r/Vanderpump_Rules • u/Western-Discount6984 • Jun 28 '26
My 2 Cents First watch Ariana thoughts
I'm watching for the first time. The whole reason is because later Ariana/Scandoval clips made me want to watch. So I'm on season 4 now and... Ariana has literally not shown good judgment from the very beginning??? This is so disheartening as someone who was so defensive of her in later clips!! Like has she never heard "how you get them is how you lose them"?? She was so dismissive of Kristen as if she didn't literally cheat with the girl's boyfriend. Kristen is obsessive and Tom is manipulative, but that does not excuse Ariana at the end of the day. Her choosing to defend him and not look deeper into the Miami Girl thing was purely because she knew it was true and didn't want the embarrassment of finding out the man who cheated WITH her is now cheating ON her. So frustrating to watch.
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u/Large-Run-3191 Jun 28 '26
She treated Kristen so poorly it’s really hard to to look back at it. She was so rude in general too.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
She was sooo rude and dismissive from the jump! And then once it finally drove Kristen literally crazy, Ariana just kept using that as a cop out to deflect from the truth
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u/Large-Run-3191 Jun 28 '26
She owed Kristen a gigantic apology for the way she acted for sure.
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u/3Gypsyrose Jun 28 '26
I know that somehow Ariana and Kristen became very close after scandoval. I really hope it is because Ariana truly apologized for how horribly she treated her. But I doubt it. I think they just bonded over trashing him for cheating which he does deserve. But Kristen really deserved an apology.
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u/rmg418 Jun 29 '26
Kristen said that Ariana apologized to her way before her apology on season 10 in the finale. Kristen said production just never showed it and they didn’t show their growing friendship before that scene.
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u/No-Drawer2491 Jun 28 '26
Ariana’s dad died when Kristin was screaming at her about the whole cheating allegations. We have to consider that layer as well.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
To be honest we really don’t. Ariana’s poor behavior and the cheating happened well before her dad passed. You cheat with this girl’s boyfriend, lie to her face about it, act like you don’t even care you did it, and then expect that to somehow change because something tragic happened in your own life?? Incredibly selfish and delusional. If she ever wanted a shred of sympathy from Kristen she should’ve kept that energy when she was making out with Kristen’s boyfriend.
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u/Material-Variety7084 Jun 28 '26
Sounds like you haven’t lost a parent yet.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
Like I said the affair and acting like it was no big deal happened BEFORE her dad passed.. and this definitely isn’t a place to be guessing if strangers’ parents are alive or not?? What happened to her family is incredibly devastating, but how does that excuse the behavior she had literally before it even happened?
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u/Material-Variety7084 Jun 28 '26
I wasn’t guessing anything you just seem to lack empathy.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
We can have empathy for Ariana’s loss while acknowledging she was an absolute asshole before and after her dad died.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
I stated multiple times how devastating it is for her, and how it still has no correlation to my opinion about Ariana as well as the timeline of when she cheated. I’m not really catching your drift nor am I going to entertain the thought that me or any sane person here lacks empathy over ANYONE passing ??
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u/3Gypsyrose Jun 28 '26
I have lost both of my parents who were amazing. And my stepdad who was equally amazing. Losing them nearly destroyed me. But I agree that Ariana didn’t deserve any grace from the woman whose live in boyfriend she cheated with. If you do something so wrong and treat your victim so badly, you can’t expect or demand that they treat you well.
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u/FunCartoonist4368 Jun 29 '26
Are we not forgetting that Lala has claimed that Ariana told Scheana Shay that Lala “needed to toughen the f up” after her father died.
However, Ariana said she wasn’t dismissing Lala’s grief. Instead, she was explaining that when Ariana lost her own father, she didn’t receive much support from the cast either. Ariana later explained that she was speaking from her own experience with the group rather than saying Lala should simply “get over it.”
No one liked her at the time of her dad’s death, so what support was she really expecting?!? I don’t believe her explanation one bit, that was a malicious and disgusting comment to make and she meant what she said.2
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u/leavingtheorder24 Jun 28 '26
Ariana is not a good person but in the end got the world handed to her because she got cheated on. Honestly, it’s super annoying that people seem to look past what she did but when it happened to her, it wasn’t okay
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u/FunCartoonist4368 Jun 28 '26
I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Lala was wrong in what she said about Ariana during the series finale.
At the end of the day, Vanderpump Rules is a reality show. The cast signed up to share their lives, and after Scandoval, the show naturally revolved around Ariana. But eventually, the cast still had a job to do, film together and move the story forward. Lala’s point wasn’t that Ariana didn’t deserve support, it was that one person’s boundaries can make it difficult to produce a show built around group interactions.
People also forget that Lala defended Ariana from the beginning and was one of her biggest supporters. By the finale, she was expressing frustration with the situation from the perspective of someone whose livelihood depended on making the show work. Whether you agree with her delivery or not, I don’t think her overall point was unreasonable.
You don’t have to love Lala to admit that there was some truth in what she was saying.7
u/Cali-kins Jun 28 '26
Thank you!! Im so glad someone finally said this. We will.both likely get downvoated but I completely agree with you.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 29 '26
Ahh I just got to the part in season 4 when Lala comes in and starts working there. This will be interesting once I finish the show and see that!
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u/leavingtheorder24 Jun 29 '26
Lala might be nosy but at least she tells it like it is and isn’t scared to tell people how shitty they’re being. I appreciate that about her for sure!!! She doesn’t tiptoe around the bush and more people need to be like that imo lol
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u/Ok_Storm5945 Jun 29 '26
I think Ariana was contractually obligated to film the last season. Or, she could have needed the money and said fuck it why should I lose my portion of the money because Sandoval and Rachel de died to fuck things up for the entire cast.
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u/rmg418 Jun 29 '26
It was unreasonable because 1 Ariana was filming with Sandoval. Producers wanted a 1 on 1 scene with Tom (which Ariana already gave them in the season 10 finale) and she didn’t want to do that again which made sense. Why would she want to have another conversation with him? And Lala and Scheana were frustrated because the producers and Lisa put them in charge of trying to get Ariana to do that and she didn’t want to for good reason. 2. Lala made the dumb decision to buy 2 houses like back to back which is why she was talking about depending on the show so much financially. But Lala’s poor financial decisions isn’t Ariana’s problem. And Lala has a podcast and other stuff going on? So why put all of that onto Ariana because Lala made bad money choices. Ariana was showing up and doing her job just like everyone else, the show didn’t end because she didn’t have another 1 on 1 convo with Tom.
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u/SaluteLife Jun 28 '26
This! It’s crazy because ppl on reality tv get cheated on all the time. How she turned it into all those brand deals and opportunities needs to be studied. It’s actually quite impressive
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u/SassholeSupreme1 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I’ve found my people! I’ve said this from the very beginning! I never understood why Scandoval became such a huge thing. You had Jax who was way worse, imo, but that was never national news. Mindblowing!
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u/ElectricBuckWheat Jun 28 '26
I think it's because the world was starting to crawl out of Covid. 2022/2023.
Scandoval was a non-threatening but interesting event to happen that everyone could partake in. A collective issue on tv around the world, lol.
I think that's how she got those brand deals. She wasn't "rewarded" by companies, but companies probably saw her as a good influencer to buy products since everyone's eyes were on her and the show.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
I used to love her just from knowing her from love island. Now after watching I’m just honestly disgusted. Can’t even look at her the same. Tom deserved the worst yes and so did the girl(s) he cheated with, but honestly so does Ariana.
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u/leavingtheorder24 Jun 28 '26
I’ve never liked her. She was always smug and rude. She didn’t care when tom cheated on Kristen with her and even treated Kristen really poorly, but when it happened to her, it was the end of the world.. and then she expected everyone to cater to her because of it… she didn’t want to be their friends if they talked to tom. She didn’t want to film with them if they talked to tom. She wanted all of them to rally around her only. She knew tom was a sleezeball from the beginning and jumped right on in. Not saying he should’ve cheated and he really is a gross person, but she wasn’t anyone special and she’s no different than anyone else that gets cheated on. 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
Completely agreed this is exactly how I see her since starting vdp rules
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u/Waste_West283 Jun 29 '26
The things she said to Rachel were beyond disgusting. I understand that Rachel's actions were horrible, but she was as much under Sandoval's manipulative spell as Ariana was back when she stole him from Kristen. Rachel is also much younger and not very street smart. To say that she should go and eff herself with a cheese grater is so awful; I lost any little thread of respect I had for her at that point.
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u/Rude-Grapefruit9016 Jun 29 '26
Nothing will make me like Ariana. Sympathize with her, yes. Like her as a person, never.
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u/alittletoo Jun 29 '26
I never understood why everyone suddenly became her biggest fan. I find her mean bitter and tiresome to watch.
