In the season 11 finale ofVanderpump Rules,Lala Kenterupts with anger at her costarAriana Madix.
Thats not really what she meant though.
What Kent meant was that she couldnt believe thatMadixhad become famous.
Sure, Kent and the rest of theVPRsquad are also famous in their own way.
Madix is now household-name-famous, internet-television-famous, huge-brand-deal-famous, maybe even generational-wealth-famous.
Thats great for her.
From left: Lala Kent, Katie Maloney, and Ariana Madix at the season 11 reunion
But its bad forVanderpump Rules.
The 10-year-old mainstay has been in flux for a while.
It was messy, it was fun, and it was reality-TV gold.
From left: Lala Kent, Katie Maloney, and Ariana Madix at the season 11 reunion
Madix and Maloney talked about starting a sandwich shop.
Kent and Shay focused primarily on building their personal brands.
Both launched podcasts (Scheananigans,Give Them Lala) and began selling products on Instagram.
From left: Lala Kent, Katie Maloney, and Ariana Madix at the season 11 reunion
Kent launched a beauty line and wrote a book.
The bombshell revelation and the fallout propelled the show to previously unimaginable heights.
The newest version of Ariana Madix?
Stronger, freer, andyesricher.
Madix, who had always been a more low-key member of the show, was suddenly its star.
Huge brands came calling, and Madix did commercials for Bic, Duracell, and Glad, among others.
And it wasnt just a flash in the pan.
Madixs star continued to rise as the months passed after the scandal.
Currently many of the other castmates fame is heavily tied to their roles on the show.
We have seen that acutely in season 11, filmed the summer after the Scandoval broke.
After proudly proclaiming themselves Team Ariana when the scandal broke, both Kent and Shay quickly changed their tune.
TheSummer Housestar and self-described introvert never expected to spend seven years on reality television.
Once it became clear that Madix now was the star, they couldnt take it.
Or at least thats how the editing looked to me.
This is what we do, she said.
Weve been doing this for most of our adult lives.
But I dont think thats quite it.
She could survive, and even thrive, without it.
Could the rest of them?
Shay said she didnt think it was jealousy, but feeling left out.
As she was getting all this opportunity, I just didnt want her to forget about me.
I want to be on the journey with her, she said.
Was that not a better ending to your season, to give you another season for another paycheck?
Whats clear is that the current iteration of the show cant continue.
All along, it was a delicate balance, where no one SUR-ver could outshine the other.
Stephanie McNeal is a senior editor atGlamourand the authorofSwipe Up for More!
Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers.
