Vanderpump Rules season 11 has come to a close — and Lala Kent is reflecting on the ups and downs of filming.
“That’s a wrap on season 11. I absolutely love filming Vanderpump Rules,” Lala, 33, said via her Instagram Stories on Friday, September 1. “I will say this was one of the most difficult seasons that I have ever been a part of — ever. What a wild and strange summer, but it’s done.”
She continued: “So crazy, another one down and now I get to celebrate the fact that it is my f—king birthday. I’m 33 [and on] September 2nd, I’m going to fly home to my baby, [Ocean] tomorrow and just be grateful for this life.”
Lala — who shares Ocean, 2, with ex-fiancé Randall Emmett — completed filming during the Pump Rules cast’s trip to San Francisco. The group attended a formal party on Friday, where Tom Sandoval got involved in a heated altercation after an attendee threw a drink and a floral centerpiece at event security. The partygoer was kicked out and the cast has not yet addressed the situation.
Lala and the Vanderpump Rules cast started filming season 11 earlier this summer under “strange” circumstances compared to years past.
“It is a strange dynamic. I’m also in a very strange place where I am trying to heal and not project my experience onto everybody that I see. I am trying to [be] proactive [and be] a little bit more forgiving, light-hearted and understanding,” Lala teased during an Amazon Live last month. “That is not a place I have always been super comfortable in.”
Most of the show stars have been at odds with Sandoval, 41, after he cheated on longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss. Us Weekly confirmed in March that Sandoval and Ariana, 38, split after she learned of his affair with the 28-year-old pageant queen.
Lala, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay and James Kennedy all took Ariana’s side, publicly shunning Sandoval in their friend group. Ariana, who has since moved on with Daniel Wai, has even refused to film with her ex-boyfriend. (Ariana and the TomTom cofounder still live in the same house that they jointly own, but they do not communicate without a third-party intermediary.)
Raquel, for her part, declined to come back for season 11 after Bravo allegedly refused to increase her salary to match what Ariana and Sandoval were making. She detailed her allegations in a bombshell interview on Bethenny Frankel’s podcast in July, noting her intentions to focus on self-improvement.
“It is a travesty that she didn’t end up coming back. She should have come back. I think she would have been very surprised,” Lala previously quipped during an episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast later in July. “And instead she went and did this [podcast with Bethenny] and she was manipulated yet again.”
