Brittany Cartwright is entering a new chapter on “The Valley,” and for the first time since joining the Bravo franchise, she’s filmed without ex-husband Jax Taylor by her side.
With Season 3 now airing on the network, Cartwright reflected on how different the experience was following the couple’s split, admitting the change affected her in ways she didn’t expect.
Speaking during an interview last week, Cartwright said filming without Taylor brought a completely different atmosphere to set after years of working alongside him on both “The Valley” and “Vanderpump Rules.”
Brittany Says Filming Feels Completely Different
“It’s been great to not have to have [Jax] around. It was a breath of fresh air. I felt a lot calmer and safer,” Cartwright said.
She explained that this marked the first time in years she had filmed a reality series without Taylor.
“That was my first time ever, in all these years, not filming with him. Huge difference. But it’s just been a lot of drama. I mean, last season of ‘The Valley’ was super hard and super dark.”
Cartwright suggested viewers only saw part of what she experienced while cameras were rolling.
“You guys saw what happened to me on camera. So imagine what was happening off camera,” she said. “It was just, it was just a lot, but I finally took off the rose-colored glasses and handled business.”
Taylor exited “The Valley” ahead of Season 3, leaving Cartwright to film the new season independently for the first time.
She Says Leaving the Marriage Was the Right Decision
Cartwright also spoke candidly about why she ultimately decided to end her marriage, explaining that her 5-year-old son, Cruz, became her biggest priority. The former couple were married for more than 4 years.
“A lot of people will stay whenever they have kids but it did the opposite to me because I didn’t want him to grow up in that environment, so it just made me a lot stronger, honestly, and I was like, ‘He can’t watch this,'” she recalled.
The Bravo star also offered an update on her personal life, confirming she’s “definitely single” more than two years after separating from Taylor. Looking back on a brief relationship with Brandon Hanson, she admitted there were “a lot of red flags.”
“I will never be in a toxic relationship like that. I notice the red flags. I’ve worked on myself so much. Somebody has to love family,” she said.
In the same interview, Cartwright discussed undergoing a mommy makeover after her split, calling it one of the most important things she has done for herself as she continues rebuilding her confidence.
Season 3 of “The Valley” is currently airing and it is the first season of the Bravo series without Taylor as a cast member. The first two seasons heavily featured the pair’s deteriorating marriage, Taylor’s substance issues and journey to sobriety, and their co-parenting relationship. Cartwright remains one of the show’s central figures as cameras follow the next chapter of her life after their highly publicized breakup.
Honestly, Brittany’s storyline and contributions to the show this season are so unnecessary, it isn’t even funny. Her scenes are extremely boring, along with Janet’s scenes, especially when it is the majority of an episode. We need less Lala, Brittany, and Janet….more Zack, Tom, Kristen, Jesse, Danny, Nia, and Michelle. I think bringing Jax back is the necessary move at this point. Lala just wants to fight with anyone frivolously, Brittany thinks she’s the star of the show, Janet is obviously fabricating storylines to try and stay relevant. Big fan of Jesse’s personality development trajectory, I think Danny is getting a weird edit due to Janet pushing false narratives, but Janet is so transparently bluffing with every scene, just drop her contract at this point, and watch her walk away and try to pull some grade-school manipulation drama headlines out of it. Schwartz needs to stop being so reserved even though when he’s cosplaying gay it’s a little awkward, unless he’s coming out soon, then he need the details and background. We’ve all had enough of Brittany, and Jasmine is pretty much irrelevant at this point, lurking in the back of every gathering. We need some Jax, Tom, and Jesse storylines, along with more Danny, Nia, Kristen, Luke, Jesse storylines. Janet & fake Tiger Woods need to be 86’d, unless they dive into the lavender aspect of their marriage and stop worrying about everyone elses’. I want to see them go to Atlantis Paradise Island, Key West, Hilton Head, Weho, and Magic Mountain. Just number one thing is we’ve all had enough of Janet, Brittany and Lala. More Zack, please, and Jesse and his new girlfriend are actually ones to root for. Danny needs more screen time, but without the succubus trio trying to poke the bear.
Yes Drew Ryan,
I agree with you 100% . Brittany has absolutely mo story line what’s so ever. And her mommy make over didn’t do a thing for her. She’s still out of shape. Eating and drinking booz is not helping her at all. And please get rid of Lala she’s the same old Nast fighting girl she was on Vanderpump Rules. She two has absolutely no story line. She does not belong on a show about only couples. She had her day on Vanderpump Rules way back then. And yes her so called ex boyfriend and father of her first daughter has cheated on wife number 1. Karma got back at Lala cause she knew he was married with two children at the time. When he started buying her expensive cars , shoes jewelry and Lala riding on his private jet. Yes Lalas story line is as boring as Britney’s. So get rid of both but Lala first. She’s just a mean evil spirited lady with 2 kids and no daddy…..
Andy Cohen b get a show together with the four guys . JAX, SCHWARTZ ANDN EVEN EVIL SCANDOVA, MAYBE NICE PETER. What a show that would be. Especially between Scum SCANDOVAL and Jax to see them fighting to be the number one guy on the show. Of course as much as Jax is pretty crazy and we never know what he’s going to do next. He would definitely keep us all entertained. As much as we the viewers hate SCANDOVAL it would be great to see the boys back together and single again. Can anyone imagine what kind of chaos they would bring to the show. But getting back to Brittany and Lala it’s the same old crap with these ladies. We also Love Kristen. She should definitely be on with the guts. Tge only ladies we the people would watch is if you had a whole new show with Kristen, Katie And Stassi. Now that would make a great show. Only the main original girls fron the very beginning of the show and that goes for the guys the main characters Jax SCANDOVAL, Schwartz and Peter. That’s the viewers opinions. Someone should listen to the viewers….PERIOD