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“Vanderpump Rules” star Brittany Cartwright is opening up on the “breaking point” in her nearly 10-year relationship with co-star Jax Taylor.
Cartwright spoke with Us Weekly after announcing the couple’s separation on the “When Reality Hits” podcast in February, saying she and Taylor “are taking time apart.”
“I’ve forgiven Jax for things that I shouldn’t have over the years. I stood by him no matter what. But after nine years, that can wear on you,”the 35-year-old told the outlet.
She continued, “Things are in his hands if he’s going to fix some things in our relationship, so we will see,” adding “it’s disappointing” that Taylor hasn’t, in her opinion, put in any effort to repair the relationship.
Brittany Cartwright and her husband Jax Taylor are “taking time apart” after she revealed she hit a “breaking point” in their marriage. (Noam Galai/Bravo via Getty Images)
“I don’t think that he thought I was actually going to leave, and it’s been three months now,” Cartwright told Us Weekly. “So I think that he thought I would come right back and things would go right back to how they were, and that’s just not happening.”
Among the issues in their relationship was a lack of intimacy in the bedroom, leading to what she described as a “sexless marriage” that impacted her self-esteem.
“Keeping things romantic and spicy is how you make it work. If we’re going to make it 20 years, we have to keep this up, but it’s already dwindled so much,” she explained. “It was messing with my confidence – why is he not coming on to me? I felt like I wasn’t good enough.
“If you start to feel like your partner doesn’t want you, and they’re also being mean to you, it’s like, ‘What am I doing here?’ I’m basically living with a roommate. I hit my breaking point.”
Cartwright cited intimacy issues, telling Us Weekly she had a “sexless marriage” and “it was messing with my confidence.” (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Cartwright said Taylor would tell her “I’m 44 and I’m tired,” which she countered, saying, “Oh my gosh, everybody has kids, and not everybody’s going through this! I can’t talk to him about things; he always goes on the defensive. He doesn’t care about my side.”
When asked for a response to Cartwright’s interview, a representative for Taylor responded, “No comment.”
The couple began dating in 2015 while appearing on “Vanderpump Rules” together, and married in 2018. They share one son, Cruz, 3.
Cartwright and Taylor share one son, Cruz, 3. (Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
Cartwright and Taylor also appear in the first season of “Vanderpump’s” spinoff series, “The Valley,” which debuted earlier this year.
Other issues weighed on the couple’s relationship, including Taylor admitting to past cheating and an argument that prompted Cartwright to leave their home.
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She told Us Weekly that one night she went to their friend and co-star Kristen Doute’s home, but returned around 10, while Taylor stayed out that same night until 4 in the morning. The next morning, she said he came in and started “a huge fight with me.”
Cartwright said he claimed he received a text from a friend about their marriage issues and “just made up this big story to sort of fight with me the next morning because he was having insecurities in his own head. It was almost, like, the stories were being made up to start a fight with me. And it was happening numerous times. That wasn’t the only time.”
Cartwright left her home with Taylor after a fight, saying it was an “obviously toxic situation.” ( Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)
She continued, “I’m like, ‘OK, this is insane. I cannot deal with this. This is obviously a toxic situation. If you don’t get help, then me and Cruz are not going to be living here right now.’ Because it just didn’t feel – it didn’t feel right.”
“After having Cruz, I realized I wanted more in a relationship. I need to make sure Cruz isn’t living in a house where his parents are fighting; that could be a horrible way to grow up,” Cartwright added later.
Cartwright isn’t sure what the future holds for her and Taylor, saying she is still in love with him, “but it’s different” and that there are a lot of things he needs to work on, but “I’m not seeing enough effort from his side.”
“He needs to go to therapy. He doesn’t need to be staying out at the bar all the time. He needs to respect me more and stop taking me for granted. I was the closest person to him and was kind of like his punching bag. He was always giving me jabs. I can’t deal with that for the rest of my life,” she said.
