Has Ariana Madix made a love connection for Katie Maloney?

Days after Ariana, 39, returned to Los Angeles from Fiji, where she was hosting the sixth season of Love Island USA, her Vanderpump Rules co-star, 37, stepped out with Connor Newsum, 28, at Studio City’s Laurel Tavern restaurant for what is being reported as a “low-key” dinner date.

According to a report from Us Weekly on July 31, Katie and Connor were spotted at a corner table of the restaurant on Tuesday, where Katie “looked amazing.”

As viewers of Love Island may have seen, Connor was eliminated from the series after a brief connection with Leah Kateb, 24, ended with her picking another man, Miguel Harichi, 27, over him.

Although Connor also hit it off with JaNa Craig, 27, during his time on the island, he told Us Weekly last month that he was only in touch with Cass Laudano, 27.

“She got out and I was like, ‘Hey, so what’s up?’ We’ve been texting and, maybe, potentially making some light plans,” he shared prior to his outing with Katie. “We got along really well. We had a lot in common. We had a few conversations that were just really easy and we work in the same career field. … We just had a lot of similar interests, love for animals. I think everyone saw that weird fishing conversation we had when I was making her grilled cheese. Just random stuff like that. She’s really easy to talk to, she’s gorgeous and just fun to be around.”

As for Katie, she split from Tom Schwartz, 41, in early 2022 and their divorce was finalized later that year.

One year later, during a podcast appearance, Katie explained the breakup.

“I was not asking for the world. I was asking for somebody to show up for me and they couldn’t. Over and over and over again. It just became a voice that became louder and louder and I couldn’t deny it anymore,” she said on Almost Adulting in September 2023. “It was over months — a period of months — and I just got to a point where I was like I need to get real with myself and real with him. I kind of just knew it. I became emotionally withdrawn. I still loved him but the love between us — that connection — that romance was not there anymore.”

“I never felt prioritized. He didn’t really have my back or defend me or make me [feel] supported or heard. I just wanted that validation from him. So I made myself smaller in ways. I lost myself. I was a shell of a woman,” she added.

While Katie and Connor have remained mum on their potential romance thus far, Penny Davidi, Katie’s former chef at Something About Her, which she co-owns with Ariana, reacted to their dinner date on Instagram.

Amid her lawsuit against Katie and Ariana, which suggests the ladies failed to honor their work agreement and pay her as promised, Penny “liked” a post shared by Queens of Bravo on Instagram.

Vanderpump Rules is currently on pause ahead of its 12th season.