The 2025 Out100: Ariana Madix

This year, Love Island USA became Peacock’s most-streamed original series ever, a milestone that “blows my mind,” says host Ariana Madix. After “Scandoval,” the reality star successfully carved a path for herself outside of Vanderpump Rules, a show she appeared on for a decade. Madix went on to take TV guest roles and made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago for an eight-week run in 2024 — and it included the highest-grossing nonholiday performance week in the show's history.

This “proud bisexual” is also an entrepreneur who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of Something About Her, a West Hollywood sandwich shop she opened with fellow Vanderpump alum Katie Maloney. “Being a small-business owner is not for the weak,” she says.

Madix has wrestled with the loss of loved ones recently, including her grandmother Bonnie, her friend Ali Rafiq, and her dog Charlotte. “Grief has really tried to take me out a few times in my life,” she says. “I look for little signs of their love every day and allow myself to cry if I need to. A dark and morbid sense of humor also tends to help.”

Her message? “It’s cool to care. Care with everything you’ve got.” @arianamadix