'Love Island USA' Host Ariana Madix on Cringy Dates, Possessive Men & Accidentally Giving Her Crush 'the Ick'

Ariana Madix has a resume a mile long—Dancing with the Stars finalist, stage and screen actress—and now, the Vanderpump Rules alum has added "Emmy nominee" to that list of credits. Just last month, Madix earned her first-ever individual Emmy nomination for her hosting work on Love Island USA (an impressive feat for the multi-hyphenate).

And while the star is quite busy, I was fortunate to have time to sit down with her for an exclusive interview to chat about everything from her nightly wellness routine, to avoiding "The Ick" in a relationship, to her new partnership with Orgain plant-based protein powder. Here's what Madix had to say...

Madix knows what she's talking about when it comes to the wellness space. So I had to ask what parts of self-care she prioritizes.

"I'm making sure I am taking care of myself, not just in the ways that feel luxurious, because sometimes wellness is a little basic, and sometimes wellness is not that cute. It's these little steps that make sure we're protecting ourselves and for our own longevity. So yeah: sunscreen, water, protein, fiber." (I'm pretty sure those are the four food self-care groups?)

But when she does have the time, particularly after a long day at work, Madix's wind-down and bedtime routine gets a bit more involved.

She said, "Coming home, I'm making sure that every ounce of makeup is off, so it's double cleansing, it's making sure that I'm moisturized. Maybe it's a red light mask moment, where I put it on and I fall asleep with the mask on. I wake up in the middle of the night and I have it stuck to my face.

"I'm not doing the doom scroll thing until the middle of the night, because then I'm not going to be getting my rest. I'll put on a nature documentary on the TV, turn it down, turn the brightness all the way down. I like to hear people talking when I'm sleeping, so I'll put on something like that. Try to make sure that it's the darkest room possible. And just get to sleep as quickly as I can."

And she's serious about her protein. "I have iced coffee every morning and so if I can put my Orgain Vanilla Bean Plant-Based Protein in my coffee, I'm gonna get that 21 grams of protein and I'm starting the day right, even if I don't have time to make breakfast, even if I don't have time to barely get out the door."

As Madix is also often looked to for relationship advice—she is the host of Love Island USA, after all—I had to talk to her about a major barrier to dating: getting "The Ick."

She was pretty candid about the subject, saying, "I think if it's the right person, you never get 'the ick.' If you get 'the ick' easily with someone, it's probably a sign that you don't really want to be with them in the first place." Sound advice.

As for 'icks' she used to tolerate but refuses to anymore, she said, "There's definitely been times in the past where I've tolerated possessive behavior, way back in the day, where in that moment, I thought, 'oh, this possessive behavior is because they care.' Once I was in to a certain point, even though I was recognizing then that it was toxic, it made it harder to walk away in that moment. But I should have just walked away the second that I said, 'huh, this person's really possessive.'"

I asked Madix if she had any funny 'ick' stories from someone trying to flirt with her or approach her. Quite the opposite apparently.

She told me, "No one ever approaches me, but one time I was out at a bar, this was many years ago, and I saw a guy I thought was cute, and I wanted to chat with him. And I built up the courage to go over, because I didn't know this man. It was a complete stranger. So, I had a couple drinks to encourage myself to just go and say hi. He said something like, 'oh, let's catch up later,' and I made a ketchup and mustard reference." Madix paused.

"I was 'the ick.'"

Don't worry, Ariana, we all have those days.