Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent Shades Ariana & Katie’s Reactions to Reboot as “Slap in the Face,” Suggests Katie Didn’t Quit, & Talks Bond With Scheana, Plus Connections to The Valley

Lala Kent doesn’t appreciate the comments Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney have made about the recent recasting of Vanderpump Rules.

After Ariana, 39, admitted she was “relieved” by the news and Katie, 37, claimed to have told producers she wasn’t coming back before they decided to move forward with a new cast, Lala, 34, gushed over her friendship with Scheana Shay, 39, explained her connections to The Valley cast, and addressed Pump Rules season 12.

“I don’t want to say that I’m fine with it because I’m not. It was, like, the greatest time of my whole life,” Lala shared on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “So anyone who’s acting okay with it, I feel like it’s a slap in the face.”

She also sarcastically said, “Right,” when asked about Katie’s claims of quitting.

“There are moments where I look around and I’m like, ‘Do we realize we have all these opportunities that are fabulous because of Vanderpump Rules? Without this show, no one gives a f*ck about any of us,” she continued. “I always tried to remember what got me to this place, because before Vanderpump I was just a b*tch trying to beat the streets, a squirrel trying to get a nut. And this show changed my whole life.”

According to Lala, she’s “extremely proud” of her cast, but she understood that the post-“Scandoval” divide between them made filming difficult.

“At some point, you have to look at the bigger picture and say, ‘Are we even able to film it any longer?’ And I just don’t think we were able to film it any longer,” she explained. 

As for Scheana, Lala revealed what led to their closeness.

“After I split up with my ex [Randall Emmett] and the holidays had come and gone and it was now as depressing as f*ck, I have to share my kid on Christmas Day, sitting in this tiny apartment, and here comes round two of it … and she said to me, ‘Come to Palm Springs. Pick Ocean up on Christmas Day and come down and drive down and spend the weekend with us,’” Lala recalled. “She opened her home and made Christmas feel like Christmas again, where it wasn’t something I was dreading anymore. [She] welcomed my mother [and] my child… and it was like, these are good, solid f*cking people. These are my lifers. We have children together. The stakes are very high now for Scheana and I.”

In addition to buying a home near Scheana in Palm Springs, Lala recently purchased a house in The Valley for her family, which many suspected was a move aimed at positioning her for a transition onto The Valley.

“People are like, ‘She’s posting with these people. She wants to be on The Valley.’ These people have been my friends, not all of them, but a lot of them, for many years before [the show],” she clarified. “Janet Caperna is one of my dearest friends. She’s been in the mix. Michelle Lally, I was introduced to her well before [Jax Taylor] and [Brittany Cartwright] were on Vanderpump Rules.’”

Lala went on to say that her exit from Pump Rules was “sad.”

“I try not to think on it too much because then I start going into all of the memories and it just being over, and then I start going into this stage of grief, and I mean, I know that the story’s done, but I’m really funny with time. Ever since my dad passed away, time really messes with me and the fact that that time of our life is over, it’s crazy,” she noted.

That said, she’s not against tuning into season 12.

“I think I will watch the new one … I’m excited for this new group that’s young and hungry,” she revealed.

She’s also hoping to return to Bravo at some point, potentially as a host of the After Show.

“I’m pitching it immediately to Baskin,” she said of the idea.