Brittany Cartwright Files for Divorce from Jax Taylor 6 Months After Announcing Separation
Cartwright, who wed Taylor in 2019, revealed on Feb. 29 that she and her spouse had been “taking time apart”
Vanderpump Rules alums Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright have called it quits.
Nearly six months after Cartwright, 35, announced that she and Taylor, 45, were “taking time apart,” the Kentucky native filed for divorce on Tuesday, Aug. 27, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The news comes days after Taylor completed a 30-day treatment in a mental health facility.
The docs list the date of separation as Jan. 24 and cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce.
Cartwright requested legal and physical custody of their 3-year-old son, Cruz Michael Cauchi, but asked that the court grant Taylor visitation rights. Cartwright also asked the court to terminate spousal support to both parties.
A rep for the couple had no comment when reached by PEOPLE.
TMZ was the first to report the news.
Cartwright, who wed Taylor in June 2019, previously revealed on Feb. 29 that she and her spouse would be going their separate ways during an episode of their joint podcast, When Reality Hits. She said she wanted to set the record straight before season 1 of her and Taylor’s new Bravo show The Valley began airing.
“I know on my last podcast, I alluded to many marriages go through rocky times,” she added. “Yes, marriages in general are very hard and I’ve had a particularly rough year this past year. Jax and I are taking time apart and I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health.”
The mother and reality star shared on the podcast that the breakup was “still very hard to talk about,” and she was “taking one day at a time.” She added, “I don’t know what the future holds, but right now my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz.”
Prior to that episode, Cartwright had been outspoken about marital issues she and Taylor had faced, once even admitting that “marriage is hard and people go through ups and downs all the time and it’s completely normal.”
“Sometimes people might need their space [and] sometimes they won’t,” she said.
However, Taylor insisted to Page Six in a video interview following the news of their separation that their split was “not divorce.”
“We’re just taking some time apart. Just trying to reassess our situation,” he said at the time, adding that they “want to do what’s best for our kid.”
In April, Cartwright told PEOPLE she went “back and forth” about whether she could reconcile with Taylor. “Some days I’m like, ‘For Cruz, we could make it work.’ But then I’m also like, ‘If I go back, it’s just going to be the same things, and I deserve better,'” she said. “I still love Jax very much, but he is a hard person to deal with, and I think everybody in the world knows that.”
The following month, during an episode of their podcast, Taylor claimed he and Cartwright had been considering seeing other people, but said he wasn’t dating anybody after photos of him with model Paige Woolen surfaced.
Cartwright and Taylor first met in 2015 at a Las Vegas bar before briefly splitting in 2017 and later getting engaged in June 2018. The two have long been candid about the “ups and downs” of their romance, from weathering infidelity scandals to taking on parenthood, which Cartwright said “made us stronger.”
“I don’t believe in divorce. My parents didn’t get divorced,” Taylor said last year. “I don’t believe in that. Marriage is work. I’m not saying every day is amazing… she’s the ying to my yang, a little. I’m a tough guy to be around, so it takes a certain person to deal with my crap. Even through all this, and even though my life is a lot better now, I’m still tough to handle. I think she’s the only one that can put up with me really.”
