Vanderpump Rules alum Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor are two of the Main Characters in the new Hayu series The Valley – and their recently announced separation has made headlines worldwide.

The Valley begins with Jax and Brittany living together in their house in San Fernando Valley, California, with their young son, Cruz Michael Cauchi. The married couple announced their separation in February 2024, just a month before the premiere of The Valley dropped, and well after filming wrapped.

Throughout the season, viewers will watch how the decision to split built up, but during an exclusive interview with Chattr, the 35-year-old explained that their separation was a long time coming.

“I definitely have regrets about things in my life. But I don’t think this show is actually what led me to want to separate from Jax. I think it was just [because of] our every single day and my life before the cameras started, after the cameras started and after the cameras went down. “

“We filmed The Valley a while ago,” she added. “Just because we filmed the show, it did not make me decide to do the things that I’m doing right now.

“Of course, there were a bunch of things [that led to the split] that were involved that I’ve been dealing with for many years in my marriage,” she added.

Brittany moved out of their marital house in January 2024 and has been staying in an Airbnb ever since.

However, despite the hardships Brittany and Jax are facing as a couple, she said that she still cares a lot about him.

“Yeah, me and Jax are going through a hard time right now but still I have so much love for him.”

Brittany didn’t know who Jax was when she met him

Jax was one of the OG cast members of Vanderpump Rules when it premiered way back in 2013. He met Brittany in 2015, and she joined the show until they both exited in 2020, after season eight.

Although Jax has gained quite the name for himself by the time he met Brittany, she revealed that she had no clue who he was.

“I actually didn’t watch the Vanderpump Rules before I started dating Jax,” Brittany admitted. “My mum did and my friend Cara.”

Brittany explained that she met Jax when she was in Las Vegas for her close friend Cara’s birthday.

“Sheena [Shay’s] birthday was right after, so we happened to be in Vegas at the same time. Jax approached me at the bar,” she explained.

The majority of the Vanderpump Rules cast was at Sheena’s birthday, and that was the first time Brittany met them.

“I had no idea who these people were. They were so nice to me, but I had never seen anything,”

“Of course after that night when I first met him, Cara was like. “He’s this, this, this”. And, my mum was like, ‘I know exactly who that is’.”

“I made it a point pretty much to not watch episodes before I came onto the show.”

Stream The Valley season one on Hayu.

Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more entertainment news.