Jax Taylor has some advice for Rachel “Raquel” Leviss in the aftermath of her affair with Tom Sandoval.
“She needs to get a real job. She’s doing everything she can right now besides get a real job,” Taylor, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Thursday, March 14, premiere party for Bravo’s The Valley at Jax’s Studio City.
Taylor noted that he wants “nothing to do” with Leviss, 29, adding, “I think Rachel needs to disappear for a while, try to figure out who she is as a person, because I think she got lost in the light a little bit. I think she got caught up in the whole fame of it all.”
He continued: “It spiraled out of control on her. And like I said, I think she just needs to stay away from it. I don’t think it was for her.”
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News broke in March 2023 that Ariana Madix and Sandoval, 41, split due to his months-long affair with Leviss. After the drama publicly played out at the end of Vanderpump Rules season 10, Leviss checked herself into a 90-day mental health facility before officially leaving the series. Sandoval, whose romance with Leviss fizzled out, is still on the show.
Since her departure, Levis has shifted her focus back to modeling and running her “Rachel Goes Rogue” podcast. Despite not wanting her involved with his new show, Taylor previously said he wanted “the best” for Leviss as she dealt with the controversy.
“You need to have thick skin,’” he told Us in July 2023 about Leviss’ future at Bravo. “In my opinion, I think [Raquel] dove into something that was a little bit bigger than her. I don’t think she’s mentally tough enough to be in something like this.”
Taylor also questioned Sandoval’s behavior toward the situation. “I think he had a little bit of a diva mentality,” he continued. “I [think he] thought he [could] get away with something like this, and I think that’s kind of why it’s got so big and how long it’s been going on. It’s not just your hookup, you messed up, whatever. I mean, this has been going on for a long time.”
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At the time, Taylor called Sandoval out for having a “lack of empathy,” saying, “It’s tone-deafness the way he’s, whoever his team is, the way he’s speaking about this whole situation.”
Taylor has since worked out his issues with Sandoval after they filmed a scene for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules, which served as a transition to the first episode of The Valley. (VPR alums Taylor, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute lead the cast of the spinoff series.)
“Everybody has made mistakes, especially on Vanderpump Rules. He cheated on Ariana. It’s been a year now. I feel like it’s time to move on,” Taylor added on Thursday. “She’s happy. Clearly, she’s doing very well. She has a new boyfriend, [Daniel Wai]. It’s time to stop talking about Scandoval. There are other things to talk about like The Valley.”
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The new show, which received an eight-episode order from Bravo, will focus on a group of friends as they leave their wild younger years behind in exchange for parenthood and adult life in California’s San Fernando Valley.
The Valley also stars Taylor’s friend Danny Booko and his wife, Nia Booko, who was a former Miss USA. Jesse Lally, who has known Taylor since their modeling days, appears alongside wife Michelle Lally, Jason Caperna and Janet Caperna. (Bachelor Nation’s Jasmine Goode and Cartwright’s college pal Zack Wickham will make appearances on the show as “friends” of the cast.)
The Valley premieres on Bravo Tuesday, March 19, following a new episode of Vanderpump Rules and will stream the next day on Peacock. Beginning Tuesday, March 26, the series will move to its regular time slot of 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Mike Vulpo
