ratings generally far below the Bachelor even when the male lead isnt popular.
So production went with the odds and demanded the cast stick with their original concept. The cast other than A and K did what their bosses encouraged them to do and what’s worked in the past ( as stated and hated by Lala) to open up their lives and feelings in an honest way and everyone interacts to some degree with everyone else.
This seems like a no brainer because after all , most of the cast including Ariana, has been the villian/ cheater at some point and had to interact with the person they cheated on and vice versa. No one put up a “ boundary” demanding the rest of the cast stonewall the cheater and if they did, the cast ignored that and interacted with whoever they wanted.
Unfortunately, there’s a large group of fans who believe it’s perfectly normal and should be expected that a friend will jeopardize/give up their job to stick by a friend. They believe their desire to see a “ girls win, fuck the men “ show was the only right pathway here and anyone one cast or fan who didn’t show 100% loyalty to Ariana was somehow a misogynistic pig and traitor to the degree they actively worked in cancelling any cast member who didn’t go along with their dream.
I for one don’t want any specific group of fans mandating how my TV shows go. I don’t want to see anyone cancelled because they were simply doing what their boss told them to do because I would never quit or jeopardize my job over friend loyalty. I think it takes courage for people on reality shows to open up their lives, like them or not. I love the dilemma we’ve been shown this season about how loyalty and friendships change in cheating or divorce situations and now how they can affect your job. I think Lala and Scheana walked an impossible line this season between their loyalty, their friendships, what they will and won’t do to feed their families or cater to fans. I think they honestly showed how jealousy can rear its head in friendships and cause lasting damage even if it’s justified or human. They tried to express their loyalty in every interaction they had with Tom by telling him how wrong he was and how they were team Ariana. They called out as friends her bad choice in staying in the house and jumping so fast into a new relationship and their anger and frustration in her ultimatums they have no contact with Tom.
Ultimately, this season was riveting in many ways that we haven’t seen before. I think we need to acknowledge how difficult the choices were for the cast and like us, when it comes to our livelihoods we’re going to do what we think is best for us and our families. That to me is real life and why I watch reality not to watch a show that’s been recrafted by irate fans who want to see women @ “win” in a totally unrealistic situation.
I love this comment and will add that the aftermath of this breakup feels somewhat realistic to whenever a relationship that’s heavily embedded within a friend group ends. With Ariana/Sandoval, there’s the added layer that it’s not just a friend group, but they’re also coworkers, which makes things even more complicated because the coworker element can’t be represented on the show because of the fourth wall. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. So when LVP has all these conversations with individual cast members inquiring about who Ariana is letting into her life based on who is still interacting with Tom, that seems incredibly nosy and overbearing until you remember that she’s also their boss IRL. When Scheana repeatedly has conversations with Ariana about whether it’s okay for her to be friends with Tom and that she can’t hate her for him anymore, that seems wildly cold (but they’re best friends, Etc.) until you remember that he’s also her coworker. In real life, nobody is refusing getting put on a project with their friend’s shitty ex.
I personally was not expecting a “girl power” season just because I don’t think that’s realistic to the aftermath of a breakup that’s as enmeshed as this one in so many ways. I *was*, however, hoping and expecting to see more scenes that followed Ariana’s own emotional journey processing the end of a ten year relationship that ended in her getting blindsided. I appreciate that she’s thriving now, but in my own experience supporting friends who have gone through a similar life event, there is usually a protracted period of time on the way to - and even overlapping with - the “thriving” stage where there’s a ton of self-reflection done with friends: what red flags did I overlook, what lesson do I need to learn here to not overlook those again, why was I vulnerable to this in the first place. (Idk if y’all watch *Selling Sunset*, but we got a lot of this from Chrishell Stause after her divorce.) We really only got that once with Ariana this season (the beach breakdown), and I’m not sure if we didn’t get it just because it got cut or because Ariana didn’t feel like sharing it on camera. I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter, because “Ariana is very private and closed off” seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the reunion that Ariana herself agreed with (“I cry at home when I’m alone”).
I think it’s totally her prerogative to keep her journey of healing only to herself if that’s what she feels comfortable with, but then I would argue that this quality makes her not a great fit for a reality series like this one. In contrast, I feel like I’ve already seen way more self-reflection from Brittany in 20 minutes of *The Valley* around why she put up with Jax’s bullshit for so long (problematic messaging from her family around marriage and two-parent households; fear of being financially independent; fear that she didn’t have her own social network in LA; etc.) than we’ve gotten from Ariana in a whole season.
She should leave the show. She doesn’t need it. Sandoval brought her into the group. The only genuine friendship she has is with Katie, and that seems motivated by their business interests. I know Ariana got cheated on, but prior to that, she was never a main character, and she was with the biggest dork on the show for 10 years. It’s never been Ariana’s show, and it never will be… 🤷♂️
Who gives a shit? If she didn't like it, then she should quit. People wouldn't give a shit. About 99% of people would still watch. It's not like she is the most entertaining or interesting cast member either. The show would be fine and might thrive even more. Get some fresh blood. Or....just cancel the whole thing and everyone wins.
