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BFFs? Lovers? Enemies? A Complete Timeline of Jax Taylor and Kristen Doute's Relationship
Jax and Kristen may butt heads from time to time, but they always find a way to stay friends, even through cheating scandals and drama.
Just like everyone else on Vanderpump Rules, Jax Taylor and Kristen Doute’s friendship has been a wild one over the last decade, with a series of falling-outs and making up. But although they left the show after Season 8 in 2020, Jax, Kristen, and Jax’s wife, Brittany Cartwright, have remained close.
Kristen reminded everyone of their long friendship when she posted a “Happy Birthday” message to Jax on her Instagram in July 2022, writing, “We’ve been friends for almost 15 YEARS!!”
And what a 15 years it has been. We’re taking a look back at their roller coaster of a friendship ahead of The Valley premiere on March 19 on Bravo.
2013: Jax and Kristen Run in the Same Circle of Friends
When Vanderpump Rules premiered in January 2013, SUR manager Peter Madrigal tried to describe how all of the cast knew each other — with a very convoluted answer.
“SUR is a bit of a merry-go-round when it comes to relationships …[Jax] used to live with Tom [Sandoval], who is now dating Kristen, who is best friends with Stassi [Schroeder] … who is dating Jax … yeah, it’s a little crazy,” Peter explained in the series premiere.
Kristen also said she had known Tom Sandoval for five years in the premiere, which means she would have first met Jax through Sandoval in the mid-2000s, just as her Instagram post in 2022 hinted. Kristen made it clear that she and Jax were part of a big circle of friends.
“None of us are from L.A.,” Kristen said in the premiere. “It’s kinda cool because we’re like one big family. Katie [Maloney], Stassi and I specifically are best friends, and our boyfriends all happen to be best friends as well.”
2014: Did Kristen and Jax hook up?
Yes, they did in 2014.
By Season 2, Jax and Kristen’s “friendship” had already evolved into something else. Gossip was swirling among their friend group that Jax had hooked up with Kristen (while the two were dating Stassi and Sandoval, respectively), and eventually Jax confessed to doing the dirty deed on Sandoval’s couch while they were watching the 2011 crime drama, Drive.
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Kristen continued to deny the hookup to try and save her relationships with Stassi and Sandoval, but the revelation led to one of the most memorable moments in Vanderpump Rules, when Stassi slapped Kristen across the face and dumped a drink on her. Eventually, Kristen admitted to it.
On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in October 2023, Andy asked Jax if he regretted hooking up with Kristen, and Jax answered with a resounding “yes.”
Kristen also wrote about the hookup in her book, He’s Making You Crazy.
“I think the ‘I Lied’ chapter was probably the hardest one for me to write … I felt so much guilt about my mistake that I didn’t feel that I really deserved any sort of platform to speak my mind about it or say my piece,” Kristen told US Weekly in May 2020, adding, “I think Jax has forgiven himself, and I think we’ve forgiven each other, and I know that Tom has forgiven me. So that to me is enough.”
2016: Jax Starts a Rumor Kristen and Brittany Hooked Up
Jax introduced Brittany into his circle of friends as his girlfriend back in Season 4, and it didn’t take long for his friendship with Kristen to hit another bump, after Jax started a rumor at the start of Season 5 that he had witnessed Kristen and Brittany hooking up. While Brittany denied this ever happened, Kristen admitted that she’d shared some drunken kisses with Brittany. Still, she denied it went as far as Jax claimed.
“I think Jax is a thrill-seeker, and I think he gets bored, and he likes to stir up drama if there’s none of his own,” Kristen told The Daily Dish back in 2016 about Jax’s rumor. “It did really surprise me that over the summer that he kind of took that out on Brittany. But at the end of the day…we know the truth.”
2017: Jax and Kristen Don't Speak for Four Months After Mexico Vacation Rumor
Jax and Kristen also went through a rough patch,and didn’t speak for four months, after filming the Season 6 finale. During Part 3 of the reunion, Brittany hinted that there’d been a feud between Jax and Kristen, after Kristen was angry with Jax for helping to spread the rumor that she hooked up with an ex while she was dating someone else, based on the placement of pillows around a private pool during a cast trip to Mexico.
But that all changed after the passing of Jax’s father, Ronald Cauchi, in December 2017.
“Everything about him is different and better,” Brittany said at the reunion. “He’s getting along with Kristen. He’s able to get along with my friends. He has just been treating me so much better. It’s so different.”
Kristen added on X, formerly known as Twitter, “When his father passed we put our differences aside, and have never had a better friendship than we do now. I give major credit to [Brittany].”
2019. Jax Blocks ... and Unblocks Kristen on Social Media
Between Season 7 and Season 8, Jax and Kristen seemingly got into another spat and fans questioned if they were still friends. The only problem was Kristen seemed just as in the dark about the tiff as fans.
“I know @enews has been saying that Jax unfollowed some of us because of something regarding his wedding,” Kristen wrote on Instagram in September 2019. “Let me clear the air: Jax did not unfollow me, Jax blocked me. Why? NO CLUE. But I promise you it has nothing to do with beautiful [Brittany] or their wedding.”
A few weeks later, Jax appeared to have unblocked Kristen on social media — but the reason for the blocking was never known. They went public with their renewed friendship on Instagram, and posted stories and photos from a pool party at Jax and Brittany’s home, with Kristen captioning one photo, “He loves me, he loves me not…HE LOVES ME.”
2024: Jax and Kristen Are Close Friends
What’s the current status of their friendship? It appears to be on. Kristen posed for a girls night out with Brittany (and Jasmine Goode and Nia Sanchez Booko of The Valley) in January 2024, and Kristen is a proud aunt to Jax’s son, Cruz.
Watch new episodes of The Valley when it premieres on Bravo in Spring 2024.
