Ariana Madix Tells Kristin Chenoweth About Her Big Year, From Love Island to Chicago

If anyone knows how demanding the eight-show-a-week Broadway grind can be, it’s Wicked veteran and Tony-award winner Kristin Chenoweth. So when she got on Zoom last week to interview Vanderpump Rules star and reality TV lightning rod Ariana Madix about her current stint as the merry murderess Roxie Hart in Chicago, she knew it wasn’t merely a clever bit of stunt casting. “Let’s just be honest,” Chenoweth declared. “I’m a business woman, and I know that you have brought business to Broadway.” Musical theater, it turns out, has been a lifelong dream for Madix, who grew up a dancer in Melbourne, Florida, where she appeared in her high school’s production of Once On This Island before moving to New York to pursue her big city dreams.

“I had a million different jobs,” Madix told Chenoweth. “I was promoting cigarettes, I was go-go dancing in Meatpacking at clubs, I was doing sketch comedy videos for websites. I was doing whatever I could to make money while also, in my mind, trying to be like, you’re an actor, you want to perform.” Eventually, Madix would find herself at the center of reality television’s thorniest cheating scandal—better known as #Scandoval—which she gracefully parlayed into gigs on Dancing With the Stars and Love Island USA, as well as a a West Hollywood sandwich bar, Something About Her, which she runs with her VPR co-star Katie Maloney. It was only a matter of time before the Great White Way came calling. Before wrapping up her second run at the Cook County Jail later this month, Madix got on the phone with Chenoweth—who’s currently in Boston starring in The Queen of Versailles before bringing the show to Broadway next year—to talk about practicing independence, hosting Love Island, and learning to avoid the comments section.

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ARIANA MADIX: Oh my god, you look so cute.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH: I am so faking it right now. I’ve got a CVS bow in my hair and a filter on. How are you, babe?

MADIX: I’m good. How are you liking Boston?

CHENOWETH: If I could wish that a theater for our show would be in New York, it would be this theater. It’s so perfect—the ornateness of it, the history of it. You will appreciate this: Bob Fosse premiered one of his shows at the Colonial Theater, called Dancin, and there’s this big marble table in one of these rooms where you’d go off and get notes or something. He evidently got on top of that marble table and tap-danced and broke it, so now no one touches it.

MADIX: Is there a crack in it somewhere?

CHENOWETH: Yeah, there’s a huge crack down the middle and we’re just like, “That’s the Bob Fosse table.”

MADIX: Oh, that’s so cool.

CHENOWETH: Anyway, I am so happy to be talking to you, Ariana.

MADIX: Oh, likewise.

CHENOWETH: I can’t wait to ask you everything I’ve wanted to ask you.

MADIX: Kristin, same.

CHENOWETH: We met very briefly, but I’m a big energy person. I pick up on people’s energy. When I met you, I turned to my now husband and I said, “That’s the real deal right there.” I’m a fan of the show and I’m a fan of yours. And forgive me if I ask some questions that you’ve been asked a lot, Ariana, ’cause I know what that’s like. But I really want to know, how big is Melbourne, Florida, and what was your little Ariana Madix dream?

MADIX: Melbourne is a town that butts up against other towns, so it all kind of blends together. I feel like there’s like 700,000 [people] or so. So I wouldn’t say it’s small, but it’s certainly the kind of place where you meet people and you’re like, “What high school did you go to?” For us, Orlando was kind of like the big city. Like, they had the good mall. So growing up, I danced as a little kid, as many of us did. Then I started riding horses and that became my love, but I always wanted to do theater. I did theater as a kid in junior high, elementary school, high school, and onward into college. It’s funny, actually, because your director, Michael Arden… I did Once on This Island in high school, and that’s one of his shows.

CHENOWETH: I’m going to tell him that and he’s going to flip out.

MADIX: It’s my favorite musical.

CHENOWETH: I remember when you popped up on Vanderpump [Rules]. I’m an OG girl. I was there for Jax and Stassi. When you popped up with all of them, I went, “There’s something so innately sweet and kind about her. I wonder what else she has going on?” So you’re sitting at home, you get the call [about Chicago]. What does that feel like? Was that a dream come true? Was Broadway something you always had your sights on?