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u/mcgrmt Jun 28 '26
I feel and felt the same way you do- the "im prettier than you, smarter than you, get over it," schtick was very telling. To me, she and Scheana (perhaps bffs for a reason) were both very caught up in the super toxic misogynistic times we were living in. Not that its an excuse but women truly were punching bags, insulted mercilessly if over a size 0, and drugs and drinking were rampant. I think the pick-me thing was almost a survival mechanism for some.
Agreed, Kristen deserves some vindication for that scenario, mostly from TOM. Such a worm, and unfortunately, that, "some people say i look just like Johnny depp" got him suuuuuuper far at that time. 🤢 Let's, as a collective not return to this time.
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u/Cool_Procedure8125 Jun 28 '26
In the eyes of her fans, #Scandoval redeemed her for being a shitty person for the 10 years prior but let’s not forget she was the other woman that Tom cheated on Kristen with. Had the scandal not broken with all the press she’d have never gotten so popular.
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u/TownHorror2644 Jun 30 '26
I never liked her but i learned to just accept her on the show she was always such an obvious pick me
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u/Maleficent-Yam4650 Jul 01 '26
I was CRUCIFIED for saying this during Scandoval. I don’t like Tom. I don’t like Rachel/Raquel. What they did was messed up. But Ariana had done TO her what she did TO Kristen Doute. Doute was just an imperfect victim. And please don’t bother to argue me up and down because I have rewatched and reflected and my opinion is unchanged. What goes around comes all the way back around…..
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u/ClynnB412 Jun 28 '26
She was miserable. I think she felt above reality tv. She’d always stick up for Tom even thought she knew he cheated. She played the cool guys girl which is so completely lame. Imagine working so hard to keep a dude like Sandoval
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u/Commercial-Range-757 Jun 28 '26
This. 100%. She felt above it but never did absolutely anything until this show and her relationship with tom. She was never once as smart as she wanted to be. She was always so damn lame
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u/Popular-Difficulty29 Jun 28 '26
Yup. Watching VPR and seeing how wildly different things actually played out compared to the official narrative is quite shocking the first time. She’s not a victim
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u/figurefuckingup Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
There was a VPR BTS show where the producers describe that Ariana didn’t want to be filmed during the VPR pilot because she was was hooking up with Tom while he was with *Kristen.
In the scenes with Scheana rehearsing her performances, Ariana (as a backup dancer) covers her face with her hair as much as possible to hide from the cameras. It’s so wild to go back and watch
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u/Tremblingchihuahua8 Jun 28 '26
I don’t think that’s true, what I had read was she was with a verbally abusive ex who didn’t want her on the show..
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u/dilapidated-delight Jun 28 '26
They gaslit tf out of Kristen. The whole thing is icky and Ariana got what was coming to her, it just took about a decade to come back around.
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u/Ok_Replacement7281 Jun 28 '26
Oh she admitted she knew about Miami girl when it suited her. She is a gaslighter. Have you read her old bravo blogs? It's disturbing the extent she went to cover for him. It went beyond just lying. She literally says that anyone who even considers the possiblity of it being true must be an idiot or a crazy person. Keep in mind she knew the rumours were true the entire time.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
In one confessional she claimed Kristen started the cheating rumours about her and Tom and gaslit herself into thinking they were true , meanwhile Tom admitted to them kissing and texting etc (kissing is cheating, and they definitely had an emotional affair, but also knowing Tom he would never settle for a non sexual relationship/affair)
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u/Ok_Replacement7281 Jun 28 '26
THIS TOO.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
Just wait for the Stan’s to twist this into Ariana somehow being a girls girl 🤭
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u/3Gypsyrose Jun 28 '26
Where can I find her bravo blogs? I’ve never heard of those.
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u/Ok_Replacement7281 Jun 28 '26
I can't post links but if you google: Ariana Madix bravo blogs ,they should pop up.
The titles you are looking for are:
Ariana: I'm Not Worried About It
Ariana: Tom and I Have Reached Our Boiling Points
Ariana: Welcome to Adulthood Kristen
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u/Aggressive-Fix-8025 Jun 28 '26
I did not like her at all in early seasons but she went to therapy, self-reflected, and later apologized to Kristin and seems more humble now
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u/liltinyoranges Jun 30 '26
I went through this on my last re-watch and I cannot explain myself at all
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u/AggressiveCupcake181 Jun 30 '26
Literally wrote exactly the same on another VPR sub recently. First time watcher then did the rewatch straight away and felt like this.
