Jax Taylor has come to terms with his exit from Vanderpump Rules. Fans were shocked when news broke that the OG Vanderpump Rules cast member and his co-star (and wife) Brittany Cartwright wouldn’t be returning for the next season of the show.
And although, some would argue that it was time for Jax to move on to other ventures, others weren’t convinced that the show would be the same without him.
But it seems that Jax is not only okay with leaving the show, he’s found peace in cutting ties with the Bravo hit.
During a recent chat on the Daddy Issues podcast, hosted by Joe Buck and Oliver Hudson, Jax explained why he was ready to part ways and how he knew it was his time to go.
Jax feels ‘huge relief’ after exiting Vanderpump Rules
While interviewing with Joe and Oliver, Jax was asked, “How do you feel as you look back and now that you’ve made the announcement, you and Brittany, you’re not gonna be on the show anymore? The Vanderpump Rules? I know, that’s why I asked. I feel like that’s gotta be a relief.”
“It’s a huge, huge relief – for me,” Jax responded.
He then shared that his purpose on the show “didn’t make sense” and explained that he had discussions with the production staff because he wasn’t willing to film certain scenarios anymore.
“When we talked [about] it with the producers and stuff — it just didn’t make sense for me anymore to be totally honest,” he admitted.
Jax also confessed that the large age gap between himself and his cast members didn’t sit right with him anymore, either. As a man in his 40s, Jax often found himself going to toe-to-toe with his younger castmates.
“I mean, they just said, ‘Listen. You know, if you’re not really gonna partake in any of this stuff…’ And I was battling them the last two years [because] I didn’t want to shoot things,” Jax said. “It just doesn’t make sense for a 40-year-old to be hanging out with a 20-year-old, and fighting and arguing.”
Jax has ‘zero interest’ in the ‘Hollywood lifestyle’
According to Jax, he’s also ready to pivot his focus to the more important things in his life — including becoming a father. He and Brittany are expecting their first child together in mere weeks.
“It was getting stretched and it just didn’t make sense anymore. And I have zero interest in Hollywood lifestyle,” Jax shared. “I’m 40. I’m gonna be a father. My focus is on that. It’s just not fair to the show either to be like, ‘Okay, I’m going to sign up for this but I’m only going to be able to do these, this, and this.’ So, you know, I was okay with the decision, you know, to hang it up.”
But that wasn’t all that Jax had to say on his exit. He also shared that having to film for the show, and re-live the drama months later when the show aired, became tiresome.
“Not only do you have to film it, but then you gotta re-watch it again six months later. So, like, you know, God knows how they edit the show or whatever. And they’re gonna make you look how they want to make you. [it] doesn’t matter,” he confessed.
According to Jax, it was frustrating to be called “crazy” when fans don’t understand that the cast filmed for “hours and hours” but only saw a fraction of the interactions during the 45-minute show.
“They’re only showing when I’m at my peak,” Jax continued. “They never show how I got there or how I resolved the situation.”
“Well yeah, I do look like crazy when you’re only showing little clips of me,” he continued.
Jax said that if people were able to see what got him to that point they’d say, “Well now we understand why he’s acting like a crazy person.”
Although Jax and Brittany are exiting Vanderpump Rules, Jax admitted that didn’t mean that they would be moving on from reality television.
“We’re not walking away from TV. We’re just going to move on to something more family-oriented,” he concluded.
Vanderpump Rules is currently on hiatus on Bravo.