‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast: Were Jax and Brittany forced out?

On Friday, December 12, 2020 Bravo confirmed that Vanderpump Rules stars Jax Taylor & Brittany Cartwright are not returning to the show. This was further confirmed on Instagram when Taylor posted a lengthy farewell to the show, citing a need to focus on his and Cartwright’s family as reasons for their departure. 

While this seems logical, as the couple are expecting their first child, speculation about their sudden departure is shrouded in scandalous suggestions that Jax Taylor was actually fired. While Bravo did not confirm this information, and Taylor himself denies that he was fired, yet the sudden & abrupt nature of the announcement has folks questioning this. 

Sudden dismissal

A star on the show since 2013, Taylor has found himself amidst controversy before. In 2018 he was accused of making racially inappropriate comments on social media. Ashley Martson publicly called for Jax Taylor to be fired over the comments he left on the 90 Day Fiancé Instagram page. Bravo clearly did not oblige, as Taylor continued on with the cast. 

While there is no evidence at the moment to suggest a scandalous situation has occurred recently that might warrant the termination of his contract, many are wondering if the official statement citing ‘family reasons’ is actually the whole truth. 

Even Taylor & Cartwright’s co-stars were blindsided by the announcement. Tom Sandoval & Ariana Madix jumped onto an interview with Hollywood Life as the news of their co-stars’ departure was breaking to reiterate their own personal shock and surprise. 

Shocked stars

During the interview, the couple repeatedly reiterated that they had absolutely no idea that Jax Taylor was planning on dropping that announcement when he went live on Instagram. They confirmed they saw the announcement that Taylor planned to go live and tuned in with everyone else thinking it was a regular IG Live, and watched with the rest of the world, shocked as ever.

“Literally, as I was about to click on your page I was like, ‘Oh, [Jax and Brittany are] going live,’ saw it, and that’s it. So we’re here. We don’t know. We have no inside. We’re out of the loop…but yeah, crazy,” Ariana said to Hollywood Life.

While the interviewer was clearly trying to draw a more concrete reaction from the two Vanderpump Rules stars, Madix & Sandoval genuinely seemed shocked and unable to produce another response. Madix offered that she is a slow processor and that folks should check in with her again next week if they wanted something more. 

Pandemic problems

The season 8 reunion for Vanderpump Rules did actually air way back in June, 2020. However, due to the unstable nature of the restaurant industry in Los Angeles right now amid COVID-19 pandemic, the next season has not actually begun filming as yet. The strict safety measure in place in the city, and re-opening and subsequent re-closures of venues has prevented a filming schedule from being confirmed as yet. 

The couple married in June of 2019. Then, back on September 27, 2020 Taylor & Cartwright held a poolside gender reveal of their baby just one week after announcing they were actually expecting. Their baby boy is due some time in April, 2021. 

Family reasons

It is entirely possible that Taylor’s cited “family reasons” for leaving Vanderpump Rules may actually be legitimate. During the public announcement that revealed the couple were expecting, Cartwright did say that she and her husband had been purposely and actively trying to conceive for some time. 

Cartwright shared that ovulation sticks and careful planning and preparation went into the whole ordeal and they were just waiting for their plans to come to fruition. According to reports, the happy couple cried joyously when the positive test was uncovered. 

Stay tuned for more Vanderpump Rules news as the story unfolds.