All things said and done, they have each other’s backs. Katie Maloney opened up about how she and her fellow Vanderpump Rules costars are supporting Jax Taylor as he copes with the death of his father, Ronald Cauchi.
“Each day is its own. I think he’s just going from one day at a time,” the SUR-ver, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, January 5, noting that her husband, Tom Schwartz, supported 38-year-old Taylor at the funeral. “Tom went and saw him last Saturday in Florida and went to the funeral. He said that Jax’s just going from hyperventilating, crying, to be being fine. I think he’s becoming a little stronger each day, but it’s just … I can’t even imagine what it’s like to lose a parent and to know that his dad was his hero and one of his best friends. He admired him so much and of course I reached out to Jax and talked to him a little bit. I know he’s been with family and friends.”
Maloney added that Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, who have both been romantic with Taylor in the past and are now close friends with him, are flying to Michigan to support Taylor at his late father’s “celebration of life” event.
“Tom and I were unable to go but we’ll be there in spirit,” she continued. “When he’s back, we’ll make sure we rally around hum and he can adjust back to life and all of that.”
As previously reported, Cauchi died late last month while battling stage IV cancer. “My heart is broken. I lost my best friend and the best man ever last night,” Taylor tweeted at the time. “I love you so much dad I can’t breathe anymore.”
Taylor paid tribute to his late father by sharing a heartfelt Instagram photo of Cauchi smiling with his arms crossed. “My dad loved his family more than anything in the world and he was the ‘perfect father’ and wanted everyone to get along and be happy,” the Bravo personality wrote. “Cancer took my dad way too soon but I have to hope and pray that god has a bigger plan for him. … thank you dad, thank you for giving me everything I needed in life with out a question.”
After receiving an outpouring of support and well wishes from fans, the bartender tweeted, “Thank you to everyone for the kind messages, I haven’t had any strength to respond or breathe for that matter. I just want you all to know that [my girlfriend] Brittany [Cartwright] has been reading them to me.”
Taylor revealed his father’s cancer battle via Twitter early last month and told Us Weekly shortly after that all he wants for Christmas was “cancer to be out of my father’s body. If I can ask for anything right now, I just want my dad to be better.”
Reporting by Sharon Tharp