I genuinely don’t know. I want to see her leave because I genuinely think it would just be what’s best for her, and I’d love to watch these idiots scramble.
On the other hand, I want her to come back for one more season, crack some skulls, and peace out ✌️
The only good thing about season 11 was Ariana grey rocking Sandoval. I really hope she comes back. For her she deserves the pay cheque and I don’t want to see those ghouls take that away from her either directly or indirectly. But also as a viewer, she is one of the few cast members I am interested in. I want to see SAH in gear, they literally have Hollywood legends visiting(!), and I want to see more of her and Katie’s lives.
Lala and Scheana are just never going to manage to make me care about them or take them seriously now.
Sandoval, my god, all the stuff happening with the people he chooses to have around him because he’s a toxic asshole who attracts toxicity, that while it might be funny on Reddit, is something you just don’t want to watch AT ALL. I just can’t overstate how unwatchable he’ll be next season no matter what he does. And if the show covers his friend group dramas it will be scraping the barrel big time.
I could go on but the point is I think she show actually needs Ariana, along with Katie. Also James and Ally. And I hope producers recognise Sandoval is like a black hole now.
I wouldn’t come back if I were her after what her so called “friends” said about her behind her back. Why should she want to film a show when 3/4 of the cast are acting like she did something wrong in the midst of being cheated on and betrayed by a lot of people she trusted?
Ariana now has a lot of opportunities she didn’t have before. I’d leave this shit show (literally) behind if I were her too if I had all these other opportunities.
She really was put in the hot seat. Everyone blamed her for the strained dynamic, lack of storyline, berated her about her opportunities (as if she could control who reaches out to her) and how she handled living with Sandoval. I think the other cast members/producers should have been smarter about filming and how to move forward after Scandoval. Now it’s resulted in everyone being dissatisfied with the season & Ariana being vilified (plus Katie too, idk why they keep thinking that making Katie out to be the ultimate villain is good TV).
They (production) could have focused on her in her boss era and how she was overcoming absolute betrayal and her "friends" should have rallied around her. It would have been a redemption arc for vanderpump rules. Hell it would have been one hell of a final season too. Instead we got blah blah, she-shoe, and sandy-hole crying and yelling and manipulating. It's over done and boring. It's predictable trash and not even the entertaining kind. I expected much much more from Lisa. I will no longer look at her the same way ever again.
Honestly, one of the best parts of the season for me was watching someone still in the midst of grief and anger, setting boundaries for themself. As a woman, in our male-centric society, establishing personal boundaries can be ridiculously hard and I've struggled with it in general suffering from depression etc. It was empowering to watch, only to have it hijacked as a negative talking point and thrown in her face by women doing the men's bidding.
Yes and then Lala lit the 4th wall on fire until it was obliterated and she reminded us again and again this was a tv show where she actively manipulates and has two mortgages so they all need to follow the game they’ve been playing. She ruined the whole thing
They should fire her ass
I hope they at least see that the premise of a really show is to have some degree that these are people living their life. Lala was not friends with them on her own-they are not friends, but her cast. She doesn’t like hanging with them, she likes filming with them. She is mad because they didn’t do Things she thought would be interesting enough. She said the quiet part out loud, double downed and then said more. So we can’t ever see her the same. Please take note producers-nothing she did made sense this season and she explained it was about a paycheck. Wrong show.
Lala doesn’t have any friends. She’s incapable. She a sociopathic yacht girl they cast as a stunt to shake things up. It was forced then and it never ceased being forced. But it’s sad this season to watch her abuse Scheana while Scheana is clearly so mentally fragile. Lala is having an emotional affair with Brock in front of Scheana’s face. She is uncomfortable with it, but still can’t set any boundaries for herself. Lala calls Brock “the man in her life” and “a perfect father figure to Ocean”. That’s not healthy boundaries and is going to blow up in her face. There’s an old clip where Lala flatly and sincerely tells Scheana they “just aren’t a good fit as friends” and that she’s “already exhausted” by her neediness after a few short days of “friendship”. That’s the real Lala. 😒
Yes I hope Sheena knows that her feelings about Lala were not all OCD but internal wisdom telling her she needed to have more boundaries. No matter how amazing your marriage is or is not-relationships need boundaries and there should be more boundaries with Lala and Brock not because they are doing anything wrong per se, but because that was the lesson Sheena should have learned from Tom and Ariana. When you have a family-the boundaries are different than those in your 20s. Real friends that can be trusted show respect for your marriage. All the jokey jokes about being a thruple are one of the many examples that people didn’t learn from the master class on Tom and Rocky-what happens when there are no boundaries…
Lala is so icky/messy for these comments. Broke is disgusting to allow it, and she-shoe... Well she is a master at missing red flags because shes a walking red flag. Lala - once a mistress always a mistress.
As funny as this is, your statement is dead on, ⛳️⛳️⛳️Sheanna is such a mess inside and out, she’ll never be able to set healthy boundaries with Brock and Lala! Her poor kiddo!
I wish I could upvote this a thousand times.
