Chanel Ayan sheds more light on her feud with Lesa Milan – and how Rihanna unwittingly caused drama for the former best friends of the “Real Housewives of Dubai”.
“The reality is that Rihanna follows me (on Instagram), I have a relationship with Rihanna,” Ayan tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in an exclusive interview, explaining why Milan asked her to contact the pop superstar on behalf of his maternity line, Mina Roe.
“Lesa asked me, ‘Do you mind if you contact Mina Roe for me?'” the model continues, noting that Rihanna was pregnant at the time.
Like a good friend, Ayan says she DMed the “Work” singer on Instagram and asked if she would be interested in cool styles from the celebrity-favorite Milan-based brand — already worn by the likes of Beyoncé and Khloé Kardashian.
The only problem, Ayan emphasizes, is that she had previously contacted Rihanna for business advice on her cosmetics collection “Ayan Beauty” – and had not yet received a response.
“Everyone said, ‘Ayan, you can’t ask that much of her. You’ve only just met her,'” she says, recalling the reactions of other friends and relatives to her kind gesture towards Milan.
“I sent the DM. I showed (Milan) that I sent the DM because she kept asking, ‘Did she read it? Did she read it? Did she read it?'” Ayan explains. “And then my friends were like, ‘Ayan, you can’t do that. You just asked her about Ayan Beauty.'”
Therefore, Bravolebrity retracted the message before the Fenty Beauty founder read it.
“I already asked her to help me with something. She hadn’t even responded to me about Ayan Beauty,” Ayan points out, although Rihanna eventually responded to her questions about the industry. “She did that later.”
Ayan remembers Milan being upset about the retracted Mina Roe message, but that’s not the only reason their once-close bond fell apart. (Milan told Page Six Style in April that she eventually handed Mina Roe over to Rihanna herself.)
Both parties have hinted that during the upcoming finale of “RHODubai,” an incident will occur that Ayan describes to “Virtual Reali-Tea” as “very profound” and that will end the friendship for good.
Nevertheless, she hopes for a reconciliation with Milan. “She’s like family to me. You don’t throw your family away,” says Ayan. “You just don’t do that.”
Until then, she’s enjoying the relationship she’s built with Rihanna – an avid “Real Housewives” fan – since joining the all-powerful franchise with the first season of “RHODubai” in 2022.
“I’m obsessed with Rihanna, obsessed! She has a bit of the same lifestyle as me and is this successful, beautiful mogul,” the Kenyan-born actress raves about the Barbadian beauty. “Many of the things I love about myself, I also love about her. She’s a goddess.”
The mother of one, who has a teenage son named Taj with husband Chris Pillott, reveals she was once hired by Rihanna to model for Fenty Beauty when the entertainer brought the brand to Dubai years ago.
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“When Rihanna first came to Dubai to open Fenty Beauty, I was her model. So I met her and the first thing I said to her – and I have a video of it – was, ‘Girl, my son loves you, my son is 11 years old and wants to marry you, you are so beautiful, you are so stunning,'” she says.
“So when she followed me (after ‘RHODubai’ premiered), I was like, ‘Babes, we know each other.’ She was like, ‘What?’ I sent her the video of me and Taj telling her about my son, and she was like, ‘Oh my God, you really love your son.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s the love of my life.'”
“The Real Housewives of Dubai” — which taped its season two reunion this week — airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
