Jax Taylor is still adjusting to the idea of Brittany Cartwright moving on after their split — especially if it’s with the man from the Brawny paper towel commercials.
“The goal is to get [to us coparenting well]. It’s a struggle. Every day is different,” Cartwright, 36, explained on the Monday, May 26, episode of Lala Kent‘s “Give Them Lala” podcast. “But for the most part — like, whenever we only talk about [our son], Cruz — it’s fine.”
The most recent issue for Cartwright has been Taylor, 45, asking about her personal life. “I did that Brawny ad and he was asking me if I was dating one of the Brawny guys,” she noted. “It’s just a lot of ups and downs.”
After Kent, 34, quipped that Cartwright was “dating all of” the men from the ad, she noted how “weird” it was for Taylor to ask his estranged wife that.
“He’s got to let go of a lot of the control that he thinks that he has over me,” Cartwright said. “But whenever it comes to Cruz, that is both of our main goals. I just hope that one day it gets a little bit better.”
Bravo viewers were introduced to Taylor and Cartwright’s romance on Vanderpump Rules. The couple documented their rocky road to marriage, even filming their 2019 nuptials for the show. Taylor and Cartwright announced their departure from Vanderpump Rules in 2020. After taking a break from reality TV, Taylor and Cartwright expanded their family with Cruz, now 4, in 2021. (Cartwright revealed earlier this year that Cruz was diagnosed with autism.)
Taylor and Cartwright returned to the spotlight on Bravo’s The Valley, which premiered shortly after they announced their separation last year. In June 2024, Taylor entered a 30-day treatment program to address his ongoing mental health struggles. Cartwright ultimately filed for divorce in 2024. After hinting at larger struggles, Taylor revealed earlier this year that he went to rehab twice for cocaine addiction.
“I’ve been in and out of using cocaine for a while. I wouldn’t use it every single day. There would be months I would take off,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in March. “And then I would do it like a week here, maybe two times a month or three times a month. It got really bad though. When the divorce started, I felt like I was doing it recreationally.”
Cartwright, for her part, acknowledged that her new normal with Taylor is a big change for them both.
“It’s still fresh right now. We’re still reliving everything from last summer as well,” she explained on Monday. “If we’re fighting, if you don’t get along with the person you’re coparenting with, it makes it extremely difficult. But I try to do my best and put that crap aside and do whatever I think is best for Cruz.”
According to Cartwright, she still has moments where she misses reaching out to Taylor. “He was like my very best friend because I was with him all the time,” she added. “He was the person I told everything to. That was kind of weird to have to stop telling him everything.”