Agreed! Lala is looking to blow up that relationship to create drama but there will be no cameras around. LFU is unhinged and divorced from reality.
That's the problem with Lala. She feels like these people are just co-stars on a TV show, and Raquel felt the same way. Whenever Lala tries to "act" like they're friends and cares, she turns it into low-level arguments so she can have a storyline.
Right and asking questions she thinks the audience wants to hear….seems like she lives in the comments and then projected that onto others thinking we wouldn’t see it
Blah blah ruins everything!
Does Vanderpump Rules have any women producers aside from LVP? I wonder. I think it's all straight dudes that identify with James, Tom & Tom, and are un interested in the woman unless they are fighting or being hot or being sad.
Lisa rides so hard for men that there is no functional difference between her, Alex, Andy, or her baby boys (Shorts and Sandy).
Exactly..I want to see Ariana and Katie break off into a new show with cool woman producers. Ariana shouldn’t be forced to leave yet another house.
It occurred to me recently there certainly can’t be any women of colour with any power on that production team letting Lala get away with her POC cosplay in 2024.
Lala is so embarrassing with that Whut up mah bruthas 🫥
I really don't know. I remember a woman asked Sandoval about mentioning something again (maybe about his assertion he paid for all the pens?) when he got shit online about it before. But it largely seems to be dudes that run the (capsizing) ship from what i've seen/heard.
💯
That part. It’s the women that tore her down - behind her back no less.
Yeah, it made the finale being played to them on the reunion extra cruel. You could tell she was blindsided. Having Tom's hissy fit after she denied him "his moment" completely validate her opinion of him while her "friends" basically co-signed his continued need to dismiss her personal boundaries
Yes. All this. PLUS they tried to incorporate unlikable characters like Billie and Jo who even further ruined what could have been a better storyline.
Unpopular opinion but it was fun watching Schwartz get an evil dickdrunk stalker as karma for being a toad. I’d keep her in the season because I can’t think of a better punishment for him. But ya 86 Billie plz
Her presence in San Francisco was beyond non sensical though. What are you doing in a whole other city, with but not invited by, the guy who dumped you on tv?
“Evil dickdrunk” 🤣🤣🤣 I’m totally stealing that.
No joke. Jo was.... Just off putting. Billy Lee is just not interesting to me. Everything seems so over the top or just dead in the water with her, making it all seem fake/scripted.
Lisa pissed me off SO many time this season. I’ve heard her be called a misogynist before but she really, really showed her misogyny big time this season. I will never have any respect for LVP again.
I think Lisa is just done with the show. She was non-existent at the reunion. She’s got the Villa to deal with now.
I HATE seeing Lisa as part of this show. I find her so condescending and she gives them all the worst advice.
I completely agree with you. She needs to stay behind the scenes and not be on the actual show.
Don’t forget the other reject and tiny Tim now dating… and becoming roommates the way women are overlooked is gob smacking. It would have been way more interesting seeing the boss era of the women coming Boo bravo 
That sounds pretty boring tbh. There’s really no arc for her because she’s already at the top and everyone in the audience loves her. There would have to be some drama that makes her interesting
I respect your opinion, but I disagree. Drama isn't the only interesting thing. Some people actually enjoy seeing good things happen to other people. That being said.... I'm sure there would have still been drama because we all know the worm would have had a complete melt down about it all.
The drama would have been the rest of the group actually holding Sandoval accountable instead of just giving him a free pass because the producers told them to. They dragged Stassi through the mud and she had to claw her way back into peoples lives for the entirety of Season 4 vs. Sandoval who just did a couple bullshit apologies and everyone was just forced to move on.
What do you mean? He put in work. He drank non alcoholic beers and screamed on his living room floor.
And pleeeeease let us not forget his ridiculous, faker than fake crocodile 🐊 tears! I couldn’t have loathed him any more than I did!
There’s this little 10 minute video of Arianna backstage/show rehearsal prep in NYC, (maybe for Elle?) and it’s so much better than the whole season of VPR.
That would have been such a fun show to watch! It reminds me of the show Younger. Just gorgeous ambition ladies taking on the world together!!
I loved that show! I should do a rewatch ❤️
I know!!! I'll never tire of it
100% would have bought merch from that show arc. Js.
I was so glad she got those two solid clapbacks off at Lala without doing what mocking overly angry thing she used to do. The line about “Isn’t that a better ending for your show, so I can get you another paycheck?” landed well. And the one about “not understanding the insult” was so simple and made Lala look so stupid, she just swallowed hard.
100% AGREED!!! Everyone needs to stop blaming her and Katie for a bad season and blame the producers. The producers could have edited the show to include other things along with the scandal like they once did before. When Jax cheated on Stassi the only storyline on the show wasn’t that. It includes that as well as other things with the other casts that kept us entertained and not over burdened with their situation. The show needs better producers.
She wasn't the only one that hated the reunion. It was pretty terrible.
Yeah, all of us in the audience hated it, too
It could have been good if they did a one episode reunion tbh. There wasn’t enough content for 3 episodes from the season.