MADIX: Oh, yeah. I was a theater major in college, and I moved to New York to try to do theater, but I didn’t know anybody, I had no representation, and I’m also short. You understand, as a fellow petite gal—

CHENOWETH: I do.

MADIX: I was not going to be in the chorus of The Producers. I don’t have legs for days. So I tried to make that happen, but I had to survive. So living in New York is when I learned how to bartend, and that’s how I was surviving. I was just hustling and I had a million different jobs. I was promoting cigarettes, I was go-go dancing in Meatpacking at clubs, I was doing sketch comedy videos for websites. I was doing whatever I could to make money while also, in my mind, trying to be like, “You’re an actor, you want to perform.” So eventually, I moved to L.A. with the dream that I would get some TV credits. If I really, really gave it a shot, and I really, really committed myself to L.A., maybe I would be able to come back to New York one day and make my theater dreams happen. So when the call came that there was interest, well, first of all, I cried. I freaked out. And then I just thought, “I have to give this my all because this is the moment where I can show them that I can do this.”

CHENOWETH: I was watching some of your dance rehearsals for Chicago. As you already know, our community in the theater is so tight-knit and so protective. It’s the hardest thing ever, I think, and you would take a bullet for your castmates. Is that the kind of feeling you had? Were people welcoming? Because we are loving but tough…

MADIX: Yes. I was really scared too because I didn’t know what they were thinking of me, coming into a long-running show. I also know that, in Chicago, a lot of people have come in, celebrities have come in, and I wasn’t sure if they were excited about that or if they were hesitant. But they were so welcoming and we just have the best time backstage. It’s so fun.

CHENOWETH: Let’s just be honest: I’m a business woman, and I know that you have brought business to Broadway. So for me, especially as a producer now, I look at it and I say, “Not only did you get to have a dream come true, and do well at it, but you also brought business to the show and to Broadway.” And for that, I’m grateful. I was so excited when they announced it. But what I wasn’t excited about for you was… Well, I heard a rumor. Is it true that you hosted Love Island and did Chicago rehearsals at the same time?

MADIX: So, I was coming back to Chicago and I was in Fiji for Love Island, so there were times that I was staying in Fiji [and rehearsing], but I wasn’t having to go anywhere. I was making people very uncomfortable doing “Hot Honey Rag” in the hotel gym.

CHENOWETH: I bet they loved it. They’re like, “Look at her go!” I don’t get to watch Love Island because I have limited time, but a lot of people in the cast in Queen of Versailles love you and say that you’re a great host. Did you ever see yourself being a host?

MADIX: I was a fan of the show for a very long time, and I watched the other hosts get to do these beautiful slo-mo entrances into the villa before they tell people that they’re going home. In my head I was like, “Wow, that would be so cool.” So you have your little fantasies, and then it was something that I actually got to do, so it was really, really fun, like playing dress-up.

CHENOWETH: I’m not a host, Ariana, but I’ve hosted things, and I find it to be stressful. I hosted the Oscars red carpet one time. I’ve hosted the Tony Awards. Maybe you’re just more of a natural at it, but I was sweating buckets. But I have a question for you. When I first hit, I thought I would go on this website and see what people were saying about me. “Oh, won’t that be fun?” My father said to me, “Kris, don’t do that. It’s not always nice.” And I said, “What could they possibly say?” I was so naive and so young. I want to know how you handle it.

MADIX: When there’s maybe one negative comment, that somehow outweighs the rest. I saw something recently on TikTok where someone said, “What’s more important, more positive thinking or less negative thinking?” The answer is less negative thinking, because you could have more positive thinking all the livelong day, but if you still have that little bit of negative thinking, it takes over everything else anyway. I’m better at not always looking now. But I was like you, where I really wanted to know. But I think that I don’t take it personally in the same way that I used to because, first of all, it’s always the same stuff over and over again. It’s never anything new or unique or true, and it’s always something that really just reflects how that person is feeling about themselves. There were definitely times where I would take it on personally, almost as a note like, “This is a constructive criticism of me as a person and I need to change this about myself.” But I don’t think that way anymore, which is helpful.

CHENOWETH: I’m proud of you. I used to be the same way. I remember reading a comment somebody had written. “You know who she’s like? She’s like the girl that gets out of the bathtub in The Shining.” But I don’t spend my time responding anymore at all. I just think it’s funny now. Is there a person in your life that you would call a mentor? I have about three or four women in my life. Who is that person for you, Ariana?

