Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And Jax Taylor found himself in a burning building — or rather, a burning birthday party — in the season premiere of Vanderpump Rules.
The reality star, 38, was at the center of cheating accusations made by fellow SUR employee Faith Stowers, who claimed they hooked up, as word quickly got back to his girlfriend, Brittany Cartwright.
We have yet to see the real fallout of the drama, but we caught up with some of the show’s stars about how they reacted to the all-too-familiar scenario.
“I actually heard about it and I didn’t know what to think about it. It seemed pretty far-fetch,” his best friend, Tom Sandoval, told Us. “It’s something that you’ll definitely get to the bottom of pretty quickly in the season.”
His girlfriend, Ariana Madix, had a more mixed reaction. “That was pretty shocking and … it’s one of those things. Jax, with Brittany, he’s seemed kind of like this different person, so to hear that rumor, it’s like, ’Is it far-fetched? But it is.’ It’s weird.”
She explained further, “In the past I would have said, ‘Oh yeah, for sure.’ Because that sounds just like Jax. But now, it doesn’t seem like that. Also, Faith was somebody I considered to be a friend. So that’s also really weird and shocking and upsetting. The whole thing was just bizarre, honestly.”
Tom continued to stay more neutral, defending his friend: “Obviously, there are two sides. Nobody’s perfect. We get that.”
Costar Katie Maloney wasn’t so diplomatic. “It was sad,” she told Us. “It was hard because Brittany is such a sweet, amazing person, who deserves the best — 100 percent. I was nervous about her getting with Jax. I remember when they first started dating, we were like, ‘If you screw her over, you’re done. We keep her. You go.’”
And everyone thought things were going well. “For the most part, I felt like he had been behaving himself,” Katie continued. “But when I heard this, I knew it was true. No one had told me anything, but knowing Jax, there was never a question of whether or not it was just a rumor.”
While we have yet to see what happens, they all had nothing but nice things to say about Brittany, who Tom called “a positive ball of energy” and a “ray of sunshine.”
“She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t deserve half the … like the ‘make me a sandwich’ comments,” Ariana said. “Some of the stuff that Jax has said to her and about her, she doesn’t deserve that at all.”
This isn’t the first time Jax has been accused of (and even admitted to) cheating — which begs the question: is he capable of being monogamous? Tom and Ariana seem hopeful, but Katie told Us, “No. I think he needs to be with someone where it can be like an open relationship. Maybe be with a woman who is kind of the same way as him. You know, have a little side action.”
There’s more drama to come, she promised. “It’s just … not over.”
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