Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - My Good Side

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

This week, Scheana shares Chapter 9 of her memoir My Good Side — a raw, behind-the-scenes look at the moment she learned she was being demoted on “Vanderpump Rules.” From a tearful call before going live on WWHL to confronting unfair edits, freezing her eggs, and finding strength in unexpected friendships, this chapter is a powerful glimpse into resilience, reinvention, and refusing to be sidelined. Follow us: @scheana @scheananigans  COME FIND ME ON TOUR & BUY MY BOOK!!!MY GOOD SIDE is available for Pre-Order & tour tickets are for sale now at www.mygoodsidebook.com The video version of this episode will be available on Scheana’s YouTube page on Friday, July 18th.  Sponsors:Head to Wayfair.com right now to explore a HUGE outdoor selection.Hero Bread is offering 10% off your order. Go to hero.co and use code GOODASGOLD at checkout.Shop at REVOLVE.com/GOODASGOLD and use code GOODASGOLD for 15% off your first order. #REVOLVEpartnerSip on the juicy side of life. Find out where you can try Simply Pop at cokeurl.com/simplyPOP.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. From Vanderpump rules to motherhood and everywhere in between. Warm up the kettle, it's time to spill some tea. Let's get into some shenanigans with Sheena Shay Hello everyone welcome back to shenanigans. We are just a few days out from the official release of my good side. Available everywhere Tuesday, July 22nd. I'm equal parts nervous and excited as we get closer to this big moment. Yeah, I don't know what I am more of.

Am I more excited? Am I more nervous? I'm really excited to go on tour. It is something I have always wanted to do, but by now I'm sure you may have seen a few excerpts from the book floating around. And that makes me nervous to go on tour to be doing interviews and you know just going back to some dark times in my life but that's

why I wanted to write a book. I wanted to put it all out there, be a literal open book and to share my lived experiences with you guys because I feel like the more we talk about these things the more it helps people and whether it's you know I was just at the OCD conference this past weekend and I was talking to so many people there were thousands of people there I presented the illumination award which I was awarded last year through the International OCD Foundation to Zayn Gonzalez. He is an NFL kicker who went viral during a moment in a game

where he was performing his compulsions and people were talking shit saying they thought he was nervous and this and that. And he came out and said, you know, I have OCD. And so I got to meet him and his lovely wife, spent so much time with them. And just after talking to so many people at this conference, taking different classes, sitting in support groups,

I really feel like this is a huge passion of mine. I want to talk about it more. I want to normalize it and break the stigma, but I wanna do that in a responsible way. So this is something that comes up in the book throughout. It's a common theme where I realize, you know, hindsight is 20-20 and through writing this book, going back through so many experiences and things that I went through growing up

I realized oh my god, this was my OCD coming out and I just didn't know it at the time so Yeah, there have been a few excerpts of the book that have come out Us Weekly is on stands this week. If you haven't seen that yet go pick up a copy But today on the podcast, I will be putting chapter 9 out in full from my audiobook. The rest of it will be available on July 22nd when it is release date. But honestly, I'm just hoping with these excerpts that you're beginning to see just how much

I'm putting out there. You know this isn't your typical light, fair celebrity memoir. I mean, in this book, you know, I talk about it all. The scars, the scarlet letters, everything in between birth to this past December. I literally, I cover it all. And writing this book was not always easy. I cover it all and writing this book was not always easy. You know, it was at times deeply uncomfortable, but it was also really cathartic. I felt like it was the right time in my life

and I really needed this. And no matter what happens from here, I will consider it a success because it gave me something I didn't realize I was missing and that's freedom. Really, I no longer feel trapped. I don't feel constrained by the secrets and shame I've held. I feel free and it's a good feeling to put it all out there, but it also is scary. You know, there have been a lot of questions I've seen from friends. I have stayed out of the comment section just for my mental health. I was at the OCD conference and I pretty much just checked out of social media for the weekend, connected with clinicians, therapists,

kids. Literally, I've got to give a shout out to my girl Michelle. She should not be listening to this podcast because she's too young. But we started a snap streak together and I'm going to keep in touch with her because the fact that I had kids come up to me and not say, I know you from Vanderpump Rules, I watched the Valley because not really appropriate for kids. But to have them come up and say, they saw me on Victorious, Jonas, that they've seen my speech about OCD and that having someone like me gives them someone to look up to in the OCD community, it just, it meant the world to me.

So I was checked out of the comment section, but some questions I know have been asked are you know, why is she talking about this again? Why would she reveal this now? Why did she wait so long to share this? Why give away such a big reveal before the book is even out? So, you know, especially over the past week, I've heard a lot and I get it. But I truly believe most of those questions are going to be answered in the book. And if they're not, I'll be on tour over the next few weeks. So come find me, bring your questions.

