Just like Us, Janet Caperna learned the rumors about Michelle Lally allegedly having a secret boyfriend while watching the newest episode of The Valley.
“When we saw the episode, that was the first time I had heard anything about a boyfriend,” Janet exclusively told Us Weekly about costar Kristen Doute making the allegations to producers away from the rest of the cast. “I literally paused it and I told [husband] Jason [Caperna] to rewind. ‘Did Kristen just say boyfriend? What is going on here?'”
Janet was just as “shocked” as the audience, adding, “Because Kristen didn’t say that in front of all of us at the table. She walked down to the lobby and said it there in front of cameras and stuff. But at the time I had no idea she said that.”
During the Tuesday, April 23, episode of The Valley, Kristen once again referenced “holding all of” Michelle’s “secrets” and finally dropped the bombshell after Michelle’s husband, Jesse Lally, threatened her and nearly got physical with several cast members.
“Because she had a f—king boyfriend for a year. There we all said it. Now she’s protecting him and not me,” Kristen claimed. “About a year ago, Michelle and Jesse were very unhappy. Michelle had a guy. She was seeing him, they were hanging out. I was not against any of this because I think Jesse is a piece of s—t.”
After watching the episode, Janet still isn’t on Kristen’s side.
“I wish that Kristen in that moment would’ve said this in front of Michelle, so that Michelle had the opportunity to defend herself and explain what is or is not going on,” Janet told Us. “So I thought that was kind of a cheap shot for Kristen to kind of wait until nobody else is there to speak for themselves and say something like that. That’s just a huge bomb that’s being dropped. I wish she would’ve given Michelle the opportunity to speak for herself.”
Janet doesn’t think Michelle even needed to address the speculation, adding, “I don’t know if there’s anything to come clean about. I’m still kind of confused on that one.”
Jesse and Michelle, who have since separated after nearly six years of marriage, were plagued with rumors of infidelity since The Valley premiered earlier this year. In a sneak peek clip for next week’s episode, Michelle denied to Jesse that there was any validity to Kristen’s claims — although it’s unclear if they were told about the footage of Kristen alleging she has a boyfriend.
According to Janet, it didn’t appear that Michelle was seeing someone else before ending her marriage.
“[Tuesday] night was the first that I had heard of any of this,” Janet shared. “Michelle has a full-time job. She has a 4-year-old [daughter Isabella] and she has a husband. I’m like ,’When does she have time for a boyfriend?’ If she does, then I want to take a time management course from Michelle. If she had time for all that.”
The Valley was filmed last summer. In real time, Michelle recently revealed she is dating someone new after her and Jesse called it quits.
“Someone amazing. I like our little privacy for the moment,” Michelle wrote via Instagram Q&A on Saturday, April 20, before explaining where she and Jesse stand now. “My only goal is to be friends one day.”
Shortly after Michelle opened up about her new man, Bravo fans noticed her costar Brittany Cartwright‘s Instagram Story of a group outing and seemingly identified the mystery man as financial advisor Aaron Nosler.
Janet told Us that although she has yet to meet Michelle’s new man — her husband has, joking, “Jason actually knows him from their single days. As soon as she told me his name, I went and of course immediately looked him up.”
The Valley airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
