Despite the fact that not one, but two of the show’s four central couples have split up recently, Bravo has renewed “The Valley” for a second season. And yes, the full cast is expected to be back — even those who seem to be heading toward divorce.
“The Valley” — years in the making —premiered on Bravo on March 19, in the Tuesday timeslot after “Vanderpump Rules,” its progenitor. In the announcement, part of a broader set of renewals made by parent company NBCUniversal, the company called the show “its most-watched freshman series in nearly a decade.”
“The Valley” is led by former “Vanderpump Rules” stars Jax Taylor and his now-estranged wife Brittany Cartwright, along with Kristen Doute, all of whom were jettisoned from the mothership in 2020, after the show’s disastrous eighth season, when Doute’s and Taylor’s past misdeeds (of the racist kind) made them too toxic to employ.
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But last year, after the news of the Scandoval broke —launching “Vanderpump Rules” in its 10th season to unforeseen heights of popularity — Doute, Taylor and Cartwright became sought-after pundits about the cheating scandal at the center of the show. Doute, who had dated Tom Sandoval for years, even appeared on the hastily filmed Scandoval finale of Season 10 at Ariana Madix’s side. And Taylor and Cartwright scored a “Watch With” show on Peacock, in which they commented on and gawked at “Vanderpump Rules” as they viewed it. All three of them were welcomed back to Andy Cohen’s nightly talk show “Watch What Happens Live.”
Whether they were actually redeemed was besides the point: They were in the spotlight again, fans clearly wanted to hear from them and they were making good TV. “The Valley,” an idea executive producer Alex Baskin had had years earlier, was fast-tracked last summer. The cast was easy to fill out — since it revolves around a group of friends —and couples Danny and Nia Booko, Jason and Janet Caperna, and Jesse and Michelle Lally joined Doute, Taylor and Cartwright. (Jasmine GoodeandZack Wickham rounded out the Season 1 cast as “friends.”)
“The Valley” has been nonstop drama since its premiere, with Doute trying to get pregnant with her boyfriend Luke Broderick, as well as engaging in her specialty: causing seemingly friendship-ending fights with both Janet Caperna and Michelle Lally, and then struggling to apologize. Both Doute and Taylor have alluded to the transgressions for which they were booted from “Vanderpump Rules,” and they have professed to have changed. (Whether there is any supporting evidence for these evolutions is another matter.)
Most of all, though, the marriages of Taylor and Cartwright and the Lallys have fallen apart. And these “Scenes From a Marriage”-like vicissitudes —if Ingmar Bergmanhad created reality television in Los Angeles in 2024 —have propelled “The Valley” to its great heights. Yet despite these splits, and the fact that both of the Lallys are now in new relationships, all four cast members will likely return for Season 2.
For all these reasons, this commitment to excellence is why, anecdotally on social media, viewers who’d previously sworn they never wanted to watch this show or these people ever again have one by one been swept up by the dark magic of “The Valley.” A supersized season finale will air on June 4, and after both couples split, production restarted to capture the aftermath of the separations. There will be no reunion for the show, which has caused an uproar on Twitter.
Over the course of the show’s first season, several “Vanderpump Rules” cast members have appeared on “The Valley,” including Lala Kent, Tom Schwartz, Scheana Shay and Brock Davies. And they might all be jealous soon enough, since “The Valley” is expected to begin filming this summer, and “Vanderpump Rules” has been paused after a logistically difficult, sour 11th season in the wake of the Scandoval.
“The Valley” is produced by Baskin’s company 32 Flavors Entertainment, Haymaker East and Evolution Media, an Amazon MGM Studios company. Baskin and Jeff Festa executive produce for 32 Flavors. Aaron Rothman, Josh Halpert and Jessica Chesler executive produce for Haymaker East. Barry Poznick and Lucilla D’Agostino executive produce for Evolution Media. Keith Burke, Chaz Morgan, Anne Swan, Lisa Vanderpump and Ryan Revel also executive produce.