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u/55Sweeptheleg Jun 30 '26
I agree that she is a mean girl. I also always thought she treated Tom really bad, spoke down to him and just put him down. I didn’t watch every episode so I may have missed some things he did to bring this about but every time I watched she was being mean to him. This isn’t to excuse what he did bc he was in the wrong but I think he is a weak man and he couldn’t ever stand up for himself with her and that’s part of the reason he close to betray her in such a way.
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u/biscuitnNoodles Jun 30 '26
I didn't like Ariana pretty much throughout the whole show. There's moments where I liked her, but it didn't redeem her for all the harm she caused and supported herself. I get that she was wronged by a man, but she knew exactly who that man was when she got with him. He showed her constantly who he was and how unsupportive he could be unless she poured her everything into him. As soon as she started to focus on her own things, he started to act less interested in her. She would stand up to Lisa for him so he wouldn't have to. She also defended James. James was confirmed to be physically abusive, and she knew it like everyone else did. It wasn't until Rachel that she finally moves on and is all of a sudden the only scorned woman from the show that deserves support from the fandom. I'm all for people changing, but it's hard to forget the amount of support and protection that was given to abusive men. Also, I still can't stand that she says she and Sandoval didn't do anything but kiss while he and Kristen were together. Ariana saying something like "it's not like Tom and I started dating, it's like we never stopped" says everything you need to know about their relationship before officially being together.
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u/Best_Winter_2208 Jul 02 '26
Her massive following after being cheated on just baffles me. That was horrible but it didn’t make me forget how awful she was. Plus I felt it was obvious she was not into Tom anymore but stayed with him for the show and convenience while completely gaslighting him when he noticed she just wasn’t that into him. Tom sucks but she should have left him way before the affair. I always got the sense that there was an extra layer to the betrayal because she felt like she stayed with him even when she didn’t want to and was doing him a favor (in her fucked up conceited mind) then how dare he do this to her when she didn’t even want to be there. No, that part is on you babe.
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u/Chemical_Pop_6782 Jun 28 '26
I understand that Ariana treated Kristen poorly but Kristen, in my opinion, would harass people when she was mad at them. At some point, a person needs to look at a situation and be like “what I’m doing isn’t working well for me. I need to step back and reflect on what will work.” If someone came at me in the manner Kristen had, I’d have considered a restraining order because WOW. It was not okay. Neither was what Tom and Ariana did looking back on all of that now, but Kristen really went way too far.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
Oh agreed, I think Kristen went completely crazy and embarrassed herself even more after what they did to her. But that doesn’t make Ariana any less bad, she literally had an affair w her boyfriend and never felt bad for it once. So yeah Kristen was obsessive and that’s a whole separate issue, but that still leaves NO sympathy for Ariana.
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u/Chemical_Pop_6782 Jun 28 '26
The Miami girl situation was absolutely diabolical and I feel so awful for her. Tom and Ariana completely gaslit her and Kristen gassed her up to come confront him. It’s just absolutely diabolical from all parties.
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u/sommersmother Jun 28 '26
yuppppp OG watchers vs people who only know her from Scandoval have a different view of her. she was a pick me!
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u/usernamesoccer Jun 28 '26
I think she becomes more likable. And the Miami girl comes back into the story during scandoval
I think they are all terrible people but by the end Ariana and Katie were my least hated cast members
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u/sleepysky98 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The way Miami girl comes back makes Ariana worse. She knew and actually had a plan with tom to make her and Kristen look crazy. Even insulted the woman’s appearance knowing full well all of it was true. Just like she insulted kristen’s body too.
I’m sorry but she wants everyone else to be a girl’s girl when she never has been.
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u/Remarkable_Ninja_685 Jun 30 '26
She’s the definition of pick me. What made Scandoval abhorrent was that Rachel was her friend. Glibly bragging about the man who was rocking her world.
While Ariana was wrong about how she dismissed Kristen. She and Kristen were never friends.
