Photo: Felix Kunze/Bravo
Bravo stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s romance spanned across five different reality shows (Vanderpump Rules, Basically Stassi, VPR: Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky, Watch With Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor, and The Valley), and after ten years together, the couple finally called it quits last year. Those who’ve been there since the beginning are asking: How the hell did it last this long? Throughout their time on reality TV, we’ve seen Cartwright get cheated on by Taylor, get married by Lance Bass, get fired from VPR, and now deal with the aftermath on a completely new show, The Valley. Season two brought us directly into the middle of their divorce, but what happened off-camera that led to everyone begging Taylor to get help before it was too late?
January 24, 2024: In the official divorce papers, Cartwright cites this date as the date of separation for the couple, right before her birthday.
February 29, 2024: On an episode of the couple’s podcast, When Reality Hits, Cartwright announced that she and Taylor are separated. “Jax and I are taking time apart, and I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health,” Brittany shared. “I won’t get into too many details right now because this is still very hard to talk about and I’m taking things one day at a time.” Taylor later countered to “Page Six” that they are living under the same roof, contrary to Cartwright’s statement. “We’re together. We’re living in our home right now,” he shared. “She was in a house for a while, but yeah, she’s back now.”
March 15, 2024: At the premiere event for The Valley, Cartwright told People that the couple is not living together and what led to the breakup. She explained, “Once a woman hits her breaking point, it’s like, ‘Done.’ Something like clicked in my head, and I was like, ‘I need to step away from this situation. This is not healthy. This is not a good situation. My son deserves better. I deserve better.’”
March 19, 2024: The Valley aired on Bravo; Taylor and Cartwright are still separated.
July 30, 2024: Taylor enters a mental-health treatment facility, People reports. Peacock shared a statement at the time, writing: “He has made the decision to seek in-patient treatment. This is a particularly sensitive time for him and his family. They ask for privacy and respect until he is ready to speak more on this matter.”
August 27, 2024: Cartwright officially filed for divorce from Taylor and asked for full custody of their son, Cruz. Taylor was reportedly served divorce papers while filming The Valley.
September 2, 2024: Taylor shared he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD while in treatment. He wrote, “It’s been a lot to process and an emotional time for me, however I’ve come home to my son with a new found sense of peace. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared for the future but my focus is just trying to be a better version of myself than I was yesterday. Mental health is a lifelong battle of not letting it control you but rather you learning to control it.”
October 2, 2024: In a court filing, Taylor claimed that the couple was never legally married. However, several hours later, his reps confirmed that they were married and that Taylor filed the divorce papers incorrectly. The reps also shared that Cartwright has full custody of their son.
October 3, 2024: Cartwright responded to Taylor’s misfilings: “I’m guessing paperwork is hard for some people. 🫣.”
March 4, 2025: Taylor shares on the Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast that he is an addict and has been struggling with substance abuse for most of his adult life. “I have substance issues — primarily with cocaine. It’s hard to say out loud. I’ve been dealing with this on and off since I was 23 and now I’m 45,” Taylor shared. “There was times where I would stop doing it but then there were times where I’d go heavy on it.” Cartwright reacts to Taylor’s admission of substance abuse. “I’m glad that he finally admitted to what was really going on,” she shared in a statement. “For the first time, I can speak openly about the extent of trauma he’s instilled on our family. I’ve tried desperately to help him without success. I pray that one day he completely knocks this addiction, but I’m skeptical. His behaviors are still alarming and his treatment plan seems to be the bare minimum.”
March 8, 2025: Taylor shared he’s 100 days sober.
April 15, 2025: Season two of The Valley premiered, and it dropped us into the middle of the messy divorce. The episode begins with Kristen Doute, Jesse Lally, and Cartwright all calling him out and telling Taylor to get it together, right before it cuts to the reveal that he’s entered a facility. The episode then rewinds to a week before, with Taylor and Cartwright arguing about how Cartwright hooked up with one of Taylor’s friends, Julian. He was so upset that he flipped a coffee table, and it hit Cartwright. As he’s recounting this story to all of his friends at his party, they disapprove of the behavior and warn him that he will hit rock bottom soon. The episode ends with a teaser of what’s to come, including Taylor being served with divorce papers.
April 16, 2025: The division of assets has come to Jax’s Studio City. Taste of Reality claims that Jax has taken Mamaw’s Beer Cheese (a Brittany Cartwright-themed menu item) off the menu at his restaurant his themed room at Lance Bass’s restaurant Rocco’s.
Jax Taylor Made A Menu Change (With A Sharpie) Before #TheValley’s Viewing Party At Jax’s https://t.co/sy9eOZKPIJ
— Taste of Reality (@TasteOf_Reality) April 16, 2025
Cartwright later clarified on her podcast that beer cheese was off the menu at her request. “I own ‘Mamaw’s Beer Cheese,’ I have it trademarked, that I pay for, and everything else,” she said. “After Britt’s bar was sold without my knowledge and everything else that happened with that whole thing, and just, like, where Jax and I stand right now, I don’t want to be associated with that bar, and I definitely don’t want my Mamaw to be associated with it.”
April 29, 2025: Brittany Cartwright went on WWHL to litigate the breakup in the press, as is the style at Bravo. Cartwright told Andy Cohen that the current state of their relationship is “still not great.” She hopes that he’s sober, but cannot say with complete certainty that he is. She also said that Jax is, on average, “a 2 or 3” in the bedroom, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Related
The Valley Season Two Drama Reaches New PeaksBrittany Cartwright Is ‘Glad’ Jax Taylor Admitted to Cocaine AddictionThe Valley Season-Premiere Recap: Hell Week
