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Jesse Lally made his Watch What Happens Live debut on Tuesday night, where he addressed the many on-air comments his now-estranged wife, Michelle Lally, made about their marriage on The Valley.
While also speaking of the role Kristen Doute, 41, played in their split and reacting to the swirling rumors about his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Jesse, 44, opened up about his and Michelle’s new partners, Jax Taylor‘s treatment of now-estranged wife Brittany Cartwright, 35, and Michelle’s “most jaw-dropping” statements.
“The amount of times that she said she was kind of done and checked out and moved on. There were a few times where I had a few tears in my eyes because I’m like, ‘Why am I doing all this then?’” Jesse shared on the May 21 episode of WWHL.
According to Jesse, he and Michelle, 36, were still having sex “occasionally” when production began on The Valley in 2023. However, as filming continued, their relationship began to unravel as rumors about Michelle’s alleged emotional affair and sexy pics sent to other men surfaced.
“It’s one thing to have a rumor and have some gossip about people and go to that person and say, ’This is what I heard,’ but weaponizing it? I just felt it was a little heartbreaking cause I love Kristen,” Jesse admitted of how Kristen was involved.
While Michelle’s supposed photos were never verified, Jesse said he believed the rumor was true.
“And I think if we had the opportunity to go through all of what we learned over the last six and eight months at a reunion, it would be amazing, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. [But] we’re both super happy now so I don’t want to talk bad about Michelle,” he noted.
As for the claims of Michelle’s alleged romance with an A-list director, Jesse didn’t buy into it.
“[I] know where it came from because I was there that day, and it wasn’t this magical thing. I was there, and it was fun, and it was like six hours at the pool at Chateau,” he explained.
Months after confirming their marriage was over, both Jesse and Michelle moved on. And after Michelle went public with her new romance with Aaron Nosler, Jesse said he’s met her new boyfriend.
“I like him,” he shared. “He [is] nice, I invited him and Michelle over for Isabella’s fourth birthday party like two or three weeks ago, and they were actually the last two to leave.”
During a recent episode of The Valley, Michelle was seen telling Brittany she’d been unhappy in her marriage to Jesse since their daughter, Isabella, was born. Looking back, Jesse admitted it was upsetting to hear her harsh words.
“It’s so sad because COVID was difficult for everybody. We had Isabella literally a month into lockdown, and how do you balance? No help, no grandma, no grandpa,” he pointed out.
While Jesse thought that his marriage to Michelle “was amazing” when they signed on to appear on The Valley, noting that they had “just moved into a new house” and that their “business was incredible,” things took a hard left “all of a sudden.”
“Literally two days after our five-year anniversary, [in] mid-October, we went to Montecito and got back and had the conversation,” he revealed.
When Jesse was then asked if he regrets the outburst seen on Tuesday’s episode, during which he was seen screaming at a then-pregnant Janet Caperna, 34, he admitted he did.
“I was so full of pain and anger and it was just like, stress, and it was very reactive, which I regret. Emotion clouds reason and you go in there and it was what it was,” he explained.
Speaking of his own new partner, girlfriend Lacy Nicole, who was present for the WWHL taping, Jesse revealed he’d actually known her for 10 years.
“[We] remained friends and once I separated, I reached out to her and that was that,” he stated. “I love it down in Orange County, spend a lot of time down there, and luckily and thankfully, Isabella and her daughter are like the best of friends so it’s been a great journey.”
Moving on to Jax’s treatment of Brittany, which saw him lashing out about her drinking during Tuesday’s The Valley, Jesse said he had compassion for their challenges.
“It’s a really personal thing to go through that. I went through it. The struggle is very real, and I think bringing it up in a group setting, it’s difficult because I know what they’re going through,” he shared. “I went through it a year before that, and the writing was on the wall, and hopefully they work it out. I love them and they’re doing an amazing job right now, the two of them. I hope they do [get back together]. I hope everybody works it out, seriously.”
As for why Jax was so irked by Brittany’s drinking when he’s “no saint,” Jesse admitted his castmate was “too aggressive.”
“He does drink, but he rallies. I mean, he really rallies,” Jesse noted. “[I] love hanging out with [Brittany]. I understand where he’s coming from, but he’s also a little too aggressive about it. He is.”
Later, on the WWHL: After Show, a fan asked Jesse if he felt it was unfair that Zack Wickham had been left out of Janet and Jason Caperna‘s trip to Big Bear, and he was questioned about whether Zack’s association with Kristen was to blame.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with Kristen, I think it had to do where Janet was at that moment, and it was a couple’s bonding trip, and yeah, that was 100 percent up to Janet to decide in that moment,” he replied.
The Valley season one airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