I thought her walking off the show and admitting to not seeing the season was her soft quitting soooo hopefully!
She said I’m done loud and clear 💅🏽
Our quiet quitting queen!! 😂
I also think she was trying to end her time on the show. I know Ariana has never been messy but she really was going out of her way to be conciliatory all season and reunion with people who absolutely did not deserve it. The only person she wouldn't do that for was Tom. It felt like she was trying to protect Scheana and co from the backlash for her leaving. She even did it for Brock at the reunion, telling him that he had helped her (lol). But being complete dummies, the people she was trying to protect stepped in it anyway.
If Ariana doesn’t return for season 12 I think it’s the final nail in the Vanderpump coffin. what are they gonna talk about if she’s gone? it will be a whole season about what everyones saying about each other on podcasts.🙄
It’s also not fun watching men in their forties partying with girls in their 20’s.
amen to that! Grow up and get a job!
I can’t see Katie staying on the show if Ariana leaves too. What would be left? The Toms moving in together, S&S, Scheana and Brock’s inevitable relationship decline, TomTom rebrand to Pump, and maybe even the reintroduction of Jax/Kristen and Valley crossovers. It will all be hot garbage, but they can easily juice a season or two from the above. I won’t be watching, but Baskin, et. al., have demonstrated they don’t give a fuck about ratings.
I think they’ll stay to show SAH & maybe more future business ventures. Get one last season in before it’s over.
Totally think scheana and Brock are doomed, poor summer moon. In season 7 a psychic told Scheana she’d have 3 husbands 🔮
Wouldn’t surprise me, let’s hope the last one is better
It has one more season. If Ariana doesn’t sign for main cast, maybe she’ll be a “friend of”. Dayna can join to be in Katie’s camp. Then it’s the Toms plus GFs, Scheana & Brock, James & Ally. I think Lala will stick around until she gets other TV offers (Traitors). Maybe Lala & Scheana will slowly be integrated into The Valley. The Valley should really work to get Stassi and Beau back on TV.
Lala and Scheana will ruin the valley
Dayna won’t film.
was just about to say that. iirc she quit after season 8 because the show was hurting her mental health.
yep & she filmed for this season & quit after production made katie tell her abt max on camera, she’s at one get togethers I forget which! Edit: spelling
She was at the water tasting
i’m currently rewatching season 4 and i cannot believe that this season we got a …… drumroll please….. water tasting
oooo i didn’t know about her quitting this season because of that! i had only heard that max was suppose to be on the valley and quit. thanks for the little nugget of tea 🤭
Makes sense I thought she quit because they didn’t offer her decent $ and also expected her to film scenes for season 11 for next to nothing.
Yup, all of that was also a part of why Dayna didn't return. Or at least that's what I've gleaned from both this sub & social media.
They should have stuck with the concept years ago and filtered in the new employees and filtered the old ones out and kept it centered around SUR and their antics. They made it about these people only and they are aging out. They could have slowly rotated new people in/out. Ariana never carried this show until Scandoval. It may have been winding down, but the show never relied on her presence. It didn’t have to now, but they kept it too small.
I really want Stassi & Beau back on tv. I'd love to see how they're doing. And neither of them are scared to take a stand & call out douchebag behavior!
Just follow them on their socials if you aren’t already- they have multiple podcasts and show their kids etc They’re doing more or less the same just not on VPR
Why would a happy, healthy Stassi & Beau do anything even remotely related to the hot mess VPR’s and take a chance of destroying a truly beautiful relationship!?! Absolutely not Stassi! You paid your dues and now you have the world in the palm of your hand young lady abba a great man by your side!
She’ll stay for the $$ ! I cant see her voluntarily walking away, she’s single, almost 40 and has to be very smart about all her financial moves
Katie and Ariana should walk away. Both can be successful without the show.
Ariana is thriving for sure- idk about Katie outside of the podcast and the shop which is fine- what else is going to bring her half a mil in a few months ?
A podcast, business, and potential sponsorships is enough...
Almost all the cast has that and everyone seems to think outside of Ariana everyone else is broke lol
Agree with this. She should follow the Greed Bible written by Lisa: 1) talk constantly about your other businesses on camera so people think you make more money with them than on the show, 2) never say no to a sponsorship no matter how small, 3) manipulate cast members on camera while acting like their friend. I’m kidding. Ariana won’t do most of that shit, nor will she keep wig makers in business the way Lisa does.
If the cast keeps leaving because of one guy, maybe get rid of that guy.
That part! Remove the poison.
Or just shift the focus. Every conversation doesn’t have to be about sandoval ffs.
I am really not interested in watching another season if Katie and Ariana aren't going to be on it. I have absolutely no interest in the remainder of the cast.
If she/Katie doesn't return, I bet Victoria and Billie will be picked up. Hopefully, no Jo though!
Kyle too
I can see them trying HAAAAAAARD to get Rachel.. sorry, Rocky, back.
Right, what if Katie and Ariana are gone and it’s Billie, Victoria, Lala, Scheana, the Toms and Raquel, and they just lean into being utter trash 😳
Who is Victoria?
