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Friends or Foes? Where Kristen Doute Stands with the Cast of Vanderpump Rules Today
Kristen's relationships with the Vanderpump Rules crew has really evolved since the show began in 2013. Here's who she talks to from the cast — and who she avoids.
Kristen Doute was friends with many members of the Vanderpump Rules crew before cameras started rolling on Season 1 in 2013. But a lot has changed in the last decade, including her friendships and relationships (no surprise she’s on the outs with former boyfriends like Tom Sandoval), especially after she left Vanderpump Rules in June 2020 after eight seasons.
So, who is she friends with now? Here’s a guide to Kristen’s relationships with former castmates from Vanderpump Rules as she makes her return to reality TV on Bravo’s new show The Valley in spring 2024.
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Ariana Madix?
Kristen and Ariana Madix started off as enemies, so fans of Vanderpump Rules were surprised to see how far the two have come when Ariana turned to Kristen to support her following her split with Tom Sandoval on the May 2023 Season 10 finale.
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Way back in Season 2, Sandoval admitted to cheating on Kristen with Ariana, when they made out in a swimming pool while he was dating Kristen. Ariana brought up the irony of this incident on the show when talking to Kristen post-Sandoval breakup.
“It’s like, yes, me and Tom kissed, you think that it’s an isolated thing or you think that it’s like, this is a situation-based thing. But … this is who this person is,” Ariana said. “And it’s really sh-tty it took nine years to f-cking figure that out. Nine years I could’ve spent not defending him at your sake.”
Kristen said she didn’t feel “vindicated” by their split when appearing on the May 3, 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, adding, “I’m the one who gets to say this — nobody else’s opinion matters — it’s not the same thing. [Ariana] didn’t deserve it. Not at all.”
Since reuniting on camera in Season 10, Kristen has continued to be a supportive friend to Ariana, including when Ariana competed on Dancing with the Stars in the fall of 2023. She posted a picture of the two on Instagram, writing, “Let’s go @arianamadix! I am sooo proud of you and can’t wait for this dance!!”
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Lala Kent?
Kristen and Lala Kent have had an on-again off-again relationship since Lala started as a hostess at SUR in episodes airing in November 2016. At that time, Kristen get along with Lala.
Lala and Kristen eventually mended fences, and as recently as March 2023 were close friends, with Kristen posting pictures to her Instagram from Lala’s daughter Ocean’s 2nd birthday, saying she was “lucky to be [Ocean’s] auntie!”
But all that seems to have changed, as Lala addressed a potential feud with Kristen on her January 30, 2024 appearance on WWHL. Fans were first clued in to a possible rift in their friendship with Lala was asked if she listens to Kristen’s podcast during an Amazon livestream in January 2024, and responded, “I don’t know who that is, so no.”
Later, Kristen said she, “chose to text Lala when I heard that she was upset with me because I was very caught off guard. I did not know she was upset about anything.” Kristen clarified on her podcast that Lala wad mad at her for appearing at an event with Shahs of Sunset’s Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, because GG had previously said something negative about Lala and her parenting, and Lala wanted Kristen to defend her.
Lala was asked on WWHL what she thought about Kristen discussing the feud on her podcast, and if she thought the two would be friends again. The answer seems to be a resounding no — at least for now.
“You know, I actually thought her podcast was very profound,” Lala said to Andy. “She said, ‘If Lala cared about the friendship, she would’ve reached out to me, and if I cared about the friendship, I would’ve reached out to her.' And I didn’t. So.”
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Katie Maloney and Stassi Schroeder?
Although they once referred to themselves as the “Witches of WeHo” on Vanderpump Rules, Kristen appears to no longer be on close terms with either Stassi Schroeder or Katie Maloney.
In January 2024, Stassi explained on the Jeff Lewis Live podcast that she wouldn’t be joining the crew of The Valley because “it’s just not my group of friends."
Of her relationship with Kristen, who used to be one of her best friends, Stassi told Lewis, “I’m not close with Kristen. We text every now and then, but that’s kind of it.”
The "Witches of WeHo" began falling out back in November 2019, when Kristen said the three only “exchanged pleasantries” during BravoCon. Part of the issue, which played out on Vanderpump Rules, was that Katie and Stassi were upset that Kristen let her then-boyfriend Brian Carter live with her, when they believed their relationship to be toxic.
“I just think we’re changing,” Kristen told Entertainment Tonight at BravoCon 2019. “We’re growing in different directions, at certain points. I don’t think we’ll ever…have any sort of relationship again, personally.”
