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Michelle Saniei claimed her estranged husband, Jesse Lally, began using drugs and drinking heavily after the birth of their now-five-year-old daughter, Isabella, during a podcast appearance on Wednesday.
As they continue to butt heads on The Valley amid their messy breakup, Michelle, 36, was featured on Nick Viall‘s podcast, where she recalled the years leading up to their split, accusing Jesse, 44, of using cocaine and sharing the ultimatum she gave him amid their personal and financial issues.
“[Jesse] was [excited to be a dad], but I don’t know if he really knew what that meant. Obviously, you get married. You have a child. Like, both of you have to put in the work. It is so much work. You can’t depend on one person to do it all, and that was him,” Michelle explained on the May 21 episode of The Viall Files.
According to Michelle, Jesse began to go “backwards” after Isabella’s arrival — even though he’d previously been fully against drugs.
“He started drinking more. He started doing drugs. He started just doing all these things in his 40s when he wasn’t doing that before we got married or while we were married,” Michelle alleged. “He started doing coke after Isabella was born, and our entire relationship — we were together for years — I’m very anti drugs, and so was he. He was like, ‘People don’t do that. That’s an absolute no,’ and then once I had a baby, I started noticing things.”
“I started asking him because it was very apparent and obvious. I could see him lying to my face, and it was just very difficult,” she admitted.
During another segment of the podcast, Michelle insisted that she and Jesse didn’t wait until the start of The Valley to announce their breakup for the sake of ratings.
“He already knew that I wanted the divorce. I had asked for a divorce a year prior, and he had begged me and asked me for a chance, and I gave him a list of things, like, ‘If you want this marriage to work, I need you to do A, B, and C,'” she revealed of her ultimatum. “There was a lot.”
One of the biggest problems, Michelle shared, was that Jesse was “drinking way too much.”
“He would drink vodka, vodka on the rocks, and when you have a baby, that’s just not doable,” she stated. “[And] we had financial issues.”
As Michelle stayed home and cared for Isabella, Jesse would be “out all day … spending money.”
“It was just like a constant battle of spending and spending and spending,” she explained. “He spent 90% of our money, and it was very frustrating because I’m like, ‘I’m at home taking care of our baby and you’re just spending our money.’”
“I couldn’t control that or control him. He always made excuses. He’ll say, like, ‘Oh, I deserved it, or it was a family trip so it’s fine,’ and it wasn’t fine,'” she recalled.
As for whether Jesse had taken accountability, Michelle said he always has a different response to her claims against him.
“Sometimes he will acknowledge it, and sometimes he’s like, ‘She’s crazy. I don’t know what she’s talking about,’” she revealed.
Also on the podcast, Michelle accused Jesse of having a fake persona.
“If he likes you, if he thinks you have money or whatever the case is, he has this persona who’s not who he really is,” she stated.
The Valley season two airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