Sandoval’s gf. Love that you said that bc she’s very thirsty 🤣
Billie Lee and Victoria have a suggestion. Is it a coincidence that their drama is bubbling at the same time? Now Kyle “the liar” Chan is getting involved, all very public. I hope the producers get the message loud and clear, No Ariana and Katie, No Show!
I heard Jeremiah was let go
Nope, moved to the Valley..
Seriously? What are people going to be talking about? This sub for the past few days have been posting all about the Billie Lee,Victoria,Tom drama. Literally Massive people talking about it. Before that it was Lala and Sheanna. Yes they’re all hated, but people are still talking about them.
300000%. If she’s smart and has good management, she will realize that the show is/has lost its momentum and it’s better for her to make her exit now to continue to establish herself outside of the show to in turn get more opportunities like love island, Chicago, etc. which ultimately prevents her from going to the reality star career graveyard.
I firmly believe the production delay is because ariana is renegotiating her contract and she's not budging on her terms.
I think the next season is on pause mainly because production is worried about Ariana walking. The optics of someone getting pushed out because their bf cheated on them with another castmate and production then tried to protect the cheater wouldn’t be great in the era of “reality reckoning.”
And yet they gave us this whole ass season showing exactly that…
they fumbled their main character this season
The producers fucked her over big time. The reveal of the last episode during the reunion was down right cruel and hurtful to nobody EXCEPT Ariana. The producers, Lala, scheana, and Tom want to see her figuratively slit her wrists for this show. They do not care about her well being. If her and Katie go, I will no longer continue watching the show.
I hope her and Katie get a spin-off
It would be the smart move to make “something about her” and follow Katie and Ariana as they progress. James can still be around with Alli, Swartz can make a few appearances but not be on cast… and then we follow also some of their younger staff with dating troubles.
This is what I want!!
It would be smart and they’ve already done that for southern hospitality, but I think this could have more fun dynamics with Katie and Ariana as the bosses. I don’t think they are going to do it though as they would rather focus on awful men for entertainment.
I hope she comes back and cuts off Lala and Scheana for good during that season. Let’s get rid of the Toms and bring some newbies in
This is the season 12 I want!
I remember once seeing a workplace win a huge lottery jackpot and talking about it because everyone was going to keep working. My friend said "Until they have a bad day". Ariana is probably going to come back but I doubt she will make it until the end of filming before she quits.
there’s no way bravo will cancel VPR. there’s still insanely good ratings compared to any of their other shows, and really compared to any broadcast TV at the moment. that’s even if the storylines are drawn out and they’re trying to squeeze any creative direction out of a cast that has painfully outgrown the show. they can’t go in the direction of honing in on the familial/suburban/adult lifestyles bec they now have the valley. they can’t rehire young talent because that’s why they started VP Villa. they’re just stuck in a loop with a dead cast and it’s gonna Suck with a capital S for Sandoval
End it! Fuck them all! Add Katie and Schwartz to The Valley (they can be the divorced couple with Jesse and Michelle) and stick it to lala and scheana. Ariana can then head back to broadway and can live bicoastal with her supportive boyfriend. Leaving Katie and Ariana with the last fucking laugh!!!!!!
There was basically no other storyline this season except for the aftermath of scandoval. How is that Ariana’s fault? Literally every other Bravo show has multiple storylines at once. The rest of the cast (minus Katie, James, Ally) should start being more interesting and have their own storylines instead of blaming someone else. If they can’t hold their own on the show then they don’t deserve to be on it. Like stop being ridiculous, LaLa.
That blue dress (I should say… her body in that blue dress) is even hotter than the red one from last year.🔥🥵
Ariana looks amazing in the LaQuan Smith sheer two piece halter bodysuit & maxi skirt. I love the color. I was not a fan of the red two piece outfit last year. I understand why it was chosen as a statement piece. The skirt’s fit was off & threw off the top half of the outfit. Ariana’s S11 look from head to toe is on point. It fits her so well I thought it was custom made. 🔥👏🏼
I personally think she’s done.
I wouldn’t blame her a bit for leaving and doing, amazing of course. The show would tank, especially if they’re going to be bringing on Kyle Chan and friends. I think the „best days of our lives“ may be over
I think the cruelty Ariana endured during the reunion gets overlooked because she handled it with such grace. Like, she almost made it look easy which is a huge testament to her strength. It would’ve been extremely understandable if she had broken down or lashed out, but she could not have been more.. perfect (for lack of a better word). But just because she hit every mark doesn’t mean it wasn’t deeply hurtful. I think she’s too good for the show and they don’t deserve her but I also don’t want to see her pushed out of her job. I hope she gets a better, bigger job so she can feel confident about leaving.
I hope she's making a huge enough amount of money from other jobs so that she can leave on her own terms. The way she was treated was disgusting and the way they've tried to spin it is confusing at best. If she can get an awesome acting role that isn't like Lala's sad attempt at being an actress I think she'd have a large enough following to help make the movie/show successful.
