Lala Kent Says She and Ariana Madix Have Been "Thick as Thieves" Since That Tense Reunion

Lala Kent has long been a polarizing figure among the Vanderpump Rules crew, especially this season as she seemed to be on the outs with her fellow SURvers like never before. We mean, did you see that disastrous OK! Magazine party at the beginning of the season?

The SUR hostess did find a friend in a couple of people at SUR, including Ariana Madix. But after Lala skipped out on Ariana's NASCAR birthday trip to Sonoma, California with zero explanation, things cooled between the SURvers. It didn't help that Lala then basically disappeared and didn't communicate with anyone in the Vanderpump Rules crew. So when Ariana finally reunited with Lala in Monday night's episode, she was hesitant to continue their friendship. 

Ariana explained to The Daily Dish that she had been feeling a little betrayed by Lala at the moment they had their heart-to-heart. "Things with Lala and I are much better today than they were at the time of the episode being shot," she told The Daily Dish. "I had not seen or heard from her in months at that point, and I had felt like I had really gone out on a limb to have her back and to stand up for her. And I felt like she kind of just threw it to the wayside." 

But as they say, time heals all wounds — or it at least has a way of healing some of them — and Ariana said that she and Lala are now getting their friendship back on track. They certainly looked chummy as guests together on Monday night's Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, after all. "After the conversation I had with her at SUR, it definitely took some time, but I think that we're in a place now that's almost as close as we were before," Ariana said. "Of course, I don't know if [things will] ever be the same, but I think that we're slowly working through whatever we had going on."

Lala expressed remorse for turning her back on Ariana earlier this season during an interview with The Daily Dish. "Ariana was really one of the only people that was kind to me and genuine throughout the time I was at SUR, so I was kind of embarrassed that I ditched her birthday and had behaved the way I had towards her. I was nervous, but I wanted to get my point across that I love and adore your friendship more than anything, and I'm a firm believer of actions speak louder than words, so I was very embarrassed to go in and tell her all of these things," Lala said of reuniting with Ariana in Monday night's episode. "And it's like, 'Girl, all you had to do was show up to my birthday, and you wouldn't have to say any of this stuff.'" 

Lala said she now regrets not attending Ariana's birthday trip, which started all of this drama in the first place. "I should have gone [to the party]. It looked like a lot of fun, and maybe I could have reconnected with or connected with Jax [Taylor], and I think I could have connected to Brittany [Cartwright]," she said. "It would have been a good idea for me to go but, again, my state of mind at the time, that was all just a fog." 

These days, Lala said that she and Ariana are "thick as thieves," and the SUR bartender is her "homie." But Ariana said that it might still take some time before Lala can say the same of the rest of the Vanderpump Rules squad. "I think that with Lala and everybody else in the Vanderpump Rules crew, I think that things might not necessarily be as tense as they once were," Ariana explained. "But I honestly can't really speak for anyone else, and I don't really know if things will ever move towards a friendship with anyone else." 

— Additional reporting by Jocelyn Vena 

Relive Lala's highly-anticipated return to SUR, below.

Ms. Kent Is Back!