Scheana Shay has said that now that she’s no longer on Vanderpump Rules, she doesn’t have much of a relationship with Lisa Vanderpump. She has stated that she thinks Vanderpump only contacts her when she needs something. Now, she’s expressing frustration for the way Vanderpump used her to launch the series. Fans of the show have rolled their eyes at the claim.

Scheana Shay said Lisa Vanderpump used her to launch ‘Vanderpump Rules’

The pilot of Vanderpump Rules opens with Shay walking through Vanderpump’s restaurant, SUR, after a discussion with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Brandi Glanville. Shay had an affair with her husband, Eddie Cibrian, several years before.

At the time, Shay said she didn’t think Vanderpump knew about the affair, but has since realized she did. She now believes Vanderpump used her.

“She low-key used my real-life pain to launch her TV empire — and what an empire she has,” Shay told Us Weekly. “She gaslit me about it for a decade instead of just coming to me in the beginning. That’s the thing with Lisa: She doesn’t make mistakes. She makes moves and then calls them coincidences.”

‘Vanderpump Rules’ fans are not siding with Scheana Shay 

Fans of the show are not on Shay’s side. Many people have pointed out that Shay talked to the press about the affair long before she appeared on the reality series.

“When it came out that Eddie Cibrian was sleeping with Leanne [sic] Rimes as well as Scheana, Scheana literally called up Access Hollywood and gave an interview crying about it and how he was sleeping with both of them at the same time and how he broke it off with her to be with Leanne,” one Reddit user wrote. “Scheana can miss me with this bulls*** about LVP exploiting her. She sounds absolutely ridiculous saying she was exploited when she has been desperate for fame for years.”

Others stated their belief that Shay is “vastly overestimating” the importance of that storyline to the show. While it provided a smooth transition from RHOBH to the pilot of Vanderpump Rules, other storylines quickly eclipsed it.

“She frequently says VPR started because of her, instead of the reality of it just being the introductory storyline,” wrote one person. “Very different things, in my opinion.”

Others pointed out that Shay readily agreed to appear on a reality series and discuss the affair.

“Wow I didn’t realize LVP held Scheana against her will to sign (and repeatedly resign) her Bravo contract,” wrote one person.

“I am a Scheana defender, mostly because I feel like she gets an unreasonable amount of hate, but even I have to admit that she was ready and willing to be used,” wrote another person. “Now she’s out here trying [to] bite the hand that feeds her. If I was LVP I’d never work with her again.”

The two women no longer have much of a relationship 

Shay and Vanderpump were once close, but they no longer have much of a relationship. Shay has publicly stated that Vanderpump only contacts her when she needs something. Vanderpump confirmed this, but feels that it’s ridiculous for Shay to expect anything else.

“I’ve heard she said something nasty recently like, ‘I only call her when I need something.’ True that! Right?” she said on What What Happens Live (per Bravo). “I’ve got 600 people I work with.”

Vanderpump is currently rebooting Vanderpump Rules with an entirely new cast.