Ariana Madix Sometimes Copes With Stress By “Disassociating”

Ariana Madix has had one hell of a year. Even if you’ve never watched Vanderpump Rules, which she’s been starring in for over a decade, you’ve seen her elsewhere — maybe on the most recent season of Dancing With The Stars (where she placed third) or playing Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway, a gig she just wrapped up on April 7.

The reality star has also secured a number of brand partnerships since VPR’s headline-making 10th season last spring, including a cheeky collab with BIC EasyRinse razors where she talks about saving time shaving so she has more time for everything else. In reality, though, the 38-year-old tells Elite Daily she isn’t as good at time management as her booked and busy schedule might make it seem.

“I am someone who is both overly ambitious and also very easily overwhelmed,” Madix says. Her trick for getting things done? “I make a list of priorities — like, what’s the most important thing? Sometimes things that are not that pressing get left to the wayside.” If you don’t hear from her for a few days, she’s probably working through her mile-long to-do list.

Now that she’s finished her Broadway run, Madix’s life might calm down a bit, so she’ll have more time for relaxing activities like scrolling her TikTok FYP. Here, she tells Elite Daily about her big three in astrology, the apps she uses most, and her most recent internet deep-dive.

Elite Daily: You are a starring cast member on Vanderpump Rules, a famously very chaotic TV show that’s currently airing its 11th season. How do you stay calm during tense moments of filming?

Ariana Madix: I have a habit of disassociating. When people talk about stress responses like the fight-flight-freeze, I'm a freezer. So at times I might appear very calm or unbothered, really I am purposely disassociating. I'm thinking about something else. If I allow myself to feel all the feelings in that moment, it might not be something I can mentally come back from.

I don't think it's healthy by any means. I'm not giving advice. That’s just kind of what happens.

ED: I get that. Remind me, what's your zodiac sign?

AM: My big three are Cancer sun, Aquarius rising, Virgo moon.

A friend of mine who is knowledgeable about these things said that basically I feel things really, really deeply, I present as though I don't feel anything at all, and then I’m not able to talk about any of it until I've fully processed and analyzed everything. That sounds a lot like me.

ED: Tell me about your relationship to social media. You took a break from it last year, but you’re pretty active on it these days. What is your screen time like?

AM: Well, I don’t think my screen time is totally accurate because my phone screen is open a lot, and it doesn’t immediately shut off when I’m not using it. But my screen time is a lot less than it has been in the past, because outside of things like finding funny TikToks, I've not been engaging as much with social media. It's down from what it used to be, but I'm sure it's still pretty high.

ED: I can't even look at mine, honestly.

AM: It's scary when it's like, "Your screen time was down from last week," and you're like, "Down? That's a lot."

ED: You mentioned TikTok. What apps are you using the most?

AM: Definitely TikTok and Instagram. Outside of that, I toggle back and forth between shopping and playing games. I'll play Mario Kart on the iPhone or Gardenscapes.

Do I want to vent to someone who's going to really help me through this? Or ... to someone who's just going to get it?

ED: Who’s your go-to person to call after you’ve had a long day and need to vent?

AM: One of my best friends, Brad, has been staying with me in New York. So when I come home, Brad is there and we will vent about stuff.

Or my boyfriend, Dan. He's a very calming force, so it's a different energy. It's kind of like, "Do I want to vent to someone who's going to really help me through this? Or do I want to vent to someone who's just going to get it?”

ED: Both are essential. What’s the last internet rabbit hole you went down?

AM: This morning, Dan and I were looking at the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. I was saying, "I'm pretty sure that hole is the Gulf of Mexico. But I actually might've made that up."

So we were Googling to look that up, then we started looking up more things about the meteor and how the heck did some things survive? It was a science-based morning.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.