The Valley stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are taking some time apart. While the two are currently not together, both have stated that a reconciliation is possible if they work through their communication issues.
The couple announced their separation on the February 29 episode of their podcast When Reality Hits, telling listeners they are living in separate homes. “I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health,” Brittany shared on the episode.
Many fans were surprised by the separation news given how much turmoil the couple has survived in the last 9 years. The two have been together since 2015 and fans witnessed the first few rocky years of their relationship on Vanderpump Rules. The couple has come close to splitting up before but viewers felt the two had moved past the growing pains of their relationship after they tied the knot in 2019. But it looks like they still have some issues to sort out.
So, what led to the breakup? Both Jax and Brittany have spoken at length about the sudden split.
Here is everything we know about the separation:
Brittany felt taken for granted in the marriage
In an interview with Page Six at The Valley premiere party, Brittany shared she felt taken for granted in the relationship.
“We’ve been together nine years, and people stop appreciating and take you for granted after some time — and that should never happen in a marriage,” she told the outlet. “So that’s what I’m trying to get back…and if it doesn’t come back, then we won’t get back together.”
She went on to say that she gave her husband a list of things he needed to do for the relationship to continue but he hasn’t followed through.
“I asked him to do little things — four little things — and … go to therapy was one of them. He hasn’t done that yet,” she said. “So there’s little things that I’ve asked him to do. We’ll see if he does it all, but we’ll also see if it changes anything.”
In addition to communication issues, Brittany has been open about feeling unfulfilled in the romance department. In a teaser trailer for The Valley, she admitted her and Jax’s sex life has suffered in the last few years.
“We don’t have sex ever,” she told co-star Janet Caperna, noting that she feels like her husband is not attracted to her.
In her interview with Page Six, Brittany said she reached a breaking point with the lack of intimacy in the marriage. “I think I just had to be like, ‘I’m hot as hell, and I’m not going to listen to this bulls–t anymore’,” she shared.
Jax says he didn’t cheat
When the separation news broke, fans assumed infidelity must be the culprit given Jax’s history of cheating. Also, Katie Maloney alluded that Jax was very much still a man about town in a recent episode of Vanderpump Rules. However, Jax has been adamant that cheating was not the cause of the split.
“I know that everybody is out there saying I cheated. That’s not true. It’s just a communication thing. Believe it or not, people can separate [for reasons] other than cheating,” he told Page Six.
It’s not a publicity stunt
The couple split just weeks before the premiere of their new Bravo show, which led fans to wonder if the breakup was a publicity stunt to promote the new show. We all saw how Scandoval breathed new life into Vanderpump Rules. However, both Jax and Brittany have come out and said the separation is very much real and not for TV drama.
“[The publicity stunt rumor] really upset me because if people actually watched me over the years and knew my personality and knew me as a human being and not just a reality star, they would know that I would never do that,” Brittany told Us Weekly in a March 15 interview. “I would never put my son in a situation like that. I would never put my life in a situation like that.”
Their son is doing just fine
Jax and Brittany welcomed a son, Cruz, in 2021. After fans heard about the separation, they wondered how their two-year-old son was coping.
“He’s just fine. He’s so happy. I feel like whenever he’s with Mama, he’s so happy, whenever he’s with Daddy … he’s fine, he’s doing great,” Brittany told Page Six in March.
The pair have stated that raising their son is their priority. Jax shared that he and Brittany are still in constant communication and are successfully navigating co-parenting.
“There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since the separation that we don’t really see each other unless I’m working or she’s working,” he said. “We’re co-parenting.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK JAX AND BRITTANY WILL GET BACK TOGETHER?
