Ariana Madix on Why ‘Something About Her’ Isn’t Open

Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images

Ariana Madix opened up about why her and Katie Maloney‘s sandwich shop, Something About Her, has yet to open while appearing on Friday’s episode of Scheana Shay‘s podcast.

While also discussing her relationship with the “grounding, calming” Daniel Wai, who she’s been dating for the past several months, and explaining her living situation with Tom Sandoval, 40, Ariana, 38, opened up about how Raquel Leviss, 28, broke her heart on Bethenny Frankel‘s podcast and described the process of writing her new book, Single AF Cocktails.

“It was really therapeutic because I feel like it was an opportunity and a way for me to not just talk about the betrayal but to talk about other parts of my life over the last nine years of my relationship and also be able to say there was good stuff at certain points,” Ariana shared on the August 25 episode of Scheananigans. “It’s not like it was nine years of hell. I was very invested in my relationship for a reason.”

In addition to discussing the good things about her relationship with Sandoval, Ariana will pay homage to her friends and family and admit her flaws.

“To be able to go through and say, ‘Okay I have my own flaws as well. I’m moody as f*ck and my anxiety is like, real bad sometimes,’ [and] to try to just go through piece by piece and talk about all these things… I did feel like it was pretty cathartic,” she explained.

“It was written very fast, so a lot of it was voice notes, telling stories, and then having a recipe. [And] the recipes very much coincide with the stories so some of them are kind of gross,” she added.

After hearing all about Raquel’s interview on Bethenny’s podcast, which made her “sad” and “angry,” Ariana admitted it was hard to hear the things Raquel said about their friendship being bogus.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking to think that these years of friendship that both [Scheana, 38] and I thought we were building with this person, that it feels as though on her end, it wasn’t genuinely reciprocated,” Ariana noted. “Knowing that those things were being said on this podcast about us and about me, my friendships towards her, that I felt was really meaningful, it’s another little twist of the knife to say, ‘I was only hanging out with you to get to your boyfriend.’”

After years of friendship with Raquel, Ariana learned in March that Raquel had been having an affair with Tom Sandoval for months. Now, months later, as she remains convinced that much of Raquel’s behavior has been led by a crisis manager, Ariana hopes Raquel can learn that she’s not always the victim.

“I think trying to victimize herself, at least when it comes to me and [Scheana], is very sad, and I hope that in the next bit of the future, she’s able to get with maybe a therapist that understands maybe a bit more the context of the situation and helps her to not do that,” Ariana said as she discussed the temporary restraining order Raquel filed against Scheana, accusing Scheana of punching her after learning of her and Sandoval’s affair.

Because there has been so much talk about Ariana and Sandoval’s living arrangements, Ariana addressed the matter on Scheana’s show, saying that she sleeps easier nowadays.

“Him staying out late all the time was always something that really made my anxiety like super, super bad, never knowing when he was gonna come in the door, never knowing how late he’s gonna stay out. He’d say he’s gonna be out till 12, and it’s two or three, and he’s still out, and I couldn’t sleep. In that regard, I have to say, I sleep a lot easier at night not giving a f*ck about when he’s coming in that door,” she explained. “Yes, we’re in the same house, but I don’t have to think about, ‘He’s coming in my bedroom,’ because he’s not. I sleep with my door locked. Just in case.”

According to Ariana, it’s been “so incredibly hurtful” to hear that because she and Sandoval are still living together, many have assumed “Scandoval” was fake.

“First of all, our show was not getting canceled. I don’t know where this came from,” Ariana noted of a statement Raquel claimed producer Alex Baskin said. “That was not, like a thing. So that right there, out the window, but that being said, I’m the one who made production aware when I found out. The next day I said something to them. I would not do that because I wanted to save the show.”

It has also been alleged that Ariana has made millions off Sandoval’s affair.

“I pay a mortgage. It’s expensive. I think a lot of people on the internet seem to think I’m rolling in money right now,” she noted. “I am not rich. I do not have millions of dollars and I’m also not going to squander my financial future and stability by putting myself in a position to f*ck myself over for the rest of my life because someone else f*cked up.”

While Ariana could choose to leave her and Sandoval’s home, she’s chosen not to in an effort to protect her wealth.

“I have a pretty decent little setup. I stay in my room or I go in the kitchen if I have to. My room is kind of like my little apartment. I don’t see him. I don’t interact with him. I stay in my own little zone,” she revealed. “I’m busy. I got a lot going on. And I have financial advisers, I have a lawyer, I have an accountant. I have all kinds of people that are helping make the best decisions so that whatever money I’m making now or whatever money I have or could potentially get in the future goes to the right places to set me up for not being in the position that I was years ago, before I was making on this show at all, which was not good.”

“I don’t intend to f-ck myself over when it comes to money because I know how quickly that sh-t goes away. I’m taking care of myself. I’m not fucking around with my life, and I’m not letting someone else’s horrible decisions ruin my future,” she added.

Moving on to boyfriend Daniel, who she first went public with in April while attending Coachella, Ariana had all good things to say about the fitness trainer.

“He does [have the best energy]. He’s a very grounding, calming, positive energy. He’s always trying to help,” she gushed. “I just want to keep going towards things that are positive, and so I’m just gonna keep doing what makes me happy, and he’s someone who does bring a whole lot of happiness and really just calming and positive energy to my life, so I’m gonna keep him around.”

Continuing on about their future, Ariana couldn’t say for sure when they would move in together.

“It’s hard to predict, even just work-wise what’s gonna come up in the next year or so. I would love it if he moved out here, but he’s born and raised in New York, so I can understand how that would be a huge adjustment,” she shared. “His family is there, and I wouldn’t wanna take him away from his family but moving back to New York for me sounds, oh, God, it’s so much harder.”

Also, during the podcast, Ariana said she’s still unsure of when Something About Her will open.

“I wish I had a definitive date for you. It will be soon,” she teased. “We have our security system going in this week. Our POS system is going in this week. So things are moving along.”

As for the holdup, Ariana said she and Katie have had some permit-related hiccups along the way.

“West Hollywood would like to turn Robertson into a walking street, so there’s a lot of city improvement projects going on on Robertson, and that caused us to have to switch up the outdoor patio,” she revealed. “So now we’re working on a different outdoor seating plan. So there’s been some holdups in terms of that, which has been frustrating, but we’re really excited to move forward.”

Vanderpump Rules season 11 is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.