You know, I'll be doing signings, I'll be doing live shows. I'll be hanging out after. I wanna meet as many of you as I can. I know you can add on a VIP meet and greet package. I think it takes place before the show. Maybe it's after, I don't know. We'll figure it out together. But you know, I am an open book,

literally and figuratively, and I'm ready to share it all. I'm scared, but I'm excited. And so here's the thing, all I ask is this. So before you comment on my story, just please take a moment to actually read it or listen to it, the audio book. I mean, if you like audiobooks, I feel like you might enjoy it more than reading.

You can listen to it while you're driving and you're hearing it in my voice. I could not have anyone else read my story. I needed to do that myself. So I really think you guys will enjoy the audiobook. This is me at my most vulnerable. And I know putting myself out there like this opens the door to critique. I am never gonna win.

You know, it's I'm damned if I do, I'm damned if I don't. But I decided to put it all out there and be damned if I do. Because even if I get ridicule, I know that I can sleep with myself at night. I know that I am putting my truth out there and it's the only way to reclaim my own narrative. So look, I didn't write this book to check a box

or as some strategic move to build my platform. I certainly didn't write it for the money. I can tell you that. Any debut author will tell you this is far from a get rich quick path. So that definitely wasn't it. I wrote my good side because I have spent literally years of my life feeling so misunderstood. I even wrote a song about it. That's not out yet, but it will be soon. And I've tried to just correct the record more times than I can count. And most of those attempts feel like screaming into the void. And for so long, I felt silenced and I don't want to feel that way anymore. So today, I'm taking back the mic and I'm honored to share with you what chapter 9 of my good side in its entirety and

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In the clubhouse, it's always a good time with fun vibes. While I was finishing Glam, I got a call from one of the VPR producers, Jeremiah Smith. As soon as I saw his name, I was concerned. Jeremiah didn't call unless it was important. And with all my anxieties about my place on the show still swirling, As soon as I saw his name, I was concerned. Jeremiah didn't call unless it was important. And with all my anxieties about my place on the show still swirling, I had a gut feeling it was bad news.

When I picked up the phone, he told me that Bill Langworthy and Alex Baskin, two executives on the show, wanted me to come in for a meeting the next day. Getting summoned by the higher ups is never a good thing, especially when conversations for the next season, in this case eight, are starting. So I knew that my instincts were correct, something was wrong. I told Jeremiah that I was in Manhattan doing press to promote the show, which I was surprised he didn't realize, and

that I wouldn't be able to make it in the following day. Then I asked directly, what's the meeting about? He was evasive and kept insisting that it wasn't a big deal and I should just let them know when I was back in LA. Something still seemed fishy, so I asked once more what the meeting was about. Again, he said not to worry about it, which of course made me worry about it even more, especially because I knew that Kristin had already been demoted.

As soon as we hung up, I called Alex and said I've got five minutes until I go on it even more, especially because I knew that Kristen had already been demoted. As soon as we hung up, I called Alex and said, I've got five minutes until I go on live television for your show. And I just got a call asking me for a meeting, I need you to tell me what's going on. I knew I couldn't play it cool if I didn't have answers before we started rolling. Alex replied, all I can say is that it's not a meeting you look forward to. I asked, is it similar to what happened with Kristen? Is that what you guys are going to do to me?

He said yes, confirming my suspicion. A lump formed in my throat. I was sad and confused, not to mention pissed off. Why me? Why now? I'd given so much to the show from the beginning, not to mention how I just spent six months flying back and forth to Las Vegas to keep up my filming schedule and I felt completely unappreciated.

Sensing my disappointment and anxiety, Alex said, just try to relax and go do Watch What Happens Live. We'll talk when you get back. Relax? Not possible. I was freaking out. I loved the show. And the money didn't hurt either.

Suddenly, it seemed like my future was at stake. I pulled Andy Cohen aside and explained to him what was going on. I thought he might have some influence and he would always tell me how he was rooting for me, so I hoped he might wanna help. At first he said, you know I don't work on your show. I have no say whatsoever. But I can tell you that if this is what they're doing, they're making a huge mistake, you are Vanderpump Rules.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could Andy Cohen have no influence over casting decisions for VPR? I was sobbing. He looked at me sympathetically and said, listen, we're a few minutes from air. I need you to get your shit together, make great TV, and show everyone that you deserve your spot on the show. I nodded, knowing he was right. The best thing I could possibly do was demonstrate to the execs what a big

mistake they were making, even though I could feel the panic rising in my chest. I downed multiple Moscow mules and hit my weed pen in an attempt to ease my angst and then emotionally blacked out from all the stress. Thankfully, Karl Radke from Summerhouse was the other guest on Watch What Happens Live with me. He joined Summerhouse as part of a backdoor pilot episode of EPR and both of our moms were bartending at Watch What Happens Live that night. Since Karl and I were friends, it felt like a safe space for me. So I was able to calm down a bit and have fun despite all the anxiety I was feeling.