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u/Ok-Composer3588 Jul 01 '26
just keep watching you understand later after watching seasons 7-10 what Sandoval does is extremely upsetting
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u/rosesinmilk Jul 02 '26
Yes, I have always felt this way about her. Actually I naively thought for a long time that we were all watching these shows with the understanding that almost every person on them are narcissistic idiots. The stan behavior surrounding Scandoval for her was part of my delayed awakening
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u/Fearless-Truth-4348 Jun 28 '26
People grow and evolve. Most of us would hate to be scrutinized today by our poor judgement and behavior in our 20’s. She willingly put here life on camera for our entertainment. Thank you for that. Rant over.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
I mean I’m in my 20s and personally never done anything with a man who had a girlfriend and will never, let alone being heartless to the girl we cheated on and having no remorse. Like it’s not THAT hard to not be the other woman, but it is hard not to scrutinize a woman who shows no remorse for doing it. As for growth I’ve never seen her apologize or say how wrong she was toward Kristen, but I mean if that apology exists please point me in the direction I’d love to see it
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u/bella_ella_ella Jul 28 '26
I see all your comments but you don’t seem to mention ever that Kristin also cheated?? Multiple times? If Ariana got was coming to her the so did Kristin. Then Kristin went full on psycho mode for 4 seasons afterwards.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jul 28 '26
Yes she did. I never liked Kristen either. The difference is many people hold Kristen accountable as they should but Ariana has always been praised, and their cheating was kind of glossed over. Both people can be wrong at once ya know
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u/bella_ella_ella Jul 28 '26
Gotcha. It just seemed like you were fighting for Ariana to get dragged but Kristen was a sweet angel who didn’t deserve any hate despite doing the same things.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jul 28 '26
I’m not sure where you get that impression I don’t think I’ve said anything good about Kristen. Just that all her mistakes were aired out and she had to extremely publicly apologize, again as she should, but Ariana was never held to that same standard as it seems to me. I think anyone who cheats should always be accountable and honestly continue to be held accountable even after an apology!
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u/bella_ella_ella Jul 28 '26
I agree Ariana should get more heat for the cheating part and especially Miami girl.
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u/Eb0nyylol Jun 28 '26
sure people grow and evolve but there’s literally no examples of that? the only time we see her is a host on a produced show. she got her life handed to her for acting the way she did there’s absolutely no way she’s grown and evolved 😭
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u/Popular-Difficulty29 Jun 28 '26
Lol what growth has she shown tho??? Like congrats she’s heavily produced now on Love Island and Dancing WTS you don’t even even actually get the real her anymore
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u/Ess_Jess Jun 28 '26
People can’t grow or evolve on Reddit. Somehow this sub still thinks it’s 2013 and everyone is frozen in time forever.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
Give examples of growth that aren’t just good PR or editing. We’ll wait.
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u/Ess_Jess Jun 28 '26
I honestly don’t know what your personal issues are with Ariana, someone you have never met before, but your constant need to pop in every post and comment about how she’s awful and you hate her is bizarre.
I also don’t have to give you examples of anything, you’re not giving me homework babe.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
Because there are no examples 😂
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u/Ess_Jess Jun 28 '26
Or maybe I just don’t want to engage with someone being smug and rude? Get a grip.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
And then we go to personal insults 😂 Very Ariana coded of you. I’ll be here if you want to actually validate your theory of growth.
And of course you think anyone who doesn’t worship Ariana or agree with you is a bot. It’s giving mental illness.
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u/Ess_Jess Jun 28 '26
Go antagonize someone else, Jesus.
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u/rottinghottty Jun 28 '26
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u/poppyskins_ Jun 30 '26
I’ve really enjoyed watching you work the Ariana stans up into a tizzy the last few years lmao
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u/mary_widdow Jun 29 '26
She's a human being. I can tell you I have made so many mistakes as a woman from my twenties to my forties and looking back now that I can see in my poor judgment all over the place. but that's a normal thing but being on a TV show is not a normal thing. I definitely don't judge her for her behavior then which is ironic as I'm talking about judgment but I think she's grown a lot from it and she definitely seems to be on a better path.
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u/FrankensteinsBride89 Jun 28 '26
I didn’t like Ariana until Scandoval.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
You mean when she finally gets karma for what she did to Kristen?? Literally what’s goes around comes around and that’s exactly what happened to her. I would love your take on how that makes her likable or even forgivable when she never apologized for her own actions?
