Lala Kent Reacts to ‘VPR’ Fans Questioning Her Season 11 Story Line

In a new podcast episode, Lala Kent didn’t shy away from tough fan questions — including one about whether she actually had a story line during Vanderpump Rules season 11.

“This season was extremely difficult. None of us were really able to have a story line,” Lala, 33, said on the Monday, June 3, episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast. “We had to talk about [Scandoval]. It wasn’t even a divide in the group. This had demolished the group.”

As a result of Tom Sandoval‘s high-profile affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, every Vanderpump Rules cast member suffered.

“I don’t even know how to answer that question because so many times there were a lot of us who tried to push past talking about this, and we simply couldn’t,” Lala noted. “We couldn’t.”

Vanderpump Rules recently offered glimpses into Lala’s journey to have a second baby. (Lala is currently expecting a baby via IUI after welcoming daughter Ocean in 2021 with now-ex-fiancé Randall Emmett. Lala documented her efforts to find a sperm donor during season 11.)

“My life, at this point in time, I was wanting to have a baby. I was going down a path of healing and sinking into what my reality is, trying to let go of a lot of anger,” she reflected. “So I don’t know what people want me to say as far as what my storyline was. I showed up. I was willing to talk about anything and everything.”

Despite everyone’s best efforts, Sandoval’s cheating scandal and subsequent split from Ariana Madix overshadowed other portions of the show.

“Unfortunately, something that Tom Sandoval did destroyed the dynamic of the group. And unfortunately, and fortunately, we film a television show based on this group. There was no avoiding the conversation,” she explained. “I also would have liked to have moved on. Many of us wanted to move on. We tried to move the needle. It was hard. And I think that most people will not understand because they don’t film a show. Their lives are not a show.”

Vanderpump Rules season 11 was rocky from start to finish but it was the finale — and the subsequent reunion — that still has fans talking. Bravo viewers weren’t thrilled to see Lala breaking the fourth wall during the May finale just to shade Ariana, 38, for not filming with Sandoval, 41.

Lala, who issued an apology for how she responded to fan criticism, gave herself and her costars credit for their hard work.

“When you have to combine the two, it really is f—king hard. Especially when something as traumatic as Sandoval happens in a group of people who have known each other a decade plus, been filming a show for 11 years,” she shared. “It was challenging. And the fact that we pulled it off, 18 episodes, it’s f—king wild to me.”

Earlier in the episode, Lala also stood by her criticism of how Ariana approached filming.

“To ask if I’m jealous of Ariana, I find her to be extremely talented,” Lala said. “I also stand by the fact that she made filming a television show that we’ve been filming — some of them 11 years and me eight — extremely difficult this year.”

Lala clarified that she understood why Ariana struggled throughout the season, adding, “I don’t hold that against her because it was funky for all of us. We were all in uncharted waters. I wasn’t trying to be tough on her or make her move along in this process quicker, but I knew we were filming a TV show. … When filming a television show, I asked her the things that I felt the audience may want to know. I in no way, shape or form was trying to move her along in a process.”

Lala continued: “I was not upset about the opportunities that she was getting. I was not mad that she got so much love. All of those things, I was thrilled for her about. That is fact. It’s also fact that filming a show with her this year was very, very hard.”

Lala isn’t the only one who spoke out about the challenges behind the scenes. Scheana Shay also dropped a surprising bombshell recently about how the cast was convinced they had to speak with Sandoval despite their individual issues with him.

“It was a whole season of feeling like we all kind of had to walk on eggshells. I know [executive producer] Alex Baskin has said that midseason, the show was not in a good place,” Scheana claimed on the Friday, May 31, episode of her “Scheananigans” podcast. “It was, you know, ‘X, Y and Z needs to happen. Or we’re going to have a short season and the show’s going to be canceled and that’s it. Go live your lives.’”

She continued: “I think Lala and I felt a lot of pressure after that day when it was like, ‘Well, we don’t want the show to get canceled.’”

Vanderpump Rules season 11 is currently streaming on Peacock.