Ariana Madix gave a nod to Scandoval during the season 32 premiere of Dancing With the Stars.
Madix, 38, wore a sparkly red gown with ab cutouts during the Tuesday, September 26, episode, recreating her iconic revenge dress look from the season 10 reunion of Vanderpump Rules. During the three-part Bravo reunion, which filmed in March and aired in May and June, Madix confronted ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss about their months-long affair.
“Don’t even f—king look at me. You don’t deserve to look at this,” Madix told Sandoval, 41, during part 1 of the reunion, motioning to her body. The exes called it quits after nine years of dating in March in the wake of the cheating scandal.
While the highly-anticipated television event featured plenty of drama — Madix called Leviss, 29, “subhuman” and told her to “go f—k yourself with a f—king cheese grater” — the revenge dress stood out as one of the most memorable elements of the reunion.
During Tuesday’s premiere — for which Madix’s BFF Scheana Shay and her boyfriend Daniel Wai was in the audience — the Bravolebrity shared why she chose to be a part of DWTS — and how Sandoval’s infidelity fueled her.
“This scandal does not define me so now I just wanna do something for me that’s fun and positive,” she said during a confessional before her performance with partner Pasha Pashkov. “Feeling like you were a joke to your partner of nine years and your best friend is devastating.”
After performing her Tango, judge Carrie Ann Inaba showed her support for Madix, telling the reality star, “As a woman, cheaters suck.”
While her DWTS look may be a dupe, Madix previously shared how she settled on the original revenge look in a video shared via Today earlier this year.
“I had options that I was working with [with] my friend Emily Men, who is an incredible stylist. And then when all of this happened, it was like, ‘No, scrap all of this. We’re going back to the drawing board. We need something absolutely incredible,’” she explained in the May clip. “And she found that dress and she’s great at what she does.”
One month after part 3 of the Pump Rules season 10 finale aired, Madix’s participation in season 32 of Dancing With the Stars was confirmed live on Good Morning America. Earlier this month, Madix exclusively told Us Weekly that she’s thrilled to be navigating the competition with Pashkov, 37.
“I already won because I have the best partner,” she said. “I have only heard the best things about Pasha.”
Pashkov echoed the sentiments and hinted at all Madix has been through this year.
“I was very excited and I think mostly because I know Ariana’s story and I think she’s here with a clear intention,” the dancer told Us. “She is on a mission right now in her life, and I just want to be part of the journey and [be] a good support system to bring it to life.”
Pashkov isn’t the only person excited to see what Madix can accomplish on DWTS; Sandoval, who has been estranged from Madix since their split, said he’s rooting for her while speaking with Extra earlier this month.
“I will be voting for her. I think she’s going to do really well,” the TomTom cofounder told the outlet. “She’s got a lot of actual ability when it comes to dancing. She’s been wanting to be on the show for a long time. I’m super stoked for her. I hope she does really well. I think she will.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