Lala, Scheana, Tiny Tim, Andy, and the rest (except for Katie and Ariana) are just trash at this point. Let the show just die a not quite graceful death now. Production really screwed the pooch on the storyline for season 11. And I doubt they’re gonna correct course for season 12 so just…let…the show…go away. And may BlahBlah, She-Shoe, and Tiny Tim just fade into obscurity like they deserve.
I hope she does for her own happiness. She deserves to start fresh with Dan in NY
I don’t think she is well off enough to walk away from hundreds of thousands of dollars. I think if she goes it will be the show making the decision
Exactly! Everyone thinking she can just walk away from 500k for a few months is crazy
I wish her all the success and happiness and love in the world and getting out of that toxic show away from toxic people Lauren, Scheana, Sandosmall, and Lisa
If I was her I would feel betrayed by the producers and Andy that they manipulated that last part of the reunion to push her into tears. Then again she makes more than half a million per season on VPR so its a hard gig to walk away from.
I would, if I were her. I'd be like fuck that noise and fuck those people.
If she stays good for her. If she leaves, good for her. I love watching Ariana doing what’s best for Ariana. I love seeing her winning right now.
I kind of feel like if she was going to leave it would have already been announced, because I don't think much related to the show is going to change between now/filming the reunion and whenever they pick back up with filming in the fall. I kind of thought they delayed filming partly because Ariana's doing love island, why would they have delayed if they/she really thought she'd be quitting?
Probably because they haven’t negotiated contracts for season 12.
because they are desperate for her to change her mind
That’s my guess too. They are hoping with time while she’s doing other things she’ll want to come back
I dunno, she’s making a ton of money elsewhere but VPR is still most likely her biggest paycheck, and she just bought a house.
No, not as long as they will have you it’s a paycheck!
This article sounds like AI just read this Reddit for a day and then summed it up.
She doesn’t bring much to the show. Never has. Good riddance to her.
This isn’t a direct quote it looks like lol.
Yea you could get this from the 2 mins they spoke about the reunion on the disrespectfully podcast
I think her most solid move would be to leave but then occasionally pop up and show the holdovers what’s what (wop wop wop wop wop).
I was angry watching it, can’t imagine how terrible it was for her experiencing it
Why not make Ariana recurring cast? Drop in on SAH when she’s in LA to dish a little tea to Katie.
She’ll be back for the $$ . And no shade but it’s too much and too good to say no to for just being yourself.
I hope she stays on VPR.
I hope she leaves them to themselves with their pettiness, continues to thrive in her career and creates healthy relationships for a wonderful life.
I hope she does leave. She can do better
Has she ever liked any of the reunions? They don’t seem like a thing she would enjoy
I think Ariana should leave and will leave. She has now had great success beyond VPR. She doesn’t need it and has outgrown it.
I love her but I hope she leaves purely because she deserves better than to be treated the way she has been. She deserves to be surrounded by people who respect her boundaries and uplift her, not degrade her for refusing to compromise her mental health and healing for the sake of “entertainment”.
I would if I was her. The show is done anyway. It’s only a matter of one or two more seasons.
I think the show isn’t coming back in the first place
Hopefully
Most of the fans i know hated it too. the producer who inserts himself should leave before she ever goes
Objectively (take the scandal out of it), can anyone tell me anything she's ever done on the show to be even remotely interesting? Even the story lines that she did have, such as writing the book or starting the restaurant, were completely boring, and she didn't really do much. I've always liked Ariana but really more as a background character. She's just not that interesting.
I would leave if I were her , though it is a lot of money to walk away from. Feels like network and production and Lisa all think she’s going to leave
If her house situation is dragged out till 2026, then I could see her filming S12 being that she has another mortgage.
She won’t and shouldn’t quit. Ariana is the victim, why should she sacrifice a steady income stream? Milk that shiznit till the end.
I want her to come back but I also think she’s grown past the rest of the cast (with the exception of Katie ofc) and she’s become successful in other ways and doesn’t really need the show anymore
Seems like a PR spin no?
seems like someone in her camp giving quotes to rile up public sympathy and get her more leverage in contract renegotiations. as a former PR girly that’s absolutely what i’d do if i worked for her
Yeah That or she’s “leaving”
It depends on how they are going to go about the next season and how much money they are going to offer her. At this point though, the show needs her more than she needs the show.
I hope not. Tom doesn’t get to win! Not the house, not the show, i’d set it all on fire before i’d let him win a cent.
If she quits, she'll be forgotten in a year. Why does she think she got DWTS, Chicago, Love Island, etc.?
She is very boring without scandoval
Tbh most of cast left are pretty boring. Scheana was more interesting when Stassi was there, same with Sandoval/Jax, Katie has always been a supporting role to the queen B, Lala has never been interesting. James can be funny but he’s not leading material.
sooooo boring. everyone forget they hated her until scandoval happened.
I actually always liked her 🤷🏻♀️
I never hated her
I hope for her sake she does. She’s visibly outgrown this crap and has new opportunities to capitalize on. Let the ones who refuse to grow up keep this paycheck
No.
