Jax Taylor is giving his two cents on whether his former Vanderpump Rules costar Raquel Leviss should return for the show’s 11th season following her affair with Tom Sandoval.
“No, absolutely not. No,” Taylor, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, July 11, while promoting his partnership with Xyon Health. “There’s nothing healthy about reality TV for anybody.”
Leviss’ future on the Bravo reality series remains up in the air after her affair with castmate Sandoval, 40, left the pair on bad terms with the Pump Rules cast at the end of season 10. In March, news broke that Sandoval cheated on his girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix, with Leviss, 28. Following backlash from fans and castmates, Leviss checked herself into a mental health treatment facility in April.
Last month, a source exclusively told Us that Leviss was planning to check out of the facility. Another source later confirmed to Us that Leviss was currently “in talks about returning for the next season of Vanderpump Rules,” though she had not yet decided “whether or not she wants to come back to the show.”
Taylor, meanwhile, knows that reality TV can be “a very toxic place,” having starred on Pump Rules for eight years before he and his wife, Brittany Cartwright, left the series in December 2020. “You need to have thick skin,’” he told Us on Tuesday. “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.”
Despite having only talked to Leviss “maybe two times in [his] life,” Taylor insisted that he wants “the best for her.” However, he doesn’t “feel bad” for anyone on the show when it comes to the drama that plays out on the small screen.
“We all stepped in this game together,” Taylor — who shares son Cruz, 2, with Cartwright, 34 — explained. “We all know what we’re doing. We all signed on the dotted line. I don’t feel bad for anybody. This is what you signed up for. Now you gotta own it.”
The intrigue surrounding Leviss and Sandoval’s affair — a.k.a “Scandoval” — is something Taylor never expected would get as big as it has. However, he attributes part of the scandal’s public interest to the way Sandoval has reacted to it.
“I think he had a little bit of a diva mentality,” the former Bravo star shared. “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.”
While Sandoval issued apologies to Madix, 38, and fans, it was later revealed that his whirlwind romance with Leviss began in August 2022 when they first kissed at Sandoval and Madix’s house. (Madix, meanwhile, has moved on with Daniel Wai.)
“I think it’s just [a] lack of empathy,” Taylor continued, referring to Sandoval’s actions. “It’s tone-deafness the way he’s, whoever his team is, the way he’s speaking about this whole situation.”
While Taylor, himself, has yet to reveal whether he’ll be heading back to Pump Rules — he hinted at a possible return with Us last month — he’s currently focusing on raising awareness for hair loss through his partnership with Xyon Health.
“I was trying to explore what options I was gonna take, and this is definitely the best option for me right now,” he said of his hair loss journey. “I found it early. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m completely bald on top.’ So, I noticed some thinning.”
Taylor said he’s become optimistic about the future of his hair since using the brand’s new shampoo and conditioner. “[Hair loss] happens to everybody and we got such great products in the world today,” he told Us. “It’s just a great partnership with, with these guys and, you know, I’m looking forward to, uh, to the future with them.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
