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The Daily Dish The Valley

Janet Caperna Reveals Whether She’ll Be Friends with Kristen Doute Again: “It Was a Pause”

There may be hope that Janet Caperna and Kristen Doute could mend their relationship. Find out what Janet Caperna says now about their "break." 

By Jill Sederstrom

Janet Caperna has made it clear on The Valley that Kristen Doute is one person not getting an invite to her events.

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Watch The Valley on Bravo Tuesdays at 9/8c and next day on Peacock. Catch up on the Bravo app

But don’t count their friendship out just yet. 

“I don’t think, you know, this is the end of our friendship,” Janet recently told The Daily Dish. “ I just think it was, like, a pause.”

Why is Janet Caperna mad at Kristen Doute?

Janet and her hubby, Jason — along with the now-estranged Michelle and Jesse Lally — consciously decided to ostracize Kristen from the group after a dinner quickly devolved into an explosive argument between Kristen and the Lallys. During the Episode 6 argument, which spilled into the hallway and nearly came to blows, centered around Kristen’s insistence that she was “protecting” Michelle by not revealing a secret that could threaten to destroy the couple’s marriage. 

Kristen also incorrectly claimed that Jesse was planning to divorce his wife within two months, a conclusion she mistakenly reached after misinterpreting a conversation she had with Luke about the couple’s troubles.

In the aftermath of the blowout, the Lallys and the Capernas decided not to invite Kristen to any more of their events. 

“So, for me, personally, she’s not invited to my sh-t,” Janet declared.

Split of Janet Caperna and Kristen Doute in front of a home in The Valley

Are Kristen Doute and Janet Caperna friends today?

The two couples may have systematically iced Kristen out of the group events that followed — but the tension between Janet and Kristen seems to have thawed. 

“With Kristen, we’ve been friends for many years,” Janet told The Daily Dish. “I will always love and care about Kristen. I want to see her do well. You know, I think when I was pregnant and we were filming I had to have a boundary up, just because I couldn’t handle much stress then.” 

Janet shared that at the time she felt she needed to “prioritize my health and my body” and keep stress to a minimum.

“So, when stressful stuff kept happening and our dinners kept, you know, going awry, I was like all right, I need to take a break from what’s causing this. And this summer for me, that meant taking a break from Kristen,” she explained.

For now, Janet told US Weekly she was still taking “a break” from her longtime pal and hasn’t reconnected with her since filming wrapped in the summer of 2023. 

“It’s funny, we had a little bit of a break and then when we came together to celebrate the premiere, I was like, ‘Oh, I kind of miss Kristen,’” Janet told the outlet. “And then an episode aired and I was like, ‘I do not miss Kristen’ [and] how dare her?’”

Janet Caperna at the Watch What Happens Live clubhouse in New York City.

Janet referred to the current status of their relationship to The Daily Dish as a “pause” in the relationship.

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“Never say never,” she said of the chance of a reconciliation.

What will happen on the rest of The Valley Season 1?

Janet teased that in the weeks ahead on The Valley fans can expect a “rollercoaster” of emotions as friendships are tested. 

“I think you’re gonna see kind of a divide coming up and then all of us coming crashing back together for the end,” she said. “So, you’re kind of seeing, like, people take sides and ‘I’m gonna stay away from this person, I don’t want to be around this person,’  and you kind of see a divide in the group and then you kind of see us all come back together, maybe not in the most clean way. It’s a little messy at the end.” 

The Valley cast members have already seen their share of drama after filming ended. Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor announced they were taking a break in their marriage to reevaluate their relationship, while Jesse and Michelle also announced their split just days before the series premiere. 

To find out more about how the final episodes play out, watch The Valley Tuesday nights on Bravo or available streaming the next day on Peacock. 

Original reporting by Stephanie Gomulka

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