Lisa Vanderpump was in the audience at the Dancing With the Stars season 32 finale cheering on Ariana Madix — and she got emotional talking about her fellow Vanderpump Rules personality.
“I never knew she was capable of anything so magnificent,” Vanderpump, 63, told cohost Alfonso Ribeiro of Madix, 38, during the Tuesday, December 5, episode. “I’ve watched every week and it’s brought tears to my eyes. Good luck Ariana.”
Madix and her DWTS partner Pasha Pashkov have consistently been at the top of the leaderboard since season 32 premiered in September. In October, Madix exclusively told Us Weekly that she was “having the best time” on the show.
“If I could do rehearsals and performances every day for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. I find it so rewarding and fun,” she said.
Madix’s successful stint on the reality TV competition show comes after a year of hardship in her personal life. In March, she and ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval called it quits after nine years of dating in the wake of his months-long affair with their costar Raquel Leviss.
“This situation made me realize that I can do hard things,” Madix told Us of the cheating scandal, which played out during season 10 of Pump Rules earlier this year. “The worst-case scenario literally did happen, and I was OK. Like, look — you can handle what’s thrown at you.”
Madix and Sandoval, 41, both returned for season 11 of Pump Rules, which wrapped filming in September. Although Madix was forced to reunite with her ex for the sake of the show — the twosome are also both still living in their shared Los Angeles home — she is focused on the future. She’s moved on with boyfriend Daniel Wai, who has been in the audience for several DWTS shows.
“He will be at the finale and he’s definitely someone who — on those show days — he really makes sure that I don’t have anything to worry about,” Madix told The Daily Dish of Wai on Monday, December 4.
Back in October, Madix gushed to Us about how considerate her new man is.
“He’ll clean up things that are left out and [does] little things you don’t really think about,” she said. “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.’”
