Scheana Shay is opening up about her regrets regarding the way she handled Tom Sandoval‘s cheating scandal.
After admitting in her new book, My Good Side, that she was also coping with infidelity when “Scandoval” broke in March 2023, but doing so in secret, the 40-year-old Vanderpump Rules alum confessed to wishing she’d done things differently. She also shared her hopes for her and Ariana Madix‘s future, reflected on her throuple with John Mayer, 47, and Stacie Hall, 40, and declared that she’s moving on from her people pleaser habits.
“I don’t think I gave Ariana as much grace as I should have in those moments. Just because I was willing to forgive [Brock Davies] — and essentially forgive Sandoval — she wasn’t ready for any of that,” Scheana noted during a July 15 interview with Us Weekly.
If she could go back in time, Scheana would have offered Ariana, 40, more support.
“I wish I supported Ariana more in the way that she needed. I feel like I was put in a position where I had a job to do. I was going through my own personal heartbreak, and I wasn’t the friend that she needed throughout season 11,” she shared. “[And] I genuinely regret that because she deserved more from me.”
While Scheana’s friendship with Ariana grew distant amid the fallout from “Scandoval,” she hopes that she and her former bestie can one day get back to where they were.
“I miss her; she was my best friend, and I am just over the moon seeing how incredible she’s doing,” she stated.
As for her relationship with John and Stacie, who was known as the bartender on The Hills, Scheana suggested that while the romance was unconventional, she also had feelings for someone else.
“With John [Mayer], sometimes there was another girl around, but I never had feelings for another woman like I did [this time],” she explained. “I was afraid to have the talk to really explore what it could be because I was afraid of what it wouldn’t be. I was afraid of rejection.”
According to Scheana, she believes that if she hadn’t met Brock, 35, she and the unnamed woman may have connected in a more serious way.
“I’ll always wonder,” she admitted.
Also in the interview, Scheana said that while she’s been known to take a backseat to others, she’s determined to take control of her own life moving forward.
“I can be a people pleaser. Whether it was following my mom’s rules as a child or changing my look to fit in at school or taking [Lisa Vanderpump]’s calls, I’ve let their narratives and that guidance define me. I wanted to finally take the narrative back and tell my story,” she explained. “[And] writing this book has helped me sift through this mess, trauma and the joys of my life.”
