Ariana Madix is showing herself some love after initially saying she may get an unfavorable reaction from fans for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules.
“I mean, I know exactly why I said that, and I stand by why I said that,” Madix, 38, exclusively tells Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with BIC EasyRinse. “I think that I was going through, again, what I said, the most difficult time of my life and I allowed all times and moments of my healing process to be shown and not just come out and say, ‘Hey, I’m healed everybody,’ and I think we don’t often get to see that.”
Madix notes that “as difficult as it was” she continually showed up. “I put on my makeup, showed up to all my call times, I put on an outfit and I put myself out there,” she says. “I’m proud of myself for doing it.”
After receiving nothing but support when her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval had an affair with their costar Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, she hinted that the public may change their mind during season 11.
An Instagram user predicted in November 2023 that viewers would “hate Ariana” and “develop a soft spot for Tom” during season 11, to which Madix replied, “I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the audience swings that way.”
News broke in March 2023 that Madix and Sandoval, 40, had split after nine years together in the wake of the cheating scandal. Filming for season 11 began months after the affair.
As for whether she’s happy she filmed the season, Madix tells Us, “I’m glad I did.”
“I learned, honestly, that I am very brave and that I have a lot of really wonderful people in my life who have shown me what’s important and have shown me that I’m going to be OK no matter what, and we’re all in this together,” she shares.
When Madix is not busy filming Vanderpump Rules, she’s teaming up with BIC EasyRise again and joining the “Unclogged Era” podcast episode on Thursday and for another episode in April.
“Our successful and fun award-winning campaign that we did together last year, we had such a good time with it, and I love the product, so it was two things that really worked for me to do this,” she says.
BIC is offering consumers 20 percent off BIC EasyRinse razors on Amazon by entering the code 20EASYRINSE until Tuesday, April 30.
“Just this fun cheeky content and getting to work with BIC razors again, it’s been awesome,” she says.
Vanderpump Rules airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
