Brittany Cartwright is trying to “stay positive” as she navigates her and Jax Taylor’s public divorce, calling it “the most hard time” of her life.
“I’m trying to just like, you know, focus on my son and he is, like, the light of my life,” Cartwright, 35, exclusively told Us at the Us Weekly + Pluto TV Reality TV Stars of the Year Party at the Dream Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 10. “We’re having so much fun together. And it’s a lot, but I’m just smiling my way through it all.”
On August 27, six months after announcing she and Taylor, 45, were taking “space” from each other, Cartwright filed for divorce from her estranged husband after five years of marriage. According to court documents obtained by Us, the Bravo star listed their date of separation as January 24 and cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split.
“I will say that Jax is a terrible husband, but a great dad,” Cartwright said of her ex, with whom she shares 3-year-old son, Cruz. “I know that if I need something, if I need help with something, Jax would be there in a heartbeat and that, you know, I can count on him for things like that. He loves Cruz.”
Cartwright noted that while the pair are focused on coparenting, “Everything else is ‘eh.’”
Cartwright filed for divorce just days after Taylor completed a 30-day in-patient treatment program for mental health struggles. “It’s been an emotional month for him and he’s most looking forward to spending time with his son,” the reality star’s rep shared in an August statement to Us.
Brittany Cartwright attends Us Weekly And Pluto TV’s: Reality TV Stars Of The Year at The Highlight Room on October 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
Last month, Taylor revealed that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD, going on to describe himself as a narcissist.
“I want the best for him, obviously, even though I can’t stand him half the time,” Cartwright stated on Thursday. “I still want the best for him. I don’t want anything bad. I really want him to take everything seriously and better himself because that’s what’s important.
Fans will find out new details about the duo’s breakup on the second season of their Bravo reality series The Valley. But for now, Cartwright is remaining tight-lipped on what the upcoming season will reveal.
“He wasn’t great to me, so you’ll see,” she teased.
The show’s second season will also include several cameos from Cartwright’s former Vanderpump Rules costars, including her “best friends” Lala Kent and Scheana Shay. “Everybody from the cast has had my back and they are being so supportive and I just love them all,” she told Us, noting that she didn’t want the cast to feel like they had to take sides while filming. “Literally every single person has, like, been there for me and I’m so grateful for that.”
Jax Taylor attends Us Weekly And Pluto TV’s: Reality TV Stars Of The Year at The Highlight Room on October 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Among the fans waiting for The Valley season 2 are Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift. Gomez, 32, told Vanity Fair last month that she and Swift compare notes about the show and VPR.
“I mean, that’s kind of crazy. I absolutely love that,” Cartwright told Us. “Actually, Selena Gomez came to TomTom a couple times, so I knew she liked the show. But hearing that they talk about it, they text about it, they call about it, like, that’s amazing. Like, the biggest stars in the world, they know who little old Brittany from Kentucky is.”
Cartwright noted she freaked out just as much when Rihanna admitted she was “obsessed” with The Valley back in April. “It was incredible,” she said. “That’s, like, amazing to me.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams
