Brittany Cartwright-Cauchi, Jax Taylor Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Haddad Media;Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Brittany Cartwright didn’t believe that husband Jax Taylor was cheating on her — but that doesn’t mean the rumors didn’t hurt her marriage.
During a new episode of The Valley, which aired on Tuesday, April 30, Brittany, 35, and Jax, 44, attempted to work on their issues.
“I’ve been working so hard on my projects, but as a result of that, I put my relationship on the back burner,” Jax told the cameras. “I want her to know that I am trying.”
Brittany received the surprise of her life from Jax when he took her to a tantra intimacy coach. After the expert discussed their goal of “more intimacy, better sex and more orgasms,” Brittany and Jax were asked about their sex life.
Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s love story wasn’t exactly a fairy tale leading to their 2024 break. Taylor met Cartwright in between seasons 3 and 4 of Vanderpump Rules in the spring of 2015. Fans watched Cartwright move to Los Angeles to be with Taylor during season 4 of the reality series. While she quickly […]
“It has been over a month,” Brittany said of their last sexual encounter before clarifying in a confessional. “Twice in the past year. Like it is bad.”
Brittany acknowledged attempts on her end to not turn into Jax’s roommate. “I like to put on some lingerie or something sexy just because I am always in mommy mode,” Brittany, who share 3-year-old son Cruz with Jax, added. “Sometimes I wonder if Jax isn’t attracted to my body after having a baby. Because it has changed so much. I have a lot of stretch marks and loose skin. That can be really hard to deal with sometimes.”
The candid session took an unexpected turn when the topic of cheating came up. Brittany said her and Jax weren’t dealing with infidelity but that they had in the past. (Vanderpump Rules had a front row seat to Jax’s cheating scandal with Faith Stowers during season 6.)
“We had it in the past, but we worked through it. Before we were married,” Brittany noted. “I know with Jax there is always going to be rumors out there.”
Despite not being concerned about the speculation, Brittany admitted it was still a thought, adding, “I definitely don’t think that Jax is cheating, but of course, it is always in the back of my mind. If he’s not cheating then why do we have so much intimacy issues?”
The next exercise — called soul gazing — required Jax and Brittany to stare into each other’s eyes while thinking about the state of their relationship. The pair, however, were obviously on very different pages with Jax having more hope for their future than Brittany.
“Brittany has been my rock since day 1. This is my wife, this is my partner and my best friend. This is my soulmate, I guess,” Jax shared. “She’s been everything in my life for the last 10 years. That’s all I know. I want to do whatever I can to be that guy that she first met. I hope she sees that I am putting in the effort and I hope this buys me a little time.”
Meanwhile, Brittany didn’t think the duo were moving in the right direction.
When viewers were introduced to staff at Lisa Vanderpump‘s restaurant during Vanderpump Rules‘ 2013 premiere, it was clear everyone was intertwined in one another’s love lives. From Stassi Schroeder‘s rocky relationship with Jax Taylor, which took a turn when he hooked up with her best friend Kristen Doute, to Peter Madrigal’s casual connections to several […]
“I feel like he tries to put on this front like things aren’t as bad as they actually are. I can tell that Jax does not appreciate me anymore. He doesn’t lift me up or put me on a pedestal. He doesn’t make me feel good about myself,” she explained. “I just feel like we have been together so long that he doesn’t care to make that effort anymore. That stopped a while ago and if that doesn’t change, then I don’t know what is going to happen to us.”
Bravo viewers previously saw Jax and Brittany weather ups and downs on several seasons of Vanderpump Rules. Jax was on the show since its 2013 debut while Brittany came on as a cast member two years later. They documented their rocky road to happily ever after, which included having their 2019 nuptials filmed for the show.
Since expanding their family, Jax and Brittany both discussed how their connection changed. Later in the episode, Jax attempted to make Brittany happy by taking her on a date night. The twosome end up at a penthouse in The Mondrian, which felt like an odd choice considering one episode prior there was a shocking cast fight at the hotel.
Jax opened up on screen about how his situation with Brittany has changed.
“We used to be so much fun — and then we had a child and it all went out the door,” he detailed. “I have heard stories of this happening, but I thought it wouldn’t happen to me. And it did. I think the pressure is on for me.”
Once they sat down at the dinner table, Jax and Brittany chose to discuss their bar, Jax’s Studio City. It didn’t take long for that to kickstart a tense conversation.
“I just want to make sure you aren’t there 24/7,” Brittany told Jax, who replied, “At least three days a week.”
Jax subsequently brought up the topic of them having another child. “I just want you to know that having more kids requires more work,” he pointed out. “We are opening up a bar, and you are trying to add a kid.”
In response, Brittany made it clear the bar would come “second” to her family. Jax didn’t stop bringing up his concerns, which didn’t sit well with Brittany.
Several Vanderpump Rules stars have stepped away from the Bravo series over the years. Cameras started following the staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR in 2012 after she rose to fame on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Season 1 of Pump Rules, which premiered in January 2013, starred Lisa, Stassi Schroeder, Jax […]
“We already said we are having another child. We are starting and trying soon,” she noted. “We had a plan. This was happening. Why in the world is he doing this to me?”
Jax cited Cruz’s delayed speech as another reason not to have more kids yet. “Obviously Cruz needs a little bit more attention right now with his verbal,” he added. “I am just worried also that bringing another child into this world will take away from the focus we need to put on him right now.”
As their talk got more serious, Brittany started to get emotional.
“Cruz is always going to have what he needs. I am upset because you are making me feel like I am not putting Cruz first. I always put Cruz first. I care about him more than anything in this world,” she said through tears. “We have talked about this for years. This was always the plan. If you are not ready to have a kid right now, then you need to let me know. I live for my kid. I live for him. Literally the only thing I care about in this world. ”
Jax, meanwhile, accused Brittany of “deflecting” before telling her not to cry over the subject. “Don’t cry. There’s no reason. It’s the alcohol. There’s no reason to be sad,” he fired back. “No, you can’t [have an emotion]. You can’t cry about something like this.”
According to Brittany, she was having trouble recognizing Jax. “I just feel like I don’t know him right now. He is just completely blindsiding me,” she added. “I am a great mom and a great wife. It almost feels like I have done something wrong and I know I haven’t.”
Jax used his confessional interview to bring up another reason he wasn’t excited to have more kids.
“I can’t think of anything more overwhelming right now than bringing a child into this world. Brittany doesn’t see the big picture that I see,” he told the cameras. “She sees money growing in the tree in the backyard. Do I keep working on my marriage or do I throw another kid in the mix when everything is already going to s—t? It is not going to help our marriage; it will make it worse.”
Vanderpump Rules viewers will be introduced to some new cast members — and familiar faces — in the spinoff series The Valley. In 2012, fans were introduced to the staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR, including Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, Kristen Doute, Tom Sandoval, Katie Maloney and Scheana Shay. The cast faced a […]
The episode wrapped up with Jax and Brittany in a worse place than where they started. After Brittany claimed Jax didn’t “do anything” within their household, he got visibly upset. Jax followed up by saying their property didn’t come “out of nowhere.”
“We both worked and got that house together. We put the same amount of money in,” Brittany noted. “I don’t like when you do this stuff.”
Jax ultimately left their hotel room after getting frustrated. Brittany, for her part, admitted she had no idea where her and Jax “go from here.” Several months after wrapping filming on The Valley, Jax and Brittany announced they were “taking time apart” from their marriage.
Brittany has since elaborated on what led to her deciding to press pause.
“Keeping things romantic and spicy is how you make it work. If we’re going to make it 20 years, we have to keep this up but it’s already dwindled so much. It was messing with my confidence — why is he not coming on to me? I felt like I wasn’t good enough,” she revealed in Us Weekly‘s recent cover story. “If you start to feel like your partner doesn’t want you and they’re also being mean to you, it’s like, ‘What am I doing here?’ I’m basically living with a roommate. I hit my breaking point.”
According to Brittany, Jax has yet to make the changes he promised.
“There are a lot of things, and I’m not seeing enough effort from his side. He needs to go to therapy. He doesn’t need to be staying out at the bar all the time. He needs to respect me more and stop taking me for granted,” she added. “I was the closest person to him and was kind of like his punching bag. He was always giving me jabs. I can’t deal with that for the rest of my life.”
The Valley airs on Bravo Tuesdays 9 p.m. ET. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
