Chanel Ayan is shedding more light on her feud with Lesa Milan — and how Rihanna unknowingly caused drama for the former “Real Housewives of Dubai” besties.
“The reality is Rihanna follows me [on Instagram], I do have a relationship with Rihanna,” Ayan tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in an exclusive interview, explaining why Milan asked her to reach out to the pop superstar on behalf of the latter’s Mina Roe maternity line.
“Lesa asked me, ‘Do you mind if you reach out [for] Mina Roe for me?’” the model continues, noting that Rihanna was pregnant at the time.
Like a good pal, Ayan says she sent a DM via Instagram, asking the “Work” singer if she was interested in rocking styles from Milan’s celebrity-loved brand — already worn by the likes of Beyoncé and Khloé Kardashian.
The only issue, Ayan points out, is that she previously reached out to Rihanna for business advice about her Ayan Beauty cosmetics collection — and had yet to receive a response.
“Everyone was like, ‘Ayan, you cannot ask her so much. You just met her,’” she says, recalling reactions from other pals and loved ones to her kind gesture for Milan.
“I did send the DM. I did show [Milan] that I sent the DM because she kept asking, ‘Did she read it? Did she read it? Did she read it?’” Ayan elaborates. “And then my friends were like, ‘Ayan, you cannot. You just asked her about Ayan Beauty.’”
So, the Bravolebrity unsent the message before the Fenty Beauty founder read it.
“I already asked her to help me with something. She had not even replied to me about Ayan Beauty yet,” Ayan emphasizes, though Rihanna eventually offered a response to her queries about the industry. “She did after.”
Ayan remembers Milan being upset over the rescinded Mina Roe message, but it isn’t the sole reason that their once-tight bond unraveled. (Milan told Page Six Style in April that she eventually delivered Mina Roe to Rihanna on her own.)
Both parties have teased that an incident — which Ayan describes to “Virtual Reali-Tea” as “very deep” — takes place during the upcoming “RHODubai” finale, ultimately ending the friendship.
Still, she is hopeful for a reconciliation with Milan. “She’s like family to me. You don’t throw your family away,” Ayan states. “You just don’t.”
Until then, she is relishing in the rapport she’s built with Rihanna — an enthusiastic “Real Housewives” fan — since joining the juggernaut franchise in 2022’s inaugural season of “RHODubai.”
“I’m obsessed with Rihanna, obsessed! She comes a bit from the lifestyle I come from and then she’s this successful, beautiful mogul,” the Kenya native says, raving over the Barbadian beauty. “A lot of things I love about myself, I feel like I love [about] her, too. She’s a goddess.”
The mom of one — who shares a teenage son named Taj with husband Chris Pillott — reveals that 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 came to Dubai for the first time 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 — I was like, ‘Girl, my son loves you, my son is 11 years old, wants to marry you, you’re so beautiful, you’re so stunning,’” she recounts.
“So when she followed me [after ‘RHODubai’ premiered], I was just like, ‘Babes, we’ve met.’ She was like, ‘What?’ I sent her the video of me and Taj, me telling her about my son and she goes, ‘Oh my God, you really love your son.’ And I said, ‘Yes, he’s the love of my life.’”
“The Real Housewives of Dubai” — which taped its Season 2 reunion this week — airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.