Lesa Milan was ready to give costar Caroline Stanbury a second chance after their The Real Housewives of Dubai season 1 feud, but it appears any reconciliation was short-lived.
“A snake may change her skin, but they’ll always be a snake,” Lesa, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, June 11, when asked where she stands with Caroline, 48.
Lesa had been eager to reconcile with Caroline when season 2 resumed filming.
“I don’t really like conflict. I know that sounds crazy, but I genuinely don’t like conflict,” she told Us. “So after reunion, I felt like a conversation between Stanbury and I needed to happen and she did apologize to me. And so I went in initially like, ‘OK, if you say you’re sorry, I’m going to take it for what it is until you prove otherwise.’ That’s pretty much what happened.”
Lesa also found it surprising that Caroline gained an ally in costar Chanel Ayan, who is one of Lesa’s good pals.
“It did take me by surprise in some ways more than others, but I think, overall, I’m not buying into it. That’s the only thing,” Lesa said. “But I’m here to tune in just like the rest of you guys because I feel like there were a lot of things that I didn’t see because I’m not in all the scenes. I’m not always with them. And so, I’m looking forward to seeing how this whole thing plays out.”
Lesa Milan. Us Weekly
According to Lesa, she questioned Chanel, 46, and Caroline’s true intentions because “they never liked each other” in the past.
“I get it, people can move on, but Ayan always told me that they weren’t really friends at the time,” Lesa said on Tuesday. “Maybe since we haven’t been friends, they’ve probably grown closer. I don’t know; I’m on the outside looking in.”
Lesa further stressed out that she is “absolutely not” jealous to see Chanel and Caroline growing closer.
“I’m friends with all the girls and I’m not one of those friends that’s super possessive and territorial — Ayan is,” Lesa said. “I mean, I never saw it as something that was genuine [and] I never saw it as something that was going to become anything. So, there was no room and space for me to be jealous.”
Lesa once thought of Chanel as her best friend, expecting the “same loyalty” in return when it came to her drama with Caroline.
“I’ve never [said,] ‘You can only be friends with me.’ We’re a friend group. We all hang in the same circle. We all go to the same parties, but we were best friends,” Lesa said. “I think for me, naturally, because my loyalty was to her, which is what caused the whole thing with Stanbury in season 1, I just expected that same loyalty and I didn’t get it.”
Chanel previously told Us last month that she was “broken-hearted” to be feuding with Lesa.
“I’m upset because there was so much love in our relationship. I don’t throw friends away,” Chanel exclusively told Us in May. “For me, friends are like family. You know what I mean? She is my family. You know what I mean? So there’s a lot of love there and when you watch everything play out this season, it’ll make sense where we are.”
Lesa, meanwhile, doesn’t buy Chanel’s remarks.
“Cry me a river,” she quipped on Tuesday before revealing whether there’s any chance of mending fences. “I never want to say it’s over because I’m sure, maybe, a conversation needs to happen. At the reunion, Andy [Cohen] might be able to work some kind of miracle.”
She continued, “I don’t want to say it’s over forever, but I am enjoying this pause. I feel like I’ve grown so much from it and I’m really enjoying this little space and where I am.”
The Real Housewives of Dubai season 2 airs Tuesday at 9 ET on Bravo.
