Ethermac|Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Divorce With Unexpected Message

Jax Taylor has accepted his next chapter in life.

Just over a week after his estranged wife Brittany Cartwright filed for divorce,Ethermac The Valley star broke his silence on her move to officially end their marriage. And, surprisingly, he's fully accepted her decision.

"Unfortunately, she's had enough," Jax shared on the Sept. 6 episode of their When Reality Hits With Jax and Brittany podcast. "And I don't blame her at all. I mean, I can't believe she's been with me this long as it is. That we stayed, to be honest."

However, the 45-year-old admitted he never expected Brittany would actually pull the trigger and move out of their family home in February.

"When she decided to leave, I was kind of in shock," the Bravo star—who shares 3-year-old son Cruz with Brittany—noted. "I shouldn't have been in shock, but I was in shock."

Jax also got candid about his recent one-month stay at a mental health facility where he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and PTSD.

"I got there and I f--king hated it," he recounted, "and then I loved it. I didn't want to f--king leave. I really, really didn't. I was so sad leaving. I was crying, I was like, 'I don't want to go.' I was scared to leave those front doors because I got up in the morning, had my breakfast, structure, every day. I was reading."

Plus, the thought of returning to filming season two of the Vanderpump Rules spinoff was anxiety-inducing, according to Jax.

"I'm like, 'I know the world's gonna hit me like a ton of bricks and I gotta go back to filming my show and I know everybody's mad at me and they're gonna come at me,'" he continued. "I was just like, 'I'm so scared.'"

Jax's first podcast since he sought help comes several days after Brittany spoke out about her decision to finally file legal papers to end their five years of marriage.

"Many have said online they think this has been a publicity stunt for the show or to garner ratings, and it's the furthest thing from that," the 35-year-old said on the Aug. 30 episode of their podcast. "My decision to file wasn't made lightly or quickly."

"It's taken me many, many years to get to this point where I've gained enough courage to strength to do what was best for me, get myself out of a toxic relationship and ultimately see my worth," Brittany added. "It's been very difficult, but I'm stronger than ever and my motivation is my son, my Cruzy, who deserves a happy and healthy mommy."

Keep reading to look back at everything the exes have said about their breakup.

Years before they even got married, Jax Taylor cheated on Brittany Cartwright in 2017 when he hooked up with former SUR waitress Faith Stowers. 

"This isn't my first time being caught cheating," Jax admitted at the time as the drama played out on Vanderpump Rules. "In the past, I've gone through months and months of deny, deny, deny, and that didn't work for me." 

But while a devasted Brittany broke up with him, they got back together months later and eventually wed in 2020.

Fast forward to February 2024, Brittany announced she and Jax—who share 2-year-old son Cruz—had separated after four years of marriage. 

"Yes, marriages in general are very hard and I've had a particularly rough year this past year," the Kentucky native shared on their When Reality Hits podcast. "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."

"I'm taking one day at a time," Brittany added. "I don't know what the future holds, but right now my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz."

One month later, the cracks in the couple's relationship became much more apparent when Bravo released the trailer for its new series The Valley.

"I don't feel like he's attracted to me, we don't have sex ever," Brittany admitted in the March 11 preview before Jax added, "It's so hard to be married sometimes."

Plus, costar Janet Caperna teased in the clip, "There's a rumor about Jax cheating online."

However, Jax slammed allegations of infidelity days after the trailer release.

"We're just having a little communication issues right now. That's all, there's nothing else," he exclusively told E! News March 14 at The Valley premiere party. "There's no cheating. There's no infidelity anywhere. It's just communication. I know it's shocking, but people sometimes just don't get along and that's life."

"We see each other every single day," he added. "The only thing that's different is we just don't sleep under the same roof. That's it."

Despite rumors, Brittany confirmed Jax cheating did not cause their breakup and shared the true timeline of their separation.

"We got into a very bad fight and I decided to pack up my stuff," the 35-year-old exclusively told E! News March 18, "and I've been staying in an Airbnb since January 24."

"I'm doing it for my mental space," she added, "and I feel very strong with my decision to get out for a while."

Despite their personal drama, the estranged couple agreed on one thing: They are doing what's best for 2-year-old son.

"He's no. 1 and we both agree on that," Jax told E!. "It's about knowing he's got two loving parents that love him to death and he's gonna have the best life possible, whether we are together or not."

As for their increased fighting, Brittany agreed, "I just don't want that for our son. I don't want him growing up thinking it's normal to live like that."

Brittany admitted in March that "there's always hope," but she just needs Jax to put in the work.

"I don't think anybody will ever love Jax the way I've loved Jax," Brittany told E!. "Over all these years, I've been through so much with him and I'm stuck by his side through everything. So I think that if he makes certain changes that I've asked, maybe we could get back together. But right now, I just really need to figure out myself. I felt really strong and really proud of myself for being able to step out and do what's right for me. My mental health is super important."

One person who wasn't so shocked by Jax and Brittany's separation? Their former SUR boss Lisa Vanderpump.

"Everybody predicted that when they got married," the Real Housewives alum shared with E!. "They said, 'Oh this won't last long,' but I kind of never liked to draw conclusions."

"I don't know what the reason was," she added, "but I imagine it was probably something to do with Jax's bad behavior. I'm not sure, but the indicator of future behavior is normally past behavior."

"I think it’s for the best," their longtime friend Scheana Shay told E! News March 23 of the split. "I think she deserves better and she deserves a partner who’s going to treat her with respect."

And the couple's The Valley costar Kristen Doute agreed with Scheana.

"I'm proud of Brittany for setting boundaries for making the choice for her," Kristen admitted. "But I'm very hopeful that they can work this out. But that's on Jax, that's not on her."

During The Valley's June 4 season finale, Brittany confronted Jax about insults he allegedly hurled at her behind closed doors.

As costar Kristen Doute recounted, "Does he say, 'I know I treat you like s—t. 'I know I'm mean. I know I've called you fat and I've told you you're f--king lazy and that you're not going to have any friends if you guys break up?'"

"We said that, going into this, that we could test the waters with other people if we wanted to," Brittany exclusively told E! News in June. "I know that seems weird, it might be a little crazy for a lot of people, but that's what we wanted to do."

In July, Jax shared he was seeking in-patient treatment for mental health issues after Brittany had begged him to go to therapy for years.

The VPR alum mainly credited son Cruz as the reason he saught professional help.

"Working on getting better for you buddy," Jax wrote in an Instagram post July 31 alongside a photo of him planting a kiss on the little one's cheek. "I love you."

Seven months after their separation, Brittany made their breakup official by filing for divorce in August 2024. Citing “irreconcilable differences" in legal docs obtained by E!, she requested primary legal and physical custody of their son Cruz, 3, and for Jax to be granted child visitation. 

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family) 

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