MADIX: I would definitely say my mom.

CHENOWETH: Good.

MADIX: Absolutely. My mom, she has nothing to do with the entertainment world, but she texts me every day that there’s a show and she’ll send me a red rose emoji just to let me know she’s thinking of me. She’s the person who was front row center at every one of my school plays and has come to see me in Chicago. She’s someone that I have always looked up to because she’s always been so fiercely independent. My grandma was as well, and my great grandma, so it’s come down the chain. I admire them so much.

CHENOWETH: You know what, girl? That’s a good quality to have.

MADIX: You’re that way, too.

CHENOWETH: I think that’s what I saw in you and respected so much. Sometimes men have trouble with that.

MADIX: Oh, yeah.

CHENOWETH: I’m not even going to touch that. But Something About Her—I have to be in L.A. a lot this fall doing some stuff and I cannot wait to come see the store and pick out a sandwich. I used to live down the street from it.

MADIX: Really?

CHENOWETH: My husband and I, we went through COVID there together and we would walk the whole neighborhood. How much work is that?

MADIX: It’s a lot. I’m really lucky and grateful that Katie [Maloney], my business partner, is incredible. She’s holding down the fort, killing it every day in L.A. while I’m here in New York. When we get to be in the shop together, it’s always the best.

CHENOWETH: You two are so cute. I just love you all.

MADIX: I love her so much. We have the best team. We have the best employees. It’s just a really lovely place to get to spend the day and meet everyone coming in. We can’t wait to have you.

CHENOWETH: Is there a sandwich I should order? Is there a favorite?

MADIX: I love “The Cameron,” which is sort of our version of an Italian.

CHENOWETH: Oh, boy.

MADIX: It’s delicious. But lately I’ve been in a “Kate” mood, which is our version of a Caprese.

CHENOWETH: The great thing about doing Broadway is you can eat whatever you want because you’re going to burn it off.

MADIX: Exactly.

CHENOWETH: You look so good, Ariana. You look happy, glowing. You look like you’ve taken charge of your life.

MADIX: You can’t say that. You’re making me cry.

CHENOWETH: Oh, I love you to death. What are some of the things that you look forward to, things that you would like to have happen in your career or personal life?

MADIX: Well, I would love to get to travel more. I would love to be able to do more shows. I love live theater. It’s just the best. I would love to just play more in that space, and hopefully the universe will allow me to. Also, I really want to see your show when you come to Broadway next year.

CHENOWETH: Girl, you’ll be on my opening night list. You better get there.

MADIX: I’m so excited about it. As a Florida girl, and a Queen of Versailles documentary fan, I just have to see the musical. 

CHENOWETH: I’ve been to her home and it’s as big as Boston. It’s so big. It’s just big. They have a Benihana in the basement. It’s crazy.

MADIX: Oh my gosh.

CHENOWETH: Our show is a cautionary tale for people who have fame and money. It had all the elements that I was looking for to come back to Broadway. Because you and I both know, when you come to Broadway, that’s what you’re doing. That’s it.

MADIX: That’s what I’m trying to tell my publicist and my manager, “This is it, you guys.”

CHENOWETH: “I can’t do any more.” Another question I have: are you coming back to Vanderpump, or is it undecided?

MADIX: I don’t think there’s any word yet on any of it.

CHENOWETH: I’m just going to say this to you. I’m a big believer in the almighty, but I also think things happen the way they’re supposed to. I’ve been where you are, and it doesn’t feel good. But I want to be very, very clear in this interview. Not only have you proven yourself on a reality TV show and as a host, but on my stomping grounds, which I love more than anything, which is Broadway. Believe me, we are a fun-loving group, but if you don’t belong, we’re like, “Okay, you move along.” That’s not how it is with you. I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. I just mean it to say, you’ve proven yourself. I don’t know you well, but I think it’s okay for me to say that I’m proud of you. If you ever need me in any way, shape, or form, or just want to hear a voice that says you’re doing okay, just have your publicist reach out to mine and you’ve got me. Okay?

MADIX: Kristin, you’re going to make me cry.

CHENOWETH: Well, it’s the truth.

MADIX: I love you so much. You have no idea how much I love you.