Scheana Shay Shuts Down The Valley Salary Rumors, Plus She Cries Over Months-Long Battle With Depression

Scheana Shay reacted to rumors claiming she and Lala Kent were not paid for the appearances they’ve made on The Valley on a recent episode of her podcast.

As the 40-year-old Vanderpump Rules alum also opened up about her struggles with depression and a “meltdown” she had amid her short-lived stint on The Masked Singer, Scheana spoke out against the salary rumors regarding herself, Lala, 34, and Tom Schwartz, 42, all of whom have been seen in guest roles on the second season of The Valley.

“First of all, I don’t ever work for free, so that’s not true,” Scheana revealed on the May 2 episode of Scheananigans, via Entertainment NOW. “Someone sent me a screenshot of that, and I can’t speak to all of their cast salary claims, but I’m pretty sure the screenshot I saw was 100 percent inaccurate. What they said about how much certain people are getting paid and significant others and whatnot. Literally none of that was true because these are my friends, and so I do know. Yeah, that was just some people putting it some [expletive] there.”

According to the report, podcast host Lara Marie Schoenhals said on the Sexy Unique Podcast that she’d heard Scheana, Lala, and Tom weren’t getting paid for their appearances on The Valley or The Valley: After Show. Then, Bravo and Cocktails on Instagram suggested the cast members made “double” what the newcomers made for The Valley, and that their significant others made half.

“Scheana and Lala weren’t offered a contract,” but “got paid per appearance” on The Valley, the fan page alleged.

As for Scheana’s mental health update, she discussed her latest hardships on the May 7 episode of Scheananigans.

“I have really just been feeling depressed the last six months. It was something that I kept trying to just mask and say, ‘No, I’m fine. It’ll go away,’” Scheana shared, per Us Weekly. “But it all started around The Masked Singer.”

Looking back, Scheana, who was featured on the FOX competition series as The Bat, admitted that she wasn’t initially sold on the idea of making an appearance. 

“I got asked to do the show. I immediately was like, ‘Hard pass, absolutely not.’ I didn’t care how much money they’re paying me. I was not going to go on another show on national television just to get made fun of,” she recalled. “This was something that was so far out of my comfort zone. That was so scary to go on a show that’s primetime national television.”

Ultimately, Scheana was eliminated after singing just one song, Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Espresso.”

“I totally had a meltdown in my trailer. I’m like, ‘This is why I didn’t want to do this show. I’m not good enough. I get sent home first. Now everyone’s going to make fun of me,’” she said. “I just wanted to put myself out there.”

While Scheana didn’t initially recognize where the root of her problem was coming from, she eventually figured out that there were issues she was hiding from herself as she boosted her medication intake.

“I just was like, ‘Maybe I up my meds a little bit.’ But then I started grinding my teeth a lot at night. So I’m like, ‘No, I’ll just go back to like 25 mg.’ As if that’s enough Zoloft for anyone. It’s not. I’ve learned that and I’m now at 75 mg and considering 100 mg,” she stated. “In that time, I was able to talk to my psychiatrist and able to talk to my therapist. Then it’s the holidays. We’re getting into Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and then wildfires across Los Angeles … It was just a few really heavy months emotionally.”

Scheana was also dealing with heartbreak over the end of her run on Pump Rules.

“As excited as I am for this new chapter of my life — I got to film The Valley and be with all of my friends this past summer — it filled the void of not filming a season 12,” she said. “But then the show getting rebooted. It’s like, that’s a huge chapter of my life that now is just done. As happy as I was for honestly that chapter to be done, I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s been a huge part of my identity that now is just done.’ A combination of these things just led to me kind of going into a depression.”