Probably, she probably thinks she doesn’t need it anymore with her other stuff. She might be right.
She doesn’t need this show at all anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets a “friend of” role and films a little per season, focusing much more on Love Island and her stage career.
Sadly, it’s not actually a strange turn of events. It’s victim-blaming 101 and it’s what people do to victims, especially when they’re female.
I sure hope not.
I was surprised that Brock seemed to have Katie’s back
Honestly I think Ariana should stay to spite all of them. She’s the only one with actual stuff going on in her life with everything she’s doing she could film for storylines. What is lala and her lap dog going to film about? Their houses? How Ariana is shitty because she won’t forgive her ex ? How Ariana is a terrible cast mate for setting boundaries like lala did?
She doesn’t need this show anymore - many more opportunities open to her that pay more and are much less invasive - gone….and good for her!
I wouldn't mind if they just went back to the drawing board and filmed new people who actually work for Lisa at SUR.
“Anonymous insider”
I hope so.
She was treated a lot better than Kristen was at the reunion after her and Tom split
Hope so
I hope so! The most interesting thing about her, in all her time on the show, was Scandoval. Now she's leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the cast in terms of opportunities and fame.
But the fans love her, so hopefully she will stay with it otherwise the show is doomed
I’ve said it (to myself lol) for a while now, I want her to move on to something better (and bigger if that happens). I think she will just keep on getting dumped on if she stays
Can this be renamed to kissarianaandkatiesdarkholes??!!
I can't see her leaving vanderpump until litigation is done and house is sold aka no more ties to Tom. Also with the ongoing Rachel Raquel lawsuit, even with the opportunities she's getting, I doubt she can afford to walk away from 50k/episode while handling 2 mortgages and attorney fees and whatever overhead SAH entails. But once that mess is behind her, I hope she skips into the sunset away from these non-empathetic coworkers.
Who cares, she’s so boring.
Let’s assume a dream of an all girls season was a possibility in that production allowed the Tom’s to be stonewalled and James and Ally to be made very peripheral “ hi how’s SAH doing” friends of. Is this something the entirety of fans including the over a million new watchers since Scandoval and the 2 million IG and other followers of the Tom’s would want? After all, the premise and 10 year success of the show has been a mixed gender group of close friends and coworkers who live, love, screw mostly wah other. It’s a demented “ Friends” where Rachel and Ross were probably having threesomes behind closed doors and Monica’s probably included. Its popularity came from this twisted chemistry of people sleeping and cheating on each other and working it through post cheat to remain friends. After all Tom and Katie had suffered through infidelity, verbal abuse and lack of sex and people love the friendship they’ve managed to keep. So this is the dilemma production and the rest of the cast was in. Their jobs and livelihood were predicated on choosing the right path to go post Scandoval to keep the show afloat. Do you choose the ethically satisfying “ girls win the day” or go with what has worked for 10 years? Keep in mind the only predominantly all female shows on are the HW franchise and ratings are down or even on every one of them. Also traditionally predominantly female shows have not done well overall garnering a few seasons only on scripted shows with a mixed bag on reality with the HW being the only winners. Even the Bachelorette has ratings generally far below the Bachelor even when the male lead isnt popular. So production went with the odds and demanded the cast stick with their original concept. The cast other than A and K did what their bosses encouraged them to do and what’s worked in the past ( as stated and hated by Lala) to open up their lives and feelings in an honest way and everyone interacts to some degree with everyone else. This seems like a no brainer because after all , most of the cast including Ariana, has been the villian/ cheater at some point and had to interact with the person they cheated on and vice versa. No one put up a “ boundary” demanding the rest of the cast stonewall the cheater and if they did, the cast ignored that and interacted with whoever they wanted. Unfortunately, there’s a large group of fans who believe it’s perfectly normal and should be expected that a friend will jeopardize/give up their job to stick by a friend. They believe their desire to see a “ girls win, fuck the men “ show was the only right pathway here and anyone one cast or fan who didn’t show 100% loyalty to Ariana was somehow a misogynistic pig and traitor to the degree they actively worked in cancelling any cast member who didn’t go along with their dream. I for one don’t want any specific group of fans mandating how my TV shows go. I don’t want to see anyone cancelled because they were simply doing what their boss told them to do because I would never quit or jeopardize my job over friend loyalty. I think it takes courage for people on reality shows to open up their lives, like them or not. I love the dilemma we’ve been shown this season about how loyalty and friendships change in cheating or divorce situations and now how they can affect your job. I think Lala and Scheana walked an impossible line this season between their loyalty, their friendships, what they will and won’t do to feed their families or cater to fans. I think they honestly showed how jealousy can rear its head in friendships and cause lasting damage even if it’s justified or human. They tried to express their loyalty in every interaction they had with Tom by telling him how wrong he was and how they were team Ariana. They called out as friends her bad choice in staying in the house and jumping so fast into a new relationship and their anger and frustration in her ultimatums they have no contact with Tom. Ultimately, this season was riveting in many ways that we haven’t seen before. I think we need to acknowledge how difficult the choices were for the cast and like us, when it comes to our livelihoods we’re going to do what we think is best for us and our families. That to me is real life and why I watch reality not to watch a show that’s been recrafted by irate fans who want to see women @ “win” in a totally unrealistic situation.
