Jax Taylor claimed he pitched The Valley and helped create the cast. The 45-year-old also claimed Lisa Vanderpump has “no part of [it]” despite her producer credit, and he addressed if he’ll fight to keep Lala Kent and Scheana Shay off the show.
In 2020, Jax was fired from Vanderpump Rules. Four years later, he popped up on The Valley, a new spinoff centered around parents raising their kids in the suburbs. Pump Rules alums Jax and Kristen Doute are full-time castmates, and their former co-stars Lala and Scheana are expected to film as guests (after their recent firings from the original show).
“So this is how it all went down,” wrote Jax in the Instagram caption of a 2021 photo of himself with executive producer Alex Baskin. “About two years after my departure from Vanderpump I decided it was time to come back to TV but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.”
“During the two year break (during covid) I always came back to my main idea that we talked about years prior with Stassi, Brittany and Kristen, ‘What if we do a show in the “valley” dealing with our lives after Vanderpump,’” he went on. “Meaning starting families, getting married, living in the suburbs and so on. Dealing with more issues that I think the audience could relate too.”
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“So one very cold evening I told the girls and I decided to meet [Alex] at a hotel we both love @hotel_amarano and I wanted to pitch him this idea,” said Jax. “After a three hour conversation he more or less gave us, (my manager and I @revel9 ) (who also is an executive producer) the green light to write up a ‘Deck’ or ‘Hard Pitch’ — this [photo] was that night on November 11th 2021 — Ryan and I were putting a show/cast together at one of our favorite spots @casavegarestaurant.”
Jax said the work they put into it was “insane.”
“But we also learned a lot about what it takes and how hard it is to start a successful show,” he added. “And now it’s 2025 and we have season 2 of ‘The Valley’ on the horizon.”
In the comments, he responded to a fan who said The Valley is Jax’s show even though Lisa produces it.
“It’s a spin off so she will always get a credit — that’s how tv works,” he said. “She has no part of the show.”
Another fan told Jax to keep Lala and Scheana off the show.
“I think that Lala and Scheana are amazing at what they do,” he said. “To be honest we are keeping the same formula as Vanderpump. Trying to make the show as authentic as possible and if that means having episodes with cast members from the past and present so be it. That’s the beauty of keeping vanderpump/valley alive for the fans that enjoy the show.”
A different user questioned if the idea for The Valley was created “long before” this and was meant to start after Stassi’s wedding.
“Unfortunately at that time it was just talk,” Jax answered. “But nothing came of it till later.”