Brittany Cartwright vows to stop Jax Taylor’s reality TV comeback after his secret relationship with her longtime publicist was exposed

Brittany Cartwright has no plans to hash out her issues with ex-husband Jax Taylor on the small screen after his secret relationship with her ‘good friend’ and longtime publicist Lori Krebs was exposed last month.

Daily Mail understands that Brittany, 37, is determined to stop Jax, 47, from returning to their hit Bravo series The Valley and is already telling people that she won’t film with him if he comes back.

‘Most of the cast are backing her up on this, even the people she isn’t getting along with. They understand why she’s so upset and why she doesn’t want to be around Jax,’ a source close to the group said.

Jax starred on the first two seasons of The Valley and has publicly taken credit for creating and casting the series. He exited the show last year to seek treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues amid the demise of his marriage to Brittany.

Jax already alluded to his ex-wife trying to block his reality TV comeback in a fiery Instagram post this week.

‘What hurts the most is feeling like no matter how hard I work to rebuild my life, move forward or earn new opportunities, there are constant attempts to tear those opportunities away,’ he wrote.

‘Brittany has directly contacted networks and brands in an effort to stop me from working and to prevent me from getting opportunities affecting my ability to earn a living.’ 

Producers are now interviewing potential new cast members for season four of The Valley following the show’s strong ratings this year, but nothing has been officially decided yet.

‘They’ve been looking at some fresh faces that organically fit in with the group rather than bringing back more old Vanderpump Rules stars like they did last season,’ said a source.

‘Don’t expect to see Tom Sandoval, James Kennedy, or Scheana Shay on the show next year,’ they added. 

Meanwhile, Brittany is looking forward to sharing her side of the story with the world once The Valley picks up cameras again.

According to pals, the Kentucky-born bartender was ‘completely blindsided’ by Jax’s relationship with Lori, as Lori was both a personal friend of the former couple’s as well as their shared longtime publicist.

‘Lori wasn’t just Jax’s publicist, she was deeply embedded in their entire world and that’s what made this so shocking,’ the insider said.

Rumors of Jax and Lori being more than just friends first surfaced over two years ago, but both Jax and Brittany shut down the speculation on their podcast at the time.

‘She’s our publicist and a very good friend of mine,’ Brittany said on a February 22, 2024 episode of When Reality Hits.

‘Lori is an amazing publicist, a super hard worker and she does so much amazing work for us so I just want to make sure that we clear that up.’ 

While Brittany believed that nothing was going on between Lori and her ex-husband, many others in Brittany’s orbit had been wary of Lori for years.

‘Brittany had heard the rumors long before everyone else did, but Jax and Lori always denied anything was happening and she wanted to believe them,’ an insider said.

‘Everybody else in their friend circle was convinced that the whispers were true and told Brittany to fire Lori, but she chose to believe Lori and thought that Jax had just made it up as a way to try and hurt her,’ they continued.

‘She was heartbroken and embarrassed once she discovered that they’d been hooking up. She felt like she’d been made a fool of in front of their friends and the whole world.’

Indeed, many people in Brittany’s friend group had long suspected that Lori and Jax saw each other as more than just friends and colleagues.

‘People around them started noticing the dynamic had changed before it became public,’ said one.

‘Lori seemed much more emotionally invested than you’d expect from a publicist and all their friends picked up on their undeniable chemistry. There were moments where the tension in the room was impossible to ignore.’

However, another source close to the controversial couple insists that they never had a ‘years-long secret affair’ or ever cheated on their partners, and that their shock romance only started in the last eight months.  

A second source backed this up, telling Daily Mail, ‘Lori and Jax got closer in the last few months. There was never any romantic relationship before that and Brittany knows this. She is using this to spin a narrative in her favor.’

While Jax and Lori seem to be openly dating now, some of their pals don’t expect the relationship to last. 

‘Most inside their friend group think that the secrecy is what made their relationship exciting. Now that it’s out in the open, people are starting to think that it won’t have any staying power,’ said the insider.

‘Maybe they are in love but it still seems wrong in many ways,’ they continued.

‘At this point, all of Jax’s real friends just hope that whatever this is, it finally brings him some stability and happiness.’

Daily Mail understands that Jax may still be hoping to return to The Valley despite Brittany trying to ice him out of the show, although whether Lori would join him on camera is up for debate.

‘Lori seemed to evolve from being behind the scenes as a publicist to becoming part of the scene herself,’ one insider said.

‘She was walking red carpets, showing up at events and becoming very visible. She just seemed to be trying too hard to be in the spotlight,’ they continued.

‘If she eventually wanted to be on The Valley, I don’t think many people in that circle would be surprised. At times, she seemed to be looking for fame.’ 

However, a source close to the couple shot this down, insisting that neither Jax nor Lori have any interest in starring on The Valley.

‘Jax wouldn’t go back to The Valley if asked. He has no interest in returning or would put himself in a situation as toxic as the cast is,’ they said.

‘He’s come too far in his recovery and protecting his mental health and shielding his son from this toxicity is his number one priority. Lori has never wanted any part of reality TV.’

Jax recently confirmed his relationship with Lori after the pair were spotted holding each other in a pool during a Mexico vacation in mid July. 

After news broke of Jax and Lori’s wild PDA, a furious Brittany fired the public relations expert and other reality stars in her circle have vowed not to work with her either. 

Daily Mail has contacted Jax, Lori and Brittany for comment. 

Days after the steamy sighting, Brittany broke her silence on the scandal.

‘All I’m going to say about this at this moment is I will be speaking my truth – the truth – on this matter very soon whenever I’m ready,’ she said on an episode of her podcast.

‘As of right now, I am focusing on me and the most important thing in my life, which is my beautiful son,’ the mom of one, who shares five-year-old son Cruz with Taylor, stated.

Explaining that she was ‘trying to protect my son and my peace,’ she teased that she would elaborate publicly on the controversy ‘very soon,’ adding, ‘I think everybody kind of understands what’s going on.’ 

Jax and Brittany announced their split in February 2024, with the latter filing for divorce that August.

They share one son together, a boy named Cruz, who was diagnosed with autism.