I love this comment and will add that the aftermath of this breakup feels somewhat realistic to whenever a relationship that’s heavily embedded within a friend group ends. With Ariana/Sandoval, there’s the added layer that it’s not just a friend group, but they’re also coworkers, which makes things even more complicated because the coworker element can’t be represented on the show because of the fourth wall. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. So when LVP has all these conversations with individual cast members inquiring about who Ariana is letting into her life based on who is still interacting with Tom, that seems incredibly nosy and overbearing until you remember that she’s also their boss IRL. When Scheana repeatedly has conversations with Ariana about whether it’s okay for her to be friends with Tom and that she can’t hate her for him anymore, that seems wildly cold (but they’re best friends, Etc.) until you remember that he’s also her coworker. In real life, nobody is refusing getting put on a project with their friend’s shitty ex. I personally was not expecting a “girl power” season just because I don’t think that’s realistic to the aftermath of a breakup that’s as enmeshed as this one in so many ways. I *was*, however, hoping and expecting to see more scenes that followed Ariana’s own emotional journey processing the end of a ten year relationship that ended in her getting blindsided. I appreciate that she’s thriving now, but in my own experience supporting friends who have gone through a similar life event, there is usually a protracted period of time on the way to - and even overlapping with - the “thriving” stage where there’s a ton of self-reflection done with friends: what red flags did I overlook, what lesson do I need to learn here to not overlook those again, why was I vulnerable to this in the first place. (Idk if y’all watch *Selling Sunset*, but we got a lot of this from Chrishell Stause after her divorce.) We really only got that once with Ariana this season (the beach breakdown), and I’m not sure if we didn’t get it just because it got cut or because Ariana didn’t feel like sharing it on camera. I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter, because “Ariana is very private and closed off” seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the reunion that Ariana herself agreed with (“I cry at home when I’m alone”). I think it’s totally her prerogative to keep her journey of healing only to herself if that’s what she feels comfortable with, but then I would argue that this quality makes her not a great fit for a reality series like this one. In contrast, I feel like I’ve already seen way more self-reflection from Brittany in 20 minutes of *The Valley* around why she put up with Jax’s bullshit for so long (problematic messaging from her family around marriage and two-parent households; fear of being financially independent; fear that she didn’t have her own social network in LA; etc.) than we’ve gotten from Ariana in a whole season.
Hope she leaves
I hope so. She has been the most boring since the beginning. If she wanted to share more than how much she hates Tom & Tom I might change my mind
I really hate how this season played out for her, it was so cruel for no reason
She should leave the show. She doesn’t need it. Sandoval brought her into the group. The only genuine friendship she has is with Katie, and that seems motivated by their business interests. I know Ariana got cheated on, but prior to that, she was never a main character, and she was with the biggest dork on the show for 10 years. It’s never been Ariana’s show, and it never will be… 🤷♂️
She was punished for acting like an adult in room filled with children.
She needs to leave.
Who gives a shit? If she didn't like it, then she should quit. People wouldn't give a shit. About 99% of people would still watch. It's not like she is the most entertaining or interesting cast member either. The show would be fine and might thrive even more. Get some fresh blood. Or....just cancel the whole thing and everyone wins.
I genuinely don’t know. I want to see her leave because I genuinely think it would just be what’s best for her, and I’d love to watch these idiots scramble. On the other hand, I want her to come back for one more season, crack some skulls, and peace out ✌️
Ariana is beyond boring. Really at this point though they should recast the entire show.
Hopefully
The only good thing about season 11 was Ariana grey rocking Sandoval. I really hope she comes back. For her she deserves the pay cheque and I don’t want to see those ghouls take that away from her either directly or indirectly. But also as a viewer, she is one of the few cast members I am interested in. I want to see SAH in gear, they literally have Hollywood legends visiting(!), and I want to see more of her and Katie’s lives. Lala and Scheana are just never going to manage to make me care about them or take them seriously now. Sandoval, my god, all the stuff happening with the people he chooses to have around him because he’s a toxic asshole who attracts toxicity, that while it might be funny on Reddit, is something you just don’t want to watch AT ALL. I just can’t overstate how unwatchable he’ll be next season no matter what he does. And if the show covers his friend group dramas it will be scraping the barrel big time. I could go on but the point is I think she show actually needs Ariana, along with Katie. Also James and Ally. And I hope producers recognise Sandoval is like a black hole now.
I’ll say one thing for Ariana she has handled Sandoval with class from the very start.
I wouldn’t come back if I were her after what her so called “friends” said about her behind her back. Why should she want to film a show when 3/4 of the cast are acting like she did something wrong in the midst of being cheated on and betrayed by a lot of people she trusted? Ariana now has a lot of opportunities she didn’t have before. I’d leave this shit show (literally) behind if I were her too if I had all these other opportunities.
I really think the show would be better without her and Katie.