Unfortunately, it seems to be the end of a short-lived era for Vanderpump Rules former castmates Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. Four years ago, despite rumors that Taylor cheated on his then-girlfriend by hooking up with his co-worker in front of a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home, the show’s resident narcissist tied the knot with his blushing Kentuckian bride. Now, the beer-cheese pusher says the former showmance is — for the time being — no more. In other words, it sounds like Cartwright asked Taylor to sail away on his little custom-made ice-chest scooter.
On a Thursday episode of the couple’s podcast When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany, Cartwright announced that she and the 44-year-old Taylor, who together share 3-year-old son Cruz, are taking time apart and living under separate roofs. While she didn’t mention any details about why the split happened, Cartwright admitted the breakup is “still very hard to talk about.”
“On my last podcast, I alluded to how many marriages go through rocky times,” Cartwright said. “Yes, marriages in general are very hard, and I’ve had a particularly rough year this past year. 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,” she added. “I don’t know what the future holds, but right now my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz.”
Though it seems nothing’s final at this point, it’s such a shame all that Reiki Taylor did back in the day didn’t heal his relationship woes — nor did Lance Bass officiating their fairy-tale-themed castle wedding, for that matter. Only time will tell what is to become of the couple’s reality-television-funded mini-empire: Bravo has been teasing the March release of VPR spinoff The Valley, in which Taylor and Cartwright are heavily featured, and it seems their co-branded podcast has no plans to shutter. In the meantime, let this be a cautionary tale not to throw a fairy-tale wedding lest the union turns out to be more of a villain origin story. At least they’ll always have “rawt in hail.”