Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are taking every possible step to stave off a divorce, and dating other people is on the table.
During the Friday, May 31, episode of their “When Reality Hits” podcast, Taylor, 44, spoke out about his recent outing with model Paige Woolen — and offered a surprising update about his marriage to Cartwright, 35.
“I am not — I repeat not — dating anybody. I was seen out with someone and it was strictly lunch. Obviously, Brittany and I are separated and have been for a long time,” he noted. “What we are going through right now is tough. Marriage is not easy.”
Taylor said he and Cartwright have been discussing next steps amid their separation. “We are trying to figure out a lot of different things: therapy, separation and maybe, possibly, dating other people,” he revealed. “We are trying to exhaust everything before we have to go down the divorce road — if that would be the case.”
There are guidelines that Taylor and Cartwright have which allow them to explore dating outside of their marriage.
“We are both on the same page about dating other people. That is OK,” he continued. “We are both in agreement that this is OK. The most important thing, though, is our son.”
He added, “Part of taking some time apart means exploring other people. All marriages are different but this is what is good for our marriage. This is something we talked about and we are on the same page. We have a couple of rules with it but this is what we are exploring.”
Taylor didn’t want listeners to think the exploration was one-sided. He said that Cartwright is also checking out other options.
“That is not to say Brittany isn’t doing what she’s doing. I know it’s not out there what she is doing but she’s doing her own thing, too, he said.
Despite all that justification, Taylor maintains that he’s not dating Woolen. “I am not dating anybody — nor do I plan on dating anybody,” he concluded. “I don’t know if I am ready to start the dating thing again. I don’t think I am. We are just hanging out right now with whoever. I know Brittany is probably doing her own thing too. We are in argument about it.”
Scheana Shay had a different take on the situation. During Friday’s episode of her “Scheananigans” podcast, she questioned Woolen’s appearance at former Vanderpump Rules costar Jeremy Madix‘s birthday. In footage from the event, Woolen could be seen jokingly announcing that she’s “pregnant” while standing next to Taylor.
“This sense of humor that you think you have is not going to fly with this friend group. There’s nothing funny about what you said. By her saying that, it opened the door for so many people to scrutinize Jax and Brittany’s parenting and to talk about Cruz,” Shay, 39, said about Cartwright and Taylor’s 3-year-old son. “I know Brittany was really upset this weekend because of that.”
Cartwright, for her part, has remained tight-lipped about the situation. Rather than stating outright how she feels, Cartwright has taken an oblique route to sharing her current mental state. She shared a video of a fan looking horrified at Taylor’s behavior on a recent episode of The Valley to her Instagram Stories on Sunday, May 26.
“Thank you, & just imagine what I’ve been through behind closed doors,” Cartwright wrote.
The Valley airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