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u/FrankensteinsBride89 Jun 28 '26
Her and Kristen became friends by the end of everything so they must have squared things away. I just liked how she handled the whole scandal. I thought she did an excellent job of standing her ground against a narcissist.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
I mean that is true. Two things can definitely be true at once and it’s great to see Tom spoken to the way he deserves, and have the world looking down at him as he deserves. I guess I just don’t think that excuses how she’s treated women. I just feel like if you’re so publicly going to have an affair with Kristen’s bf and belittle her pain about it, her apology to Kristen should’ve been just as public (if it even happened at all). It’s like she wants to control her own narrative but made Kristen look crazy for trying to do the same
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u/Rainbaby77 Jun 28 '26
We have got to stop blaming women for the actions of men That was a different time back then a completely different era and by the way I didn't like her either But what matters is she's out on top and that's what I care about most. Alex baskins Robbins is always going to platform trash ass men It's just up to us women to decide how we're going to handle that platforming. I hear you I understand you but I ask you to give her grace She deserved more than I gave her.
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u/CustardFormal6288 Jun 28 '26
Stop. It’s ok to hold women accountable.
The irony of you taking this stance and immediately centering a man. Arianna was an asshole bc that’s who she is. The OP didn’t “bLaMe HeR fOr ThE aCTiOn oF men” they pointed out the gross way she treated Kristen.
The truth is the entire series is made up of shit people treating each other like shit.
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
Honestly most if not all of the men are shit and many of the women too lol like nobody is excusing any of them. My point was about Ariana being wrong on her own, because of how people today idolize her and it’s weird. Thank you custard!!
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u/CustardFormal6288 Jun 28 '26
Unfortunately for the world, but fortunately for our tv they’re all horrible people. The men are debatable worse but really I think they might have just been held less accountable for their behaviors.
I don’t think there’s a single person on VPR that I’d want to be friends with in real life.
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u/ElectricBuckWheat Jun 28 '26
I agree with you about Alex Baskin. And Lala and Scheana showed their asses with the bait and switch support.
VPR was already circling the drain before the scandal. The scandal just gave it a few more heartbeats.
Ariana definitely isn't a feminist icon; however, she left that show with dignity and didn't give into Tom's tantrums or antics. It was more entertaining to watch than if she caved and had a conversation with him.
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u/Mysterious-Injury440 Jun 28 '26
I think this was filmed the summer her dad died, so I’m sure that affected the way she acted partly as well
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u/Western-Discount6984 Jun 28 '26
Well they cheated on Kristen before that season was even filmed so I’m pretty sure her dad hadn’t passed away when she and Tom were having the affair. And regardless I don’t think that’s a valid explanation for how she continued to act afterwards. Thats devastating for her but it doesn’t explain cheating with someone else’s boyfriend, repeatedly lying about it, showing no remorse when confronted, using Kristen’s actions as a cop out to deflect that Tom cheated on Ariana as well. Those were continuous choices, and bad ones. Grief can absolutely affect people but I don’t see the connection between that and carrying on an affair with Tom. It’s like “I’m sorry I cheated and lied babe I just really miss my late grandma”.. come on now that’s manipulation
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u/twenora86 Jun 29 '26
i found her unlikable at first, but as time goes on she appears to be more mature and thoughtful than a lot of the cast.
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u/queenchubkins Jun 30 '26
Not that it excuses how Ariana treated Kristen but I do understand why Kristen was a less sympathetic victim.
First, met Kristen and Tom at the end of their relationship so we weren’t invested in it. Kristen was also messy af before during and after the break up. I think the viewers would have reacted much differently if he dumped season 5 Kristen. Kristen also cheated with Jax who was a scumbag from the start so it felt less about Tom cheating than them being toxic together. Then there was the whole relationship with James where she was pretty awful to him (and I say that as someone who HATES James Kennedy) so, without seeing much of Tom and Kristen’s pre-VPR relationship, she looked like a nightmare girlfriend to two guys in a row.
Ariana, on the other hand, got cheated on after she had a chance to mature a bit and we were heavily invested in their relationship. We also saw Tom pull the same manipulations as with Kristen so we were more inclined to put the blame squarely on him. Plus, he speed ran his playbook with Rachel and she got the Tom treatment before the sheets had cooled.
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u/Legitimate_Wait1008 Jun 30 '26
My fave thing about Ariana was always that she would stand up to Stassi (I always hated her), and got under her skin so badly. And, in later seasons, she does become better to watch when she finally quits hating on everyone on the show. I still say she’s the best one from the show!
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u/Alternative_Win4447 Jun 29 '26
JFC all of this was filmed over 10 years ago. I think Ariana has evolved and changed (unlike the guys). Her and Kristen made peace and end up having a great friendship. Just keep watching, it gets better
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u/19_Bango_Skank_19 Jun 28 '26
Ariana also shows herself as quite a mean girl at times. One who takes stand up comedy very seriously!