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Jax Taylor is going public with his addiction to cocaine and alcohol.
During an interview with Bravo producer Alex Baskin, the Vanderpump Rules alum turned star of The Valley admitted to being an addict as he spoke of his two recent rehab stays, opened up about how his estranged wife, Brittany Cartwright, 35, “triggered” an outburst in front of their 3-year-old son, Cruz Michael Cauchi, and confirmed he is nearly 90 days sober.
“It’s just a sickness,” Jax explained of his addiction on Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast, via The Daily Dish. “It’s a disease, and it’s something that I have to work on for the rest of my life, unfortunately.”
According to Jax, he’s been working “really, really hard” on his sobriety. However, when it comes to his current streak of what he claimed was 82 or 83 days at the time of the interview, that began after his second visit to a rehabilitation center.
“It didn’t happen the first time,” he noted.
Although Jax clarified that he did “got a lot” from his first stay in treatment, he went on to reveal that he returned after “an incident” involving Brittany.
“Brittany and I were actually on our way to a doctor’s appointment for our son and her phone was connected to my car. A man’s name came up, and it just triggered me,” he shared, potentially giving a nod to her short-lived romance with Julian Sensley, 42.
According to Jax, he had a brief relapse and took “[a] substance” the previous night, which likely led to the outburst.
“I lost it,” he confessed. “I went crazy in the car, you know, yelling. And the worst part about all of this is, and this is why I checked myself in, is that my son was in the backseat. And that’s when I knew. I’m like, ‘Sh*t, I have a problem. It’s still there.’”
Looking back on his reaction, Jax said he became “very aware” and felt “utter disgust” that Cruz saw what went down between him and Brittany amid their split and immediately agreed with Brittany’s demand that he return to rehab.
“The first time, I kind of put up a little bit of a fight. This one, I was like, ‘You’re right.’ I didn’t put up a fight. I’m like, ‘I gotta go back,’” he recalled.
Still, after returning to treatment during the holidays, describing the ordeal as a “very, very dark time,” Jax decided against completing his program.
“I didn’t stay the full time,” he admitted. “I ended up staying 17 days. I felt like, for me, that was enough. I was like, ‘You know what? Another 14 days is not gonna do anything. I know that I’m good. I’m OK.’ I just needed to get back and be OK for a second.”
Jax went on to say that going back to rehab was a wake-up call about why he went the first time. And, that allowed him to “regroup and get back out there,” feeling he was “done” by day 17.
“I made a mistake, and I felt like the right decision for me at the time [was] to leave right then,” Jax reasoned. “I was there on my own. I wasn’t forced to be there, but I felt, myself, that I was ready to go.”
The Valley season two will premiere on Bravo sometime later this year.
