Disney
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star Ariana Madix Says ‘DWTS’ Helped Her With Her ‘Confidence’
It’s not just fancy footwork! Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix exclusively told Life & Style she’s finding her inner strength thanks to her time on Dancing With the Stars.
“I just know that Dancing With the Stars has helped me, in general, just with, like, my confidence, my mental health,” Ariana, 38, explained to Life & Style on Tuesday, November 7, at the Dancing With the Stars lot in Los Angeles after competing during the show’s music video night. “Just coming out here and just, like, working so hard on something, and then having it be this tangible thing that you can see the hard work paying off. That, to me, has been like the big thing.”
After finding herself in the center of a messy breakup with ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval, Ariana landed a spot on the popular dancing competition alongside professional dancer Pasha Pashkov. The reality star has pleasantly surprised fans with her impressive routines week after week and was given judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s stamp of approval during the Halloween episode. Some fans think she’s poised to possibly win it all. It hasn’t been an easy road, but the Something About Her co-owner admitted she’s been excited by the compliments from the pros.
“I feel like when I think about behind the scenes it’s like there’s so when you go into rehearsals, there’s all the different studio numbers and you’re assigned like, ‘Okay, you’re going to be in five or you’re going to be in one today.’” Ariana said. “But then there’s this other studio where, like, everybody on production is in. And so, they’re, like, watching all of us, and then you’ll be, like, in the moment or something, and they can communicate with you over the speaker. So, all of a sudden, it’ll just be like this voice of, like, Michelle, one of the producers, and she’s like, ‘Hey guys, that was really good.’ And then like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
Dancing With the Stars revealed Ariana as the first contestant competing in season 32 shortly after the cheating scandal with Tom, 40, broke. The Single AF Cocktails author referenced her split during a prerecorded intro for the show, saying, “I just want to do something that is for me and positive. It’s time for me to stand on my own two feet.”
Tom, on the other hand, seems jealous of the amount of attention Ariana has received since their breakup. A source previously revealed to Life & Style on October 12, “It’s like Tom is in competition with Ariana. He signed up for Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and is on The Masked Singer, too. He shed so many tears for hurting her, but it seems clear now that those were really crocodile tears.”
