Brittany Cartwright on what drove her to publicly share she and Jax Taylor have separated

Longtime “Vanderpump Rules” fans were thrilled after learning earlier this year some of their favorite former cast members would be reentering the Bravo universe on a new spinoff called “The Valley.” But recently, two of those stars — Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright — found their way back into the headlines before the show’s March 19 premiere.

In February, Brittany revealed on the couple’s podcast, “When Reality Hits with Jax & Brittany," that she and Jax are “taking time apart” after a “particularly rough year.”

“I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health,” Brittany said.

She added: “I don’t know what the future holds. But right now, my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz.”

The couple famously documented their 2019 wedding for Season Eight of “VPR” and exited the show the next year. Then in 2021, they welcomed their first child — a boy named Cruz Michael Cauchi.

“The Valley” will also follow Jax and Brittany’s friend and former “VPR” castmate Kristen Doute, as she proceeds with her fertility journey with boyfriend Luke Broderick. In November, Kristen and Luke shared on Kristen’s podcast, “Sex, Love, and What Else Matters,” that she got pregnant but experienced a miscarriage about six weeks in.

“I only feel comfortable talking about this because I know so many friends of mine have gone through this,” Kristen said. “It’s really f------ terrifying because you always think, 'What’s wrong? What did I do wrong? Could I have done something different?'”

Along with Brittany, Jax, Kristen and Luke, the cast members of "The Valley" are: Jesse and Michelle Lally, Danny and Nia Booko, Jason and Janet Caperna, Jasmine Goode and Zack Wickham.

"VPR" stars have also expressed excitement for "The Valley." Lala Kent told TODAY.com in January she informed Brittany she "better have a watch party for every single episode."

"From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be fantastic. Grade-A television. I’m probably more excited for that show than I am for ‘Vanderpump Rules’ only because I have no skin in the game. I can sit back and watch and not worry about a thing," she said at the time.

TODAY.com chatted with Brittany about everything from recent stories surrounding her marriage — including why she decided to go public with their struggles — to whom she stays in touch with from "Vanderpump Rules" and so much more, all ahead of the series premiere of “The Valley.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

There have already been so many headlines about "The Valley" and your relationship. How are you doing right now?

I’m doing OK. It’s definitely been crazy — the media being so heavily involved in my relationship. I get it because we do put so much of our lives out there, which is why I had to talk about it in the first place, because the Instagram sleuths were figuring out that I was staying at a different house.

I didn’t really plan on publicly coming out and saying something like that, but there were so many rumors swirling around that I felt like I had to.

I have my bad days, and I have my good days. But the space is much needed right now for us — no matter which way it goes in the future.

You mentioned Instagram sleuths. Bravo has such a core fan base, especially on Reddit. Do you ever go on Reddit and read the comments?

I can’t. It’s so mean — it is so mean. And I’m so not that person. I’m such a people-pleaser, and I try to be positive 24/7. People will just say something that is completely not true and say it like it’s the truth. And then people believe it. That is one of the most difficult things to deal with sometimes, whenever people believe things that are not true or not like your personality at all.

For me, I’m just like, be positive. I don’t get them tearing each other down, especially the women-on-women stuff. I think we should always lift each other up, support each other, be proud of each other, happy for each other. I can’t do the Reddit stuff. I know there are so many more nice people out there. The mean ones — they’ll get you sometimes.

Pivoting back to "The Valley": In a trailer, Danny says it’s a three-way tie for who’s the most dramatic between Kristen, Jax and Jesse. Do you agree with his assessment?

Yeah (laughs). The three of them, definitely the most dramatic. I think Kristen might bring the most drama this season, and then, of course, Jax is just always … Jax. But Jesse is a little spitfire.

I think that’s going to be interesting because he’s a new character, and a lot of people are going to see a lot of Jesse, I think, because he doesn’t have a filter either. He’s another Jax.

You have all had your relationship ups and downs play out on reality TV. Do you think being on TV leads to a lot of these relationship problems, or does it bring the issues to the surface?

I think it just brings it all to the surface. ... If I was to get in a fight with Kristen and I wasn’t filming, I probably wouldn’t talk to her for a couple days or something. But when we’re filming, it’s like we have to address it.

It makes it almost like therapy, especially whenever we’re doing our interview sessions afterward and we’re talking about what happened. Me and Jax were sitting there a couple times, and I’m like, "This is like therapy!" We do couple interviews as well this season. You definitely have to face things you might not normally face if the cameras are rolling.

Kristen is on a fertility journey this season, and you both talked on your podcast about how you have the same doctor. How's it been supporting your friend as she tries to have a child?

I think that Kristen will be a great mother. I mean, she spoils her dogs so much, but I can only imagine how she would treat a baby. She wants to be a mom, and she’s already 40 now, so I think for her, she’s just so worried about her timing. But people are having babies later and later and later in life. I think she’s got plenty of time still, and I just want to be there for her and let her know I support her.

As we know, she publicly stated that she had a miscarriage, and that was really difficult on her. I’m praying for her. I’m excited for her, and I hope that she gets to be a mom one day for sure.

When you first joined "Vanderpump Rules," you were a Southerner who just moved to LA. Now you’re on "The Valley" as a mom. How do you feel you've changed since viewers first saw you years ago?

I just have so much more to live for now with my son. Being a mom has completely changed me.

It’s made me stronger, it’s made me happier. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I think that I’m a lot more confident in myself now.

I just feel like I became a lot stronger, honestly. You don’t really take as much crap whenever you have brought somebody into the world.

You realize what’s most important in life, and I think that’s made a big difference in who I am as a person now compared to the shy little girl wearing a romper that wouldn’t even talk to anybody in the beginning. I was so nervous.

When putting "The Valley" together, how did you choose who would be in the cast?

They’re our real friends, and they’ve been around for years and years. Nobody has just popped up for the show. Jesse and Jax used to model together like 20 years ago or something crazy. He’s been around forever. Me and Michelle became best friends. Danny and Nia are probably our newest friends in the friend group, but even they have been around for years. Everybody is very connected. We just knew that this would be a good group.

We’re all, like I said, real friends, so it just makes sense. I think that’s why “Vanderpump Rules” works so well as well, because we were all such close friends.

Who from the “Vanderpump Rules” cast are you closest to right now?

Scheana (Shay) and Lala, for sure. We get the kids together all the time, and we love to do our little playdates. I just love them so much.

They’ve been very supportive throughout everything I’m going through. Ariana (Madix) has been checking on me from New York. I’m very grateful for that. Love Tom Schwartz, too. I love everybody, but me and Scheana and Lala are probably the closest.

What are you most excited for fans to see when watching you on "The Valley"?

I’m excited for everybody to see us as parents because the last time we were on the show, (it) was our wedding. A lot has changed since then. It’s a lot more family-oriented than what we’re used to. I think that’s going to be a different view on our lives, and I’m just excited for all of that.

There’s still drama, there’s still a lot of fun. Just because we’re parents now doesn’t mean we’re boring. So buckle up! I hope (the fans) tune in every week because it just is going to continue getting crazier and crazier.

I spoke to Jax and asked if he had any interest in one day being on "The Traitors." He said he thinks you’d be great for the show. What do you say to that?

Yeah! I think it would be fun. I would definitely do it — get to stay at a big castle and stuff. I’m all for it! It would be very much out of my comfort zone, but I think that’s what would make it so fun.

"The Valley" premieres March 19 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo and streams the next day on Peacock.

(Peacock is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.)

This article was originally published on TODAY.com