Ariana Madix ‘Can Trust’ Herself After DWTS Helped Her Deal With Anxiety

Ariana Madix from Vanderpump Rules has been living her best life in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom. Ariana and her dance partner, Pasha Pashkov, were at the top of the leaderboard for week 7 and week 8. Not too shabby!

All the while Ariana has been coping with a foot injury and a back injury. When she hits the ballroom, she shines. And with only six couples left in the DWTS competition, she has a real shot of bringing home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Dancing has helped Ariana tame her anxiety

Ariana spoke to Life & Style about how DWTS has helped her deal with her anxiety. “Every time before we perform, I’m, like, incredibly nervous. I’m out here, like, shaking my hands, trying to do deep breathing or whatever,” Ariana explained. “And even though I feel that, somehow it still comes together. So I think that that’s something that I’m learning – that I can feel that way, but that doesn’t mean everything is going to fall apart. I can trust myself,” she added.

Ariana often spoke about her battle with anxiety on Pump Rules. And I am sure that dating Tom Sandoval for nine years didn’t help the situation. Ariana stated, “I am a very anxious person in general, so I think that it translates in the sense that I can just breathe through it and keep going. I can trust myself to handle it.”

The former SUR bartender was thrilled to be paired up with Pasha. She explained how he keeps up her confidence in the ballroom. “Even after dress rehearsal, it was like, ‘Oh that went great,’ and I was nervous [but Pasha was] just like, ‘That’s all I want. You can just do what you just did,’” the VPR star said.

When Sandoval cheated on Ariana with her friend, Rachel Leviss, she was blindsided. She discussed Scandoval briefly on DWTS but has put the painful experience behind her. Ariana is focused on dancing and competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. And I am happy that she has picked up some tools to help her with her anxiety.