The next day, my mom and I spent the afternoon walking around New York and having lunch with Carl and his mom in the West Village. It was the most beautiful day in the city. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was so warm we didn't even need coats. As we walked to the restaurant, I looked up at the sky and thought, I could totally live here. At lunch, I ordered a naperal spirits and a salad and

reminisced with Carl and our moms about our favorite moments together, which only made the day feel more perfect. I later confided to my mom that maybe I was done with VPR and should move to New York to start a new chapter. Living in Manhattan had always been a dream of mine and perhaps the timing was finally right. I was seriously considering it, but I realized that such a major change, on a whim, with no new job to speak of, was probably not the right decision. So, I returned to LA, met with production,

and found out that I was being officially demoted for season eight. Alex said, I'm sorry, Sheena, this is not my call, but we don't wanna lose you, we still value you. You're the glue that ties Sir to our new cast members. He also shared that after season eight, they were planning to do a spinoff show, which later became The Valley, and that if I stayed, I'd be part of both.

It was clear that I wouldn't have that opportunity if I left. The demotion was particularly disappointing because I was in a good place with everyone. The problem with our show was that we weren't like the Jersey Shore cast who had banded together to protect their salaries. My castmates were not willing to unite in protecting one another. I do recall that Sandoval called Alex and went to battle on my behalf, but he was the only one.

His attempt to help me was lost on production, though not forgotten by me. It was things like this that made our friendship special back then. Meanwhile, I just put down a 20% deposit on a home in Palm Springs that I was escrow for. I felt comfortable doing that because I'd asked the producers if they thought the show was gonna be renewed for season eight. They said it wasn't a guarantee, but that they strongly believed it would be. If not for that reassurance, I never would have initiated buying a new house.

And regardless of whether or not the show was continuing, I wouldn't have done it if I'd known I was being demoted. I was also an easy target. I let them walk all over me. For example, when I signed on to the show, the network said they might include my creative pursuits. And then I barely put up a fight when they didn't feature sex tips for straight women from a gay man on VPR or take any interest in my podcast,

which was doing very well, as I'd interviewed several celebrities in my first year. Every day, no matter what I had to deal with, I would show up and do my job with a smile on my face. What choice did I have? The job was paying my bills. Where else was I going to make as much a day consistently for 10 weeks?

They knew I wouldn't and couldn't quit. Of course, if Stassi had been demoted, she'd have resigned on the spot. But I didn't have the guts to be that bold, because I didn't feel confident in myself at the time, whereas Stassi always did. Things with the group and with the show never seemed to work out in my favor, so I had a lot of self-doubt. With that understanding, I changed my outlook. I was determined to make the best of a shitty situation and knew that the only person I was

in control of was myself. I viewed season 8 as a bridge to having gigs on two different shows, VPR and the spin-off. The summer of 2019, we filmed season 8. Before we started, Lisa informed me that she was really counting on me to bring the new servers and cast members at Sir into the fold and to help tie in their storylines to the show. She made me feel like I had an integral role despite my devaluation and of course, I accepted my position. So I plastered a smile on my face and was ready to welcome the new girls to VPR

with open arms, one of whom was Charlie Burnett. We both lived on the West Side and had a lot of things in common, including that we were half Mexican and half white, so I saw her as a younger version of me. We hit it off immediately. I felt very protective of her and tried to guide her. Charlie wasn't friends with anyone at CERN and I wanted to show her the ropes. I had so much fun with her when she first started. Despite my demotion, I was still a main character and that was the energy I wanted to show her the ropes. I had so much fun with her when she first started. Despite my demotion, I was still a main character

and that was the energy I needed to continue to give. And working with Charlie made it easy. As for Dana Cathan, I met her briefly at a party at Katie's house when the season was starting. I definitely didn't vibe with her right off the bat. Our personalities were very different. She had more of a dark, dry sense of humor and was one of those girls who knows she's cool.

