Ariana Madix’s boyfriend, Daniel Wai, may be on his way to No. 1 guy in the group status after joining the Vanderpump Rules cast for a trip — with Tom Sandoval.
Lala Kent shared an Instagram Story video on Thursday, August 31, that showed Ariana, 38, and Daniel, 37, sitting together on a flight to Northern California. Their Pump Rules costars Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney were also on board. “Let’s get ’er done,” Lala, 32, captioned the clip.
In another video, James Kennedy goofed around as Lala filmed the sea lions at San Francisco’s Pier 39, while other clips showed the cast holding on for dear life during an unexpectedly rocky boat ride.
Sandoval, 41, wasn’t visible in Lala’s videos, but he’s been sharing his own photos from a visit to San Francisco, which is seemingly being filmed for season 11 of Pump Rules. On Thursday, he uploaded several snaps of himself having a glass of wine on a boat with the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the background.
It’s not clear whether Daniel will appear on the show alongside his girlfriend, but Sandoval has definitely been filming with his castmates in the aftermath of his split from Ariana. The former couple split in March after Sandoval was caught having an affair with their costar Raquel Leviss, who confirmed earlier this month that she would not be returning for season 11.
Ariana previously said she had no interest in filming with Sandoval or Raquel, 28, after the messy scandal, but she’s also noted that it’s not really up to her. “I have nothing to say to either of them,” she told The New York Times in May. “Our show is very real and follows a real group of friends, and neither of them are in the group of friends, so, good luck.”
In July, one Bravo producer pointed out that it would be very difficult for Sandoval and Ariana to completely avoid one another for all of season 11.
“We always deal with pushback if different parties don’t want to shoot with each other because of strained relations,” producer Alex Baskin told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “Obviously, this is more extreme. But Ariana and Tom Sandoval, I would hasten to point out, they still live together. The idea that they wouldn’t shoot together is a little bit hard to digest. They’re in the same home.”
Raquel, for her part, confirmed her departure from Pump Rules last month during a podcast interview with Real Housewives of New York City alum Bethenny Frankel. “I asked for equal pay with Tom and Ariana and for them to reimburse me for my treatment expenses,” Raquel alleged, referring to her recent stay in a mental health facility. “They refused to pay me equally.”
She went on to say that she has a “no contact policy” with all of her former castmates, whom she believes are “more important” to the show than she is. “I don’t even think that I would get a redemption arc to be honest,” she continued. “I also know that I wouldn’t be able to share all of my story. Whatever I share gets condensed to five minutes max.”
