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Kristen Doute Teases She Has a Surprising New Ally on The Valley Season 2

From enemies to besties? Kristen Doute shares an unexpected friendship update ahead of The Valley Season 2. 

By Caitlin Schunn

Kristen Doute didn’t have the easiest time when she joined Season 1 of The Valley after leaving Vanderpump Rules, butting heads with many of her castmates. But when she sat down recently with executive producer Alex Baskin on Bravo’s Hot Mic Podcast, she surprised him by sharing she’s changed her tune on one of her castmates since Season 1: Jesse Lally.

How to Watch

Stream the full audio version of Bravo's Hot Mic on Apple and Spotify.

“I’m excited for people to see a shift in Jesse in Season 2,” Kristen said on the podcast. “I mean, there’s no mistake, like I’ve been much more friendly with Jesse.”

Jesse and Kristen’s tension in Season 1 started early on, and things got so bad between then, he told The Daily Dish in April 2024, “I think everybody’s pretty much done with Kristen.”

See why Kristen said things have changed between her and Jesse during Season 2.

Split of Jesse Lally and Kristen Doute in front of a house in the suburbs

Are Kristen Doute and Jesse Lally friends now?

Kristen explained she feels Jesse has changed a lot since filming on the show has began.

“You mentioned offhandedly … that there are other people in the Vanderpump world and in The Valley world that also play the self-victimization game,” Alex Baskin said to Kristen on the podcast.

“I think on The Valley, we saw that a lot from Jesse in the first season,” Kristen responded, adding, “Season 1 of The Valley, everyone saw, it just was like, ‘Poor me,’ like, ‘The world [is] against me; no one understands me’ mentality. And that just like, irritates me.”

Kristen explained she and Jesse were “not OK that summer,” and added that even though she’s “known Jesse for quite a while, we were never really close.”

One conflict in Season 1 included Kristen telling producers that Jesse’s now-estranged wife, Michelle, “had a f---ing boyfriend for a year,” despite her marriage to Jesse (a claim Michelle denied). Kristen even said in an episode, “I was not against any of this because I think Jesse is a piece of s---.”

Jesse had strong feelings about Kristen spreading rumors concerning his marriage, which he explained on a May 2024 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

“It’s one thing to have a rumor and gossip about people and go to that person and say, ‘This is what I’ve heard.’ But using it, like weaponizing it, I just felt it was a little heartbreaking,” he said.

Now, Kristen described on Hot Mic what’s changed.

“I can consider him a friend now, for sure,” she said. “But he had to do a lot of work.”

Alex Baskin asked Kristen if she felt Jesse’s Season 1 mentality was partly due to being new on reality television.

“I really think it's an ego thing,” she explained. “I think people start thinking they're more important than they are. And that's a tough pill to swallow…Don't forget where your roots were. Take yourself down a few notches.”

Watch Season 2 of The Valley premiering in Spring 2025 on Bravo, and catch up on The Valley now on Peacock.

Listen to the entire Bravo’s Hot Mic Podcast episode on Bravo and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. And don’t miss the entire first season of The Valley ahead of its second season premiering later this year, now available on Bravo and Peacock.

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