“The Valley” star Jesse Lally’s love life is flourishing — even as he navigates his divorce from estranged wife and castmate Michelle Saniei Lally.
“I’m super happy right now,” he says on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast of dating philanthropist Lacy Nicole. “We’ve been great friends, we newly started dating. She’s just a very amazing person and she’s a beautiful soul.”
The pair made their red carpet debut at a charity event — supporting pal Jared Lipscomb’s efforts to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society — in Los Angeles last week.
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Jesse shared photos from the party, including one with Nicole, writing, “Any chance I get I love to see my friends Sparkle. Thank you @jaredlips for always being the light! F$CK Cancer.”
The luxury real estate agent looked dapper in a tan suit paired with a white shirt unbuttoned at the top to show off his tanned, chiseled chest. Meanwhile, Nicole stunned in a midriff-baring metallic gold ensemble.
While they looked the part of a Hollywood power couple, Jesse tells us that he is attracted to Nicole for her down-to-earth personality.
“Talk about grounding,” he says, raving that the blonde bombshell “definitely grounds me for sure because she doesn’t let me get away with anything which is nice.”
Still, he isn’t ready to call Nicole his girlfriend.
“It’s just new and I don’t want no labels, no nothing,” he explains, adding that they are taking things slow. “It’s just fun to spend time with somebody again.”
Meanwhile, Jesse’s soon-to-be ex-spouse, Michelle — with whom he shares a young daughter named Isabella — has moved on with Aaron Nosler, a handsome financial advisor who has already won the boyfriend title.
Jesse says he and Nicole recently spent time with Michelle and Nosler at Isabella’s birthday party, where the foursome got along swimmingly.
“We’re at a place now where she joined for Isabella’s birthday and Michelle and her boyfriend joined for Isabella’s birthday and we had a huge group of people,” he shares. “So it was nice. We all got together.”
Jesse and Michelle announced their plan to divorce each other in March, just days before “The Valley” — a spinoff of Bravo’s juggernaut hit “Vanderpump Rules” — premiered. However, they decided to separate in September 2023, just days after cameras went down for the unscripted series’ inaugural season.
“I was very upset by the whole situation and Michelle was doing her own thing,” he says, recalling his emotional state during the early stages of their split.
Jesse notes that he “didn’t feel ready to date” until later. “At first, I felt like I was cheating,” he elaborates. “And then I started to feel the shame, of, like, ‘We’re going through this and Isabella’s alone. We should be there for her in that moment.’”
Rather than focus on meeting women, Jesse prioritized spending time with his daughter. “I spent a lot of time with her after the separation and did not start dating for a while,” he emphasizes.
After settling into a healthier co-parenting dynamic with Michelle, the Bravolebrity tells “Virtual Reali-Tea” that he finally felt ready to explore his options.
“It’s a long road to get there. Everybody knows separation is very traumatic and it can be chaotic and there’s financial stuff and there’s this and that,” he admits. “It was all that at the beginning and just trying to figure it all out and, ‘Where did you go? Who were you with?’”
Jesse continues, “And then all of a sudden, that eases up a little bit and you start to realize all we have to do is put our attention on Isabella.”
Though the father of one is thrilled that both he and Michelle have found happiness with other people, he is more ecstatic over the ease with which their little girl is adapting to their evolved dynamic.
“She’s like, ‘Oh, I get to go to Daddy’s house because he has the iPad and mommy has the tipi or tents or whatever,’” he says. “Luckily, she’s shined through it.”
“The Valley” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
