Heavy/ABC/Bravo "Dancing With the Stars" ballroom.
Scheana Shay admitted it was hard for her when her friend Ariana Madix scored a spot on “Dancing With the Stars” for season 32 because it’s always been her dream to do it.
Madix received a lot of attention—and many job offers—following the Scandoval cheating scandal she became embroiled in when her ex, Tom Sandoval, cheated on her with their mutual friend Raquel Leviss. In November 2023, the “Vanderpump Rules” star landed in third place with pro dancer Pasha Pashkov in the ABC dancing competition.
On the “Vanderpump Rules” season 11 episode “Saw it on the Graham,” Shay broke down as she talked about Madix, who was knee-deep in the aftermath of the cheating scandal at the time of filming. Amid the scandal, Madix received an outpouring of attention. Not only did she get asked to join DWTS season 32, but she scored a role as Roxie Hart in Broadway’s “Chicago.” Shay maintained she lost a close friend in Sandoval following the scandal.
“Her getting ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ she knew how bad I wanted that,” Shay told co-star Lala Kent of Madix. “And I told her, ‘I am so genuinely happy for you. I told her I will be there every [expletive] Monday you want me there. She does deserve everything she is getting right now and I am so happy for her that she did not go down a dark spiral. I just am hurting still.”
Fans Were Divided on Scheana Shay Joining DWTS
Peacock“Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen.
Kent was a guest on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” just after the “Vanderpump Rules” episode aired on March 7, 2024. During a segment called “Work the Polls,” fans were asked. “Would you want to see Scheana on ‘Dancing with the Stars?”
“That was so sad,” Cohen noted of Shay’s “Vanderpump Rules” scene. “She said ‘That’s always been my dream and I’m happy for Ariana but that was my dream.’”
Cohen then looked at the poll results, which were hovering at under 50 percent for Shay. “OK, now don’t crush this girl’s dreams,” he said.
The final poll results were 53 percent “Yes” for Shay to join the celebrity dancing show.
Ariana Madix Said Scheana Shay Would Be Great on DWTS
ABCAriana Madix and Pasha Pashkov on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Shay has long talked about her wish to compete on “Dancing With the Stars.” During Madix’s run, she told E! News her friend was “crushing it” in the ballroom. “She’s going to the finals for sure,” Shay predicted. “Like I think she’s going to win the whole thing.”
“I’ve wanted to be on that show since it came out,” Shay continued of the ABC dance-off which debuted in 2005 when Shay was just 20 years old. “I go almost every season. It’s like, always in the audience, never on the dance floor,” the “Vanderpump Rules” star added.
In a November 2023 interview, Madix named two “Vanderpump Rules” co-stars she’d like to see compete for the mirrorball trophy. “I feel like Scheana [Shay] would be great,” Madix told Page Six. “And you know who else would be really great is James [Kennedy]. He’d be fun to watch.”
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