{"id":35220,"date":"2025-07-25T02:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T02:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35220\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T02:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T02:24:09","slug":"alex-baskin-on-the-valley-season-3-without-jax-vanderpump-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35220\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Baskin on The Valley Season 3 Without Jax, Vanderpump Reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAlex Baskin<\/a> knows there are a lot of questions about the future of The Valley<\/a>, especially considering one of its founding cast members, Jax Taylor<\/a>, just announced his departure<\/a> from the Bravo<\/a> series last Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re making our plans for next season,\u201d the executive producer tells The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cJax is obviously a mainstay. We did spend half the season without him, and that period of time was really full and rich, so I don\u2019t think that we\u2019re [searching] for story to tell. I think it\u2019s going to be different, but I don\u2019t think different is a bad thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAn extension of Vanderpump Rules<\/a><\/a>, the spinoff was created around the crux of following the former stars of the Lisa Vanderpump-led series into their adult lives<\/a>, living in California\u2019s San Fernando Valley. With no shortage of drama, The Valley has wrapped its sophomore season more broken than when filming on season two began.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPlagued by the separation and, as the season played out, the beginning of Taylor and Brittany Cartwright\u2019s divorce<\/a>, season two was tainted by a domestic situation that occurred before filming when Taylor got angry with his wife and flipped a coffee table that bruised her knee. The incident led him to reveal a cocaine addiction, go to rehab<\/a> and continue a series of questionable behaviors on- and off-camera, which ultimately sparked a push for his removal from the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think in some cases the response from the audience is a good thing,\u201d Baskin admits. \u201cI think it forces someone to assess where they are and what they might need to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSeason two<\/a> was full of dark subject matter (including Danny Booko inappropriately grabbing Jasmine Goode\u2019s partner, allegations that Jason