Amid their separation, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright reunited on their podcast for an awkward recap of a recent episode of Bravo’s The Valley.
Jax, 44, and Brittany, 35, opened the Friday, May 10, episode of their “When Reality Hits” podcast with an awkward argument involving rumors that Michelle Saniei Lally cheated on her husband, Jesse Lally. While Kristen Doute was originally the prime source for these rumors, Jax alleged in a recent episode that his estranged wife, Brittany, was behind the whispers.
“You straight up lied to everybody and said, ‘Brittany told me that Michelle has been texting guys,’ or something,” Brittany said during the podcast. “But you literally said to Kristen, ‘My wife said.’ That’s what you said on the show.”
While Jax denied that he blamed the rumors on Brittany, she insisted, “You need to explain yourself because I want to make this very clear: I never told Jax anything about Michelle, I never told anyone anything about Michelle. You can definitely tell, even on the show, that I’m not the one spreading things around.”
Brittany added that she “love[s] Michelle,” and feels it was “unfair that now people are saying that I started a rumor where I definitely, definitely did not and would never.” She told Jax, “You need to address it because it makes me look bad and it’s not true.”
Despite Brittany’s argument, Jax stated, “That’s not what happened.” (Jax and Brittany have been separated since February, and share a son, Cruz, 3).
“There was a pool party here going on at night. I came home and Kristen was at the counter,” Jax explained. “Luke said this a couple episodes ago: Kristen gets drunk and doesn’t remember what she says. She told me right at the counter. Then a couple days went by and I knew I had to film a scene, and I knew they were gonna have to bring it up. And I told you what Kristen told me.”
Jax further explained that when he went to film his scene for The Valley, Brittany allegedly told him not to bring up his conversation with Kristen. “You said, ‘Don’t bring that up. If she doesn’t remember, it’s really not worth it to talk about it again.’ And I agreed, but I kind of had an idea that they would make me bring this up,” he claimed.
Brittany rebutted with, “[The producers] wouldn’t even know this conversation existed though if you guys hadn’t mentioned it,” though Jax already had a response ready before the duo changed topics. “I just don’t like being accused of throwing my friends under the bus because I’m so not that type of person,” she said.
“Unfortunately, we do film scenes where I do have to talk about things that are being circulated so, that’s how I brought it up,” Jax stated. “That’s why I was like, ‘Brittany’s gonna be mad because she told me not to bring this up again,’ and obviously Kristen didn’t remember.”
Jax has previously had similar troubles with the rumor mill, particularly involving claims that he cheated on his estranged wife. Brittany, for her part, shared that while she didn’t believe the cheating rumors, they still put a strain on her and Jax’s marriage. The couple attempted to work through these issues during an April 30 episode of The Valley.
“We had it in the past, but we worked through it. Before we were married,” Brittany said during the Vanderpump Rules spinoff. “I know with Jax there is always going to be rumors out there.”
The Valley has since been renewed for a second season by Bravo. As for Jesse and Michelle, Us Weekly confirmed in March shortly before The Valley‘s series premiere that the couple had separated after almost six years of marriage.
“There’s a major story line about our life where I try to work on myself throughout the entire summer to be the best version of myself,” Jesse exclusively told Us at the time. “And if the best version of myself aligned with the best version of herself, then our marriage would make it. People evolve. If your marriage and relationship doesn’t evolve with it, it will never work no matter how bad you want it.”
