Jax Taylor reacted to Brittany Cartwright‘s divorce filing and spoke of his 30 days in a mental health facility on the latest episode of their podcast on Friday.
Amid filming on the second season of The Valley, which is a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules, the show that made him famous, Jax, 45, admitted that divorce was the “right thing” for him and Brittany, 35. He also looked back on the month he spent seeking help for his mental health struggles.
“It’s been a really, really, really, really rough week. Anyone that has gone through a divorce will understand how difficult this is,” Jax began on When Reality Hits With Jax and Brittany, via a clip shared on Instagram by RealityOps. “Brittany did file for divorce. I understand why she did, and I agree that this is the right decision for our family.”
After five years of marriage, Brittany cited irreconcilable differences as the reason behind the split and requested sole physical and legal custody of their three-year-old son, Cruz Michael Cauchi, meaning that Jax would be limited to visitation.
Although Jax didn’t address Brittany’s custody request, he did defend his parenting.
“I will always love and care for Brittany. She’s the mother of my beautiful son. All I want for us is to be amicable co-parents, and even hopefully, really, really good friends one day,” Jax said. “I know I’m an amazing father and I know that I will make an excellent ex-husband.”
As for his stint in treatment, Jax admitted that taking the step to ask for help was “very, very scary.”
“But it really, really needed to happen. It’s something I’ve been holding onto for many, many years,” he noted. “I knew something wasn’t right with me, and I was really, really scared to find out what it was. I’ve known for years that there’s been something wrong, but I just didn’t want to know. During my stay, I kind of found out a lot about myself. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I now have a little bit better understanding of my mental health struggles. I’ve been put on some serious medication that’s actually been helping me out a lot.”
Also during his stay, Jax was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“I’m reading up on it and [doing] research on it because this is a serious, serious disorder,” he shared.
Jax then explained what a day in treatment was like.
“At the facility, I was allowed to have my phone during specific hours when I wasn’t in therapy. My therapies were approximately seven hours a day, and I was allowed outside the facility for an hour each day,” he explained. “So I would go to the gym. I was accompanied by a nurse … A driver from the facility took me and chaperoned me the whole time. But every facility has different rules.”
“Those 30 days were an incredible experience. My days were very, very structured, and I realized that’s something I really needed in my life,” he went on. “I woke up every morning. I had four to five eggs for breakfast, had some oatmeal, took my medication. I was at the gym by 8:00, and then I would be back around 9:30, 10:00 for my therapy sessions. And I would do that usually for about seven hours.”
While Jax spent weeks in therapy, he admitted that he didn’t come out “cured or changed by any means.”
“However, I am committed to trying to be a better version than I was yesterday. Small steps, using coping skills I was taught in therapy, trying to get through the day,” he added.
Meanwhile, although she is glad that Jax sought help, Brittany is looking forward to moving on from their marriage.
“Brittany appreciates that Jax took the steps to get himself better,” a source told Life & Style on September 5. “He’s the father of her child, and she wants him to be as healthy as he can for the sake of their son [Cruz, 3.]”
That said, Brittany is currently focused on reconnecting with herself.
“This time apart from Jax has already been so healing. Her confidence and self-worth are coming back,” the insider noted. “Brittany will always love Jax. They have so much history. But she’s really looking forward to getting on with her life.”
The Valley season two is currently in production and expected to begin airing on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.