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Brittany Cartwright looked back on her and Jax Taylor‘s “last fight” before their separation during an interview earlier this week.
Weeks after confirming their split on their joint podcast, Brittany, 35, who is currently starring alongside Jax, 44, on The Valley, a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules, opened up about her “breaking point” with her estranged husband as she also reflected on his claims of her having a stroke and dished on her dream guy.
“I’ve forgiven Jax for things that I shouldn’t have over the years. I stood by him no matter what. But after nine years, that can wear on you,” Brittany began in an April 9 interview with Us Weekly.
Three months after separating, Brittany admitted that Jax likely thought she would “come right back” before sharing details about the fight that prompted her to leave.
“The night that I went out with [Kristen Doute], I came home at 10 o’clock [and] he didn’t come home ‘til 4 o’clock in the morning … I don’t know if he was hungover the next morning or what, but he comes in and starts a huge fight with me,” she revealed. “He, like, made a story up in his head that [Kristen’s boyfriend], [Luke Broderick], was reaching out to him saying we were already having issues in our marriage at that time.”
According to Brittany, who noted that Jax wants her to keep everything to herself when it comes to their relationship, Luke never actually texted Jax.
“He just made up this big story to sort of fight with me the next morning because he was having insecurities in his own head,” she explained. “[So] I was like, ‘OK, this is insane. I cannot deal with this. This is obviously a toxic situation. If you don’t get help, then me and [our son Cruz] are not going to be living here right now.’ Because it just didn’t feel it didn’t feel right.”
Fueling Brittany and Jax’s marriage problems in recent months has been the opening of their new bar, Jax’s Studio City.
“If we were to be drinking, or anything like that, we were always going to be fighting. Stuff like that’s always not good if you’re already in a bad place,” Brittany noted. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t be at the bar. But there has to be a limit on how late you stay or how often you go.”
As things between them got worse after filming the debut season of The Valley, Brittany said Jax began “staying at the bar more.” Additionally, talks stalled about having more kids — as did their sex life.
“We weren’t being intimate. … We were getting on each other’s nerves,” she shared. “It was messing with my confidence — why is he not coming on to me? I felt like I wasn’t good enough. 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?’”
“He would say, ‘I’m 44 and I’m tired.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, everybody has kids, and not everybody’s going through this!’” she continued. “I can’t talk to him about things; he always goes on the defensive. He doesn’t care about my side.”
Brittany also became frustrated after seeing that Jax had said she had a stroke on House of Villains.
“It was very embarrassing, and he doesn’t really understand,” Brittany stated. “To him, he would be like, ‘Well, I just care about you. I was so worried about you. I care about you so much. Like, I was just telling a story.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but you added that I, for sure, had a stroke and you knew at that point that I didn’t.’ So you just lied on a TV show. That’s harmful to me.”
“He acknowledged it but then he’s always like, ‘I said sorry.’ He likes to think that just saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ will be fine and we should move on,” she added. “I can’t do that now, this is too serious. And if things don’t change, then we can’t be together because we’re gonna be unhappy for the rest of our lives.”
Following their return to television, Brittany felt that Jax “got a bit of a big head again.”
“He’d made a lot of changes for Cruz, but he started being the old Jax [again]. All season long I wanted to be with him and then things got continually worse,” she shared.
Jax even threw their TV return in Brittany’s face, reportedly telling her, “I got us a show,” to make her feel like she “wouldn’t have anything without him.”
Although Brittany put up with Jax’s shenanigans, including his affair with Faith Stowers, for many years, she reassessed their marriage after welcoming son Cruz in April 2021.
“I realized I wanted more in a relationship. I need to make sure Cruz isn’t living in a house where his parents are fighting; that could be a horrible way to grow up,” she reasoned.
As for whether she’s still in love with Jax, Brittany said, “I am. But it’s different.”
“I was very naive in the beginning on Vanderpump Rules. I was on a TV show, being embarrassed by Jax, but I was madly in love, and I just wanted to be with him. I’m different now. I can stand up for myself and not take his sh*t anymore,” she declared.
While Brittany confirmed that a reconciliation between her and Jax is possible, she added that “a lot of things” need to happen first.
“Things are in his hands if he’s going to fix some things in our relationship, so we will see,” she said. “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.”
He also needs to stop making Brittany feel like his “punching bag.”
“He was always giving me jabs. I can’t deal with that for the rest of my life,” she stated. “He’s never satisfied. We have our son and this beautiful home, the bar, and a successful podcast, and he still needs more. He’s gone to doctors and complains that he needs help but then never goes back. I had to pick up the pieces all the time. It’s very frustrating.”
“I won’t waste my time and get back into a toxic situation. Now the veil has been lifted and I see how much I was always cleaning up Jax’s messes. I’m thrown in the middle of all these fights and constantly forced to apologize for him in the media and to friends. It’s hard,” she went on.
Looking ahead to their future, Brittany said if she and Jax end up divorcing, she’d love to stay in their home with Cruz.
In the meantime, she’s focused on co-parenting.
“If this ends in a divorce, we will discuss what happened with him later in life. We’re not fighting in front of him and we try to do fun things like the aquarium and the zoo. I feel like Cruz is happier that we’re not in the same house right now — and that tells me a lot,” she noted.
Moving on to dating, Brittany said that while it’s “weird to even think about,” she has considered what she’d be looking for in a future partner.
“I need someone who has their stuff together, who is confident and respectful and makes me laugh. It’s going to be difficult because I am so in the public eye,” she explained. “[Jax and I have talked about dating] here and there. We act like it would be OK, but I’m not sure. I think he’d freak out if he saw me with a man. I’d be upset, too. You can get over those things, but the first one might be strange.”
Following their split, Brittany said she’s gotten support from the entire The Valley cast, including Kristen, and Pump Rules stars Scheana Shay and Lala Kent.
“I’m trying to stay busy working out, spending time with my friends and talking to my family. I’m focusing on my mental and physical health. This revenge body is about to be insane! I’m getting my sparkle back,” she concluded.
The Valley season one airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
