Recently, The Valley star Jax Taylor admitted to having a years-long addiction to cocaine. Even though he spent a month in rehab last summer, there was more to his problems than just cocaine.
During the March 13 episode of his In the Mind of a Man podcast, Jax discussed his past addiction and how it feels to be 80 days sober. Throughout it all, uppermost in his mind was the well-being of his wife Brittany Cartwright, and their three-year-old son Cruz.
“I [didn’t] really care what anybody thought except for Brittany,” he said. “To be honest, I just wanted to make sure she was happy.”
Jax Taylor stands up for ex Brittany Cartwright after cocaine revelation
“She was my only priority,” Jax told his inaugural guest, Bravo producer Alex Baskin. “She has gone through the most out of all of this. And I know people are going to reach out to her and possibly applaud her. But there’s the people that don’t and say, ‘Why didn’t you try to get him help sooner?’”
Jax says Brittany tried to get him help for years, but he wasn’t ready at that point. As any loved one of an addict knows, it has to be their decision to get sober. You can’t force someone to give up their addiction.
“This is in no way, shape, or form her fault,” Jax said in defense of his now-estranged wife. “She should not be getting any kind of flak for this whatsoever. She’s an amazing mother. She’s an amazing person, and she’s a human being and she was pushed. She was pushed to her limits … There [were] other things that went on [in the] relationship too, that had nothing to do with drinking and alcohol that she’s still upset about.”
“I’ve been dealing with this on and off since I was 23 and now I’m 45,” he admitted on the Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast. “There were times where I would stop doing it, but then there were times where I’d go heavy on it. This year was probably the hardest year of my life.”
“When Brittany and I separated, that’s when the addiction got worse,” he admitted. “I’ve been doing it for a long time but the addiction got worse during my divorce and during my separation. I literally lost control. I hit rock bottom, and I had to go to rehab.”
Brittany says Jax Taylor’s cocaine addiction has done “irreparable damage” to their family
After nearly five years of marriage, Brittany finally separated from Jax in February 2024, filing for divorce in August. She’d reached her limit. Now that the truth is out, Britt’s getting criticism for not leaving Jax earlier, when she “knew he had a problem all these years.”
“You can’t help who you fell in love with,” she explained on Instagram. “I’ve done absolutely everything in my power to get him the help he desperately needed. Unfortunately, I was naive and believed his empty promises and his pleas to change for years.”
Claiming Jax’s cocaine addiction “has done irreparable damage to my son and I,” the Kentucky native added, “I’ve spent years trying to help him. I wish more than anyone I could say how proud I am of him today but I’d be lying. His actions will speak for themselves.”
Brittany also recounted how hard it was to finally leave. “Once you have a child with someone, it’s not easy to leave,” she confessed. “It took everything in my power to gather the strength to walk away. For those that have been through similar, you get it. For those that question me … that’s OK. I’m in a much better place now.”
The Valley Season 2 premiers April 15 at 9/8c on Bravo.
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