Scheana Shay 'Never Thought' Lala Kent Was an Alcoholic, Says This About Her Outbursts on Billie and Raquel (Exclusive)

Lala Kent came to the realization that she was an alcoholic in October of last year. Last month, she shared that news with the world, giving credit to Alcoholics Anonymous for saving her life.

But her friend and "Vanderpump Rules" co-star, Scheana Shay, "never thought she was an alcoholic."

Scheana stopped by TooFab following Lala's explosive blowup on two of her SUR colleagues, which was followed by a seemingly unprovoked panic attack during a group trip to Mexico. Scheana seems to think the outbursts, the panic attack and the alcohol consumption stem from the same place: grief. Lala's father, Kent Burningham, died unexpectedly in April of last year.

"I'm happy that she's getting the help she feels she needs," Scheana told us. "She seems to be in a good place, but I never thought she was an alcoholic."

"In Mexico, she had like a full-on panic/anxiety attack [on the bus]," Scheana continued. "I think that was triggered by alcohol because she hadn't been drinking, and then she did a total 180. I think that was a moment where she kind of realized, 'Okay, this is a problem.' Because it wasn't just sipping a little wine with the girls; it was a full panic attack."

Scheana, who roomed with Lala during the trip, said seeing her friend suffer was "hard to watch" -- but that didn't keep her from holding Lala's hand, calming her down and fetching her baby bottle, which she still drinks from every night.

"I was like, 'Whatever you need!'" Scheana recalled. "We're all just here to support her."

Lala's been taking intermittent "breaks" from alcohol since her father passed, but this is the first time she's referred to herself as an alcoholic.

Regarding Lala's outbursts on castmembers Billie Lee and James Kennedy's girlfriend, Raquel Leviss, Scheana said she was only there for "bits and pieces" of it.

"Seeing it all back, I was like, 'Whoa, I missed a lot,'" she told us. "But you know, I haven't lost a parent. I've lost several family members, so I've dealt with a lot of loss in my life, but I haven't lost a parent. I think everyone grieves in different ways. You can say she didn't handle herself professionally, but I don't know how I would've acted in that situation."

"It's hard to watch that back because you see someone hurting so bad and taking it out in the wrong way," she added. "But I don't think there's any right way to grieve."

Billie and James were both upset with Lisa Vanderpump for not punishing Lala the way she's punished other employees who've had on-the-clock meltdowns, like James and Kristen Doute.

"If James' or Kristen's parent had just passed away and they did that, I don't think they would've been fired," Scheana said. "I think in general, anyone doing that would be fired, but Lisa and Lala both lost someone so close to them at the same time, so I think she just had a little more compassion for her at the time."

So what did Lala think of her outbursts?

"She stands by that she thinks she carried herself very well in that situation because she didn't draw blood," Scheana said with a laugh. "That's Lala being calm! I was just there to try and support her and kind of bring her back down. We went bikini shopping for Mexico after that, and she was in a much better place."

"I'm going to do a second round of freezing my eggs this summer, so she'll have a sober buddy!" she added.

Stay tuned to find out all about Scheana's experience with freezing her eggs -- and how Adam Spott fits into the picture!

"Vanderpump Rules" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction to alcohol, you can find help here.

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