Ariana Madix was well-known. After which, seemingly in a single day, she turned very well-known.
You’ve most likely seen the headlines, if not adopted each element: Madix’s accomplice of 9 years had a months-long affair with one other forged member on Vanderpump Guidelines, the fact present on which all of them starred. The tryst was so infamous that it turned its personal correct noun: Scandoval. (If it didn’t already ring a bell, it most likely has now.)
It’s solely been seven months for the reason that story broke, however Madix has made a lifetime of strikes since: She was on the quilt of Glamour; attended the White Home Correspondents’ Affiliation Dinner; scored profitable partnership offers with manufacturers like Bic and Uber; and, for her subsequent trick, landed a spot on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars, the beloved actuality competitors present the place celebrities carry out choreographed dance routines alongside skilled companions.
On Vanderpump, Madix is finest identified for being actual and pretty weak, particularly in distinction to her (sorry!) high-maintenance castmates. She’s been open about her psychological well being on the present for years, particularly because it pertains to her historical past of navigating physique picture and shallowness points. She’s labored by means of tough moments, together with the deaths of her grandmother and canine, whereas the tapes have been rolling. She retains the dialog going off-air, too: On a February 2022 episode of her Vanderpump costar Scheana Shay’s podcast, “Scheananigans,” Madix mentioned she had “a full-blown consuming dysfunction” when she joined the Bravo present—the lingering results of which she nonetheless offers with as we speak.
Contemplate the quantity that being on actuality TV, a famously merciless style, would tackle anybody’s shallowness. (Even for somebody who, like Madix, is conventionally engaging and skinny.) Contemplate what it’s prefer to be on a present that particularly facilities a gaggle of younger, skinny, aspiring fashions and actors in Los Angeles—servers and bartenders who put on skimpy uniforms and take part in an annual sexy photoshoot to advertise SUR (which stands for “Horny Distinctive Restaurant”), the West Hollywood restaurant that employs them. Then, think about how all of that’s compounded when you may have a historical past of psychological well being points that dates again to your adolescence.
At this time, Madix is again on air—serving sambas as a substitute of palomas. Her all-black bartender’s ensemble has been swapped for the glittering, sequined leotards that little children dream about sporting on stage. Some issues are the identical—Madix is performing on her personal volition, within the driver’s seat along with her foot on the gasoline—and a few are completely different. She’s not the place she was, however, as she mentions greater than as soon as, she hasn’t completely gotten to the place she’s going but, both. So when Ariana Madix seems at herself on display screen as we speak, what does she see now?