Scheana Shay and Ariana Madix offered a glimpse into the financial side of being a cast member on Vanderpump Rules.
During the Friday, August 25, episode of the “Scheananigans” podcast, Scheana, 37, questioned Bethenny Frankel‘s recent claims that Raquel Leviss wasn’t properly compensated for filming season 10 of the Bravo hit. .
“I know for a fact [how much Raquel made] because she thanked me for getting her with the attorney she was with last season. He was able to negotiate her $19,000 an episode. For 19 episodes, that is $361,000,” Scheana revealed.
While discussing the fallout from Raquel’s affair with Tom Sandoval, Bethenny, 52, claimed that the network should be offering Raquel, 28, a bigger paycheck.
“As people who are partially produced … Let’s just say that it’s real in a very unreal circumstance. So now you have one of the three characters that can’t even afford to pay for your treatment that you just went through,” Bethenny told Raquel during an episode of the “ReWives” podcast earlier month, referring to the former beauty queen’s stay in a mental health facility. “Because it’s my understanding that you get paid in a year less than my interns get paid.”
Raquel cited the network’s reluctance to pay her the same amount as Sandoval and Ariana, 38, for season 11 as part of the reason she won’t be returning to the show.
“I asked for equal pay with Tom and Ariana and for them to reimburse me for my treatment expenses. They refused to pay me equally,” Raquel said . “I feel like when you pay your employees, it really shows how much you value them.”
During her podcast appearance on Scheana’s podcast, Ariana also addressed claims about how much she profited off Raquel and Sandoval’s scandal. (In March, Ariana and Sandoval called it quits after nearly a decade of dating due to his infidelity and Ariana went on to score many sponsorship deals for companies such as Uber, Bic and Duracell.)
“I think a lot of people on the internet seem to think that I am rolling in money right now. I have a lot of places that that money has to go,” Ariana noted on Friday. “I am not rich. I do not have millions of dollars.”
The Something About Her cofounder has been saving funds since her breakup to help set up her future. As a result, Ariana has continued to live in the house she owns with Sandoval.
“I am also not going to squander my financial future and stability by putting myself in a position to f—k myself over for the rest of my life because someone else f—ked up,” she said about her decision to cohabitate in the same space as Sandoval. “I have never been someone who came from money. I know how quickly that goes away. I’m taking care of myself.”