In all honesty, maybe I was jealous of her in the beginning. She had that season one confidence that I had lost. Dana walked into the party like she belonged, whereas I felt like an outsider around all of my friends because I'd been demoted. It made me insecure about my place in the group, even though no one treated me any differently or like I was inferior. It was still painful to be singled out. Dana had just begun working at TomTom with Max Boyens, who was the manager there,

and whom I dated for about five weeks between seasons seven and eight. That first weekend of season eight, I had an off-camera trip to Palm Springs planned with Janet and a group of my friends. Max was coming as well, and when we were chatting about the trip beforehand, Dana overheard that we were going together. I'd learned secondhand that she and Max had started talking when she joined the staff at TomTom, but since Max never said anything to me, I thought nothing of it. I had no idea that she was interested in him romantically. So we went to Palm Springs and had a crazy fun night filled with drinks,

games of truth or dare, and another called Pizza Box that Janet made up and used to play back in Ohio. It was similar to truth or dare except it involved flipping a coin and coming up with rules for people that were always dares. When it came time for bed, Max got in mine. The next morning, Max and I fooled around a little. Did I initiate it? Sure, but he was a very willing participant until he wasn't

and said we shouldn't go any further. When we got back, he told everyone that I was trying to come on to him and that he didn't want me. That pissed me off because it sparked a rumor that I was attempting to sleep with, quote unquote, Dana's man. It wasn't even serious between me and Max in the first place.

I did like him, though I didn't see it going anywhere. I chalked our night together up to a drunk weekend in Palm Springs, as I wasn't interested in being with him again. We were friends who still flirted and nothing more. After Palm Springs, Max and Dana decided that they were going to give their relationship a real shot, which I was totally fine with. I was happily single, traveling to Vegas to meet friends when we had time off on Sundays and Mondays. Since we were filming five days a week, we weren't seeing each other much outside of work, and it felt like everyone on the show was moving

in different directions, especially since I didn't fit in as the single one. One day a few weeks after the trip, production thought it would be a good idea for me to have a conversation with Dana in the back alley of Sir so she could confront me about being jealous of her and Max. This turned out to be the infamous scene where I was using my inhaler because I was having a panic attack and when I broke the fourth wall by screaming at Jeremiah. I was at my breaking point. I felt like I'd done nothing but lived my life for the show for years and

they were taking advantage of my goodwill, time after time, season after season. I'd had enough. I explained to Dana in no uncertain terms that my issue was not with her and Max. It was that I'd been demoted and had my pay reduced. Also, that I'd built my career outside of the show for the last two and a half years and that they'd never featured any of it. While she'd just walked into Sir and they were highlighting her stand up comedy shows, which every cast member was invited to attend, except me.

Miraculously, in that moment, she acknowledged what I was saying. And it was gratifying that she finally knew why I'd been frustrated all season. I was still making a lot more money than she was on the show. But I'd been paving the way for seven years prior so that new girls like Dana could come work at Sir and have their opportunity to shine. For the first time since the demotion, I felt like someone really understood my feelings about the whole situation. Dana and I became friends right after that and even ended up going to my house in Palm Springs for the 4th of July.

It was on that off-camera trip where we completely bonded, staying up and talking until the sun came up and getting to know each other far beyond the max of it all. It felt rewarding that we could carve out a friendship when it felt like production had been pitting the two of us against each other. We're still friends to this day. Conversely, things did not work out with her and Max, which I could have told her would happen from the beginning. Through all of the season eight drama, I was also freezing my eggs. This made filming and

all of that season's drama even more challenging for me. Both because it was such an emotional process and because I was sober for some of it to prep my body. I was single and shooting myself up with hormones alone, my future uncertain in more ways than one. The show touched on it briefly, but it definitely wasn't taken seriously. It was actually my second go at freezing my eggs. My first round had been in January 2019,

though I'd only come away with a few mature eggs. My first round had been in January 2019, though I'd only come away with a few mature eggs. My doctor recommended that I do it again so that they could extract enough eggs to really feel secure. As the eggs go through the thawing and fertilization process, many of them don't survive. Then once you genetically test them, you can lose even more. Unfortunately, none of my cast members were in similar positions, so they didn't understand what I was going through.

I was mildly depressed, sober, and freezing my eggs for a family that I might or might not have, while they were all in happy relationships and more secure at work. It felt like I didn't have any support. When the season finally aired and I watched it back, I was very surprised by how the show was edited. There was this new guy, Brett Caprione, whom I'd met right before we started filming because Lisa was using him as a personal trainer.

She'd asked me to show him the ropes and I was totally game because he was hot. So we hung out one night in Santa Monica, got a few drinks, went back to my house, played some games and had a very short makeout session around 5 AM. The next day before filming, we were working at Sir together and I said, I'm not going into this season hooking up with the new guy at Sir.