Kristen and Katie did reunite this year when their Witches of Weho wine came back on market.
Nocking Point Wines — the brand’s partner with Arrow’s Stephen Amell at the helm — brought the Pinot Grigio back in 2023 with Kristen and Katie on board.
“Spring is pinot grigio season, and this one stands above the rest with its secret ingredient: The tears of your exes!” the wine manufacturer states.
The rosé, featuring notes of grapefruit, cherry, lemon, and rose petal, is currently available as part of a "super" limited release.
A "red blend" called Basic Witch Potion No. 3, has since been introduced and described as a perfect summer vino where "a symphony of nocturnal flavors unfold," such as obsidian berries, blackberry, black currant, and forbidden dark cherry.
The status of their friendship, though, remains to be seen.
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright?
From Vanderpump Rules to The Valley, Jax Taylor and Kristen’s friendship continues today. Kristen first met Jax through her ex-boyfriend, Tom Sandoval, and the two developed a friendship even before Vanderpump Rules aired. She posted a Happy Birthday message to Jax on her Instagram in July 2022, writing, “We’ve been friends for almost 15 YEARS!!”
It’s no surprise that Kristen has also become close friends with Jax’s wife, Brittany Cartwright. A fan inquired about their friendship during an “Ask Me Anything” convo on Kristen’s Instagram in July 2022.
“Jax, Britt, and I are still very close. Brittany is my best friend,” Kristen said. “I see them multiple times per week, probably more than Jax wants to.”
Kristen was one of the first to meet Brittany and Jax’s son, Cruz, and posted a picture of herself holding him to her Instagram in April 2021, when Cruz was just a week old. She also posted a picture of herself with Cruz on his first birthday as they played in a ball pit.
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Scheana Shay?
Although they also started off with a rocky relationship when Scheana Shay first began waitressing at SUR, in recent years, Scheana and Kristen have grown close, with Scheana telling fans as recently as 2021 the two are still friends.
Scheana hosted a chat with her followers on her Instagrams Stories in January 2021, and during the Q&A addressed a rumor that she was no longer friends with Kristen.
“False,” Scheana responded. “She was at my [gender] reveal, and we talk often.”
Kristen continues to hang out with Scheana, and posted photos of the two from Brittany's birthday in Las Vegas in January 2023. She also posted an adorable snapshot of herself with Scheana’s daughter, Summer Moon, in May of 2023.
Is Kristen Doute still friends with Tom Schwartz?
Kristen and Tom Schwartz’s friendship goes way back before Vanderpump Rules ever started airing. Schwartz told PEOPLE magazine in November 2023 that besides Tom Sandoval and Jax, Kristen was the first person he met in Los Angeles.
“We all lived together and were slightly dysfunctional, but we loved each other, and we came up together, and I have a deep bond with those guys,” he told PEOPLE.
Kristen was the one to introduce Schwartz and Katie pre-Vanderpump Rules, back in 2011. She was there for his wedding to Katie in August 2016. But as Kristen and Katie grew apart in 2019 and 2020, Kristen admitted it was difficult on her friendship with Schwartz.
"You know Schwartz. Schwartz is Schwartz. He's easy breezy, so Schwartz and I are still friends," she said in an interview with The Daily Dish in 2020. "But it does get complicated when they're having people over — and then Schwartz is texting me that he's really sorry because he wants to invite me but he just can't 'cause he thinks it's weird for Katie... He's stuck in the middle, and I think it's not easy for him 'cause he doesn't like the drama."
Kristen was still keeping up her relationship with Schwartz in October 2021, when she posted an “appreciation post” of him to her Instagram for his birthday.
But more recently their friendship has been a bit rocky, after Kristen made claims on her Sex, Love and What Else Matters podcast that Schwartz knew of Sandoval’s affair before Ariana, and before it became public. She also had harsh words for Schwartz on an episode of Scheana’s Scheananigans podcast, calling Schwartz a “f—king p—y for not speaking out publicly about how he feels regarding the so-called ‘Scandoval.’”
On the podcast, she told Scheana and Lala that Schwartz had been texting her about the news but said his lack of action "wasn’t cool."
Kristen hasn’t posted any pictures with Schwartz on her Instagram since that news dropped in March 2023, so it remains to be seen how close she and Schwartz still are.
Watch The Valley when it comes to Bravo in the spring of 2024.
