'Vanderpump Rules' alum reveals how 'Masked Singer' triggered her panic attacks and depression
'Vanderpump Rules' star Scheana Shay confessed her love for bats while competing on season 13 of 'The Masked Singer.' Dressed as her favorite nocturnal creature, the former reality star impressed the judges with her funky rendition of Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso.' Unfortunately, she got unmasked in the first round itself. "Thank you, this has been so fun; I'm just proud of myself for doing it," a visibly stoked Shay expressed on stage after her thrilling reveal. However, just two months after her glamorous participation, Shay has shockingly admitted that she "fell into depression" during the taping of the mega-hit talent show. “I have really just been feeling depressed for the last six months. It was something that I kept trying to just mask and say, ‘No, I’m fine. It’ll go away,” she disclosed on her 'Scheananigans' podcast.
The Bravo personality also stated that she initially rejected the hit Fox talent show, “I got asked to do the show. I immediately was like, ‘Hard pass, absolutely not.’ I didn’t care how much money they’re paying me. I was not going to go on another show on national television just to get made fun of,” Shay emotionally confessed. She said that she didn't feel at ease being in front of the cameras for another national primetime show. “This was something that was so far out of my comfort zone," she added. The reality star admitted to having pushed her mental health issues under the rug without addressing them.
“I just was like, ‘Maybe I'll up my meds a little bit,’ but then I started grinding my teeth a lot at night,” she opened up about the difficulties she had using Zoloft, a prescription medication used to treat stress and depression. The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' alum revealed that she had been prescribed a 75mg dosage of the drug, and she wished to change it to 100mg. Additionally, Shay acknowledged that the stress of the holiday season and the erratic wildfires in Los Angeles caused her to experience panic attacks during 'The Masked Singer' filming.
Meanwhile, the fact that she would not be returning to her renowned reality series 'Vanderpump Rules' following a cast reboot added to the mental distress for the mother of one. “Everything is great, but mentally it hasn’t been,” she said. “I just wanted to open up about that because I feel like you could have everything in the world and still not always feel completely happy. I just wanted to normalize it.” However, in a previous interview with Page Six, Shay said she was "extremely proud" of herself for conquering anxiety because she wanted to demonstrate to her 4-year-old daughter, Summer Moon, "that it's okay to fall down and get back up."
During her reveal speech, Shay had gushed about "bats being her favorite animal" and how she had named her daughter "Summer Moon" in connection with the nocturnal mammals. The 'Vanderpump Rules' alum had a special message for her four-year-old after being unmasked. When host Nick Cannon asked, "What do you think your daughter is going to say when she sees you unmasked and knows that you were performing on this stage?" Shay had gleefully expressed, "I hope she's no longer afraid of bats, and hopefully now she has the same love for bats that I do."