I had the whole Adam thing last season and it's not going to be a good look for me. So let's just pretend like that never happened. He agreed and we told everyone we were just new friends who grabbed drinks with a group on the west side. But then as Brett was asking Max about me, Max told him that I was quote unquote, boy crazy. On the same night I'd first met Dana, which really pissed me off when I saw it on screen. Needless to say, that was not a fun night for me, and I really didn't appreciate the new guys talking about me behind my back. Was I attracted to Brett? Sure, we had kissed, but that was it.

When the show aired, it looked like I was pining for Brett and totally obsessed with him and that he was so grossed out by me, which was not the case at all. I had genuinely learned my lesson the season prior when I slept with Adam and ruined the friendship. I was not about to go for round two with Brett. This was especially frustrating given that I'd put those guardrails up, not to date another server at Sir, and

because of how I felt like the odd girl out with the other couples. When it did actually come out that Brett and I had kissed toward the end of filming, production was furious with me that they didn't have that information earlier on. They said it could have been on the show and that I was hiding parts of my life from them. I replied, you don't pay me enough to get the full story. I hid it because I was worried how it was going to make me look, which you're doing now anyway. They had proven me totally right.

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and get 15% off your first order with code good as gold. Offer ends August 1st, so don't miss out. One of the editors, Bree Dellinger, actually ended up going on a podcast after the season wrapped and said that her favorite thing to do while working on the show was to find my most cringe-worthy moments and piece them together. How gross is that? I never spoke about it because I was a team player, but that didn't make it any less hurtful. Honestly,

it seemed like it was totally unearned animosity and like I was being targeted for no reason. It would have been easy for the editors to make any cast member look silly, as it would be for any person if their daily life was being filmed, but I was singled out. After appearing on the podcast, Bree was fired. I mean, how could someone purposely sit at their desk and think, what else can I do today to make Sheena look even more cringe? It reawakened my trauma from being bullied in middle school and

by the mean girls at Sir. Only this time it was different because it wasn't coming from my peers. It was from someone I'd entrusted with my authentic story and my vulnerability. It's a shame that there are people like that in this industry and world who see us as quote unquote characters on a TV show and not actually human. There was a particular scene with Brett that was a perfect example of these editorial hijinks. We were on the front patio at Sir, and the editors spliced together two separate parts of our conversation to make me look bad. People online even noticed how the light kept changing since we filmed around sunset. The first part of the conversation was about how I knew his ex-girlfriend,

who was a really big YouTuber. I was saying how he was such a catch and what a bummer it was that it didn't work out with him because he seemed like a great guy and any girl would be lucky to have him. I also said that he and I were just friends and never going to be more. He agreed. But when the final episode aired, it seemed like I was telling him he was this amazing catch and he was letting me down by not dating me.

It was completely ridiculous and off base. That same season when Stassi and Bo got engaged, some of the cast was sitting at the table at Lisa Vanderpump's house and they put me next to Stassi's 15 year old brother Nikolai, whom I'd known since he was in kindergarten. The producers told me they wanted to feature Nikolai in the scene, so they prompted me to ask him about school, sports, whether he had a girlfriend now that he was older, etc. I was teasing him as I would a younger brother, thinking nothing of it.

That is until the final episode made it look like I was hitting on Nikolai. I was shocked. He was 15. But as usual, I was able to move past it for a few reasons. For one, there were enough good moments from the season to keep me going. Scenes that I felt truly captured my experience or gave viewers a look at the real me and the things I was struggling with at the time. Also, I still felt lucky to work with so many of my friends and to be able to share my story publicly, which I knew people would relate to.

Plus we had a lot of fun times and trips. And the steady paychecks certainly made it worthwhile. I wasn't ready for any of that to end. Thankfully, when season nine rolled around, my demotion was lifted. I thought I had proven myself and was finally in the clear. Little did I know it would happen a second time for season 10. All right, well thank you guys so much for listening. The audiobook, as I said, will be available Tuesday, July 22nd, same day as the hardcover book launches, and it will be

available wherever you get your audiobooks. But if you haven't yet, pre-order My Good Side or come find me on tour this summer and get your copy then. You can head to my goodsidebook.com for all of my tour dates, all of the information. I cannot wait to see all of you guys, meet all of you guys, and tour is gonna be fun. I've got a lot of fun surprises, giveaways, and it's gonna be a show you don't wanna miss. We'll see you there. ["No Troners", by The Bachelorette plays in background.] Thanks for listening to Shenanigans with Sheena Shay.

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