Lala Kent Questions Ariana Madix’s Boyfriend Daniel Wai’s ‘Motive’ in ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Teaser
Lala Kent is skeptical about her Vanderpump Rules costar Ariana Madix dating Daniel Wai so soon after her breakup from Tom Sandoval.
In a sneak peek clip of season 11, Lala, 33, chats with her mother, Lisa Burningham, about Ariana’s relationship status.
“Ariana gets a new man, and I’m like, ‘What’s his motive? This is weird,’” Lala says in the teaser, referring to Ariana, 38, and Daniel.
Lisa pointed out that her daughter’s “blinders [are] off” considering her own past relationship struggles and the fallout from Scandoval. Lala split from ex-fiancé Randall Emmett in November 2021 after alleged infidelity on Emmett’s side, which he’s denied, and Tom Sandoval and Ariana called it quits in March after he had a secret affair with costar Raquel Leviss.
In the clip, Lala tearfully admits that she questions “everybody” and their motivations now. Lisa then consoles her daughter, saying, “It’s OK, you’re gonna work through it. All in steps. I love you.”
Ariana first teased her romance with Daniel, a New York-based personal trainer, in April when they were spotted making out at Coachella.
“Ariana is having a great time with Daniel. When things initially unfolded with Tom and Raquel, she never imagined she would want to jump into another relationship as soon as she did,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in June, noting that Daniel treats Ariana with “so much respect and compassion.”
Since they started dating, Daniel has been her No. 1 cheerleader and even frequently watched her compete on Dancing With the Stars. (Ariana and pro partner Pasha Pashkov finished in third place during the finale earlier this month.)
“It’s awesome. He’s incredibly supportive,” Ariana told Us in her October cover story, noting she is exclusively dating the personal trainer. “He sacrifices his sleep and time to help me with anything I need, and then he takes a red-eye back and goes straight to work.”
She added at the time: "He’ll clean up things that are left out and [does] little things you don’t really think about. When I come home from the show and everything’s clean and there’s food in the fridge that he made, it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s so nice.’”
Daniel has also seemingly started filming Pump Rules, joining the season 11 cast on a group trip. Lala teased via her Instagram Story in September that Daniel accompanied her, Ariana, Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney on a getaway to Northern California.
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules premieres on Tuesday, January 30, at 8 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
