We Saw Jax & Brittany's Separation Coming A Mile Away In The Valley Premiere

Fans have watched Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's relationship implode over and over again on "Vanderpump Rules" and now they're back to bickering in Bravo's new spinoff, "The Valley." It seemed like the two were finally in a good place, with their $1.9 million home situated in San Fernando Valley and adorable son Cruz. We anticipated that we would finally get to see a more relaxed, grown-up version of Taylor now that he has settled down. However, just weeks before the show's March 19 premiere, Cartwright revealed she and Taylor had separated on their joint podcast, "When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany." She shared, "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."

While this didn't surprise us at all, not long after Cartwright's announcement, Taylor told Page Six they were still living together. Was Taylor and Cartwright's separation totally fake or were they actually experiencing problems? Well, after watching "The Valley" premiere, it's clear that Taylor's usual shenanigans were what drove Cartwright to pack up and move out.

"The Valley" was Jax Taylor's chance to redeem himself after years of cheating on girlfriends and talking down to Brittany Cartwright. At first glance, he seemed like a changed man when he told the cameras, "I'm at a point in my life where I've recharged my batteries, I've reassessed my life a little bit. I do it all — I'm an influencer, I'm a father — that's a job!" Then we saw a glimpse of Taylor's old self when Cartwright reminded him it had been over a week since she got lipo under her chin. "I just don't have full control over my jaw," she told him. "I have to remember that. Nighttime activities," he joked. (Let us remind you that this is the same man who told Cartwright to get bigger breast implants because he was paying for them.)

Taylor also seemed to have an unexplained dislike of Kristin Doute's boyfriend, Luke Broderick, which put a strain on Cartwright's relationship with her BFF. "Sometimes I feel like I'm in the middle of all that crap between, like, Jax, Kristin, Luke situation," Cartwright confided to Nia Booko and Michelle Lally. She further explained that Taylor was so dismissive of Broderick during Scheana Shay's wedding in Mexico that she broke out in hives from the stress. Taylor's love-hate relationship with Doute was understandable given their cheating scandal, but his obsession with her wanting to have kids with Broderick had him spinning — and it was obviously a huge deflection of his own marital problems.

We all know that Jax Taylor's M.O. is to deflect, deflect, deflect. Instead of focusing on his own marriage, he was overly eager to jump on Kristen Doute's relationship with Luke Broderick. Although it was none of his business, he asked Broderick about Doute's plans to get pregnant. "Do you think she's wanting it for the right reasons, because I just want to make sure she's going to be okay," he stated. Taylor added that "having a kid out of wedlock" is not ideal, like it's the 1800s.

Taylor just couldn't get off the Doute wheel. During the fair-themed party at his and Cartwright's house, he tried to get Lala Kent on his side. "The trying to get pregnant thing. You're trying to bring a child into this world? What's going to happen?" he asked her. He later told Brock Davies, "Personally I don't think you can ever be ready for kids." The pressures of being a dad must be weighing heavily on Taylor. However, despite his holier-than-thou act, he thought it was funny to pull down Danny Booko's swim trunks in front of everyone and their kids. "I'm sorry that your pee-pee was out," he told Danny, not sounding sorry at all. As always, Cartwright was left cleaning up Taylor's mess and had to comfort Danny's wife, Nia Booko, who was livid. It must be hard for Cartwright to have to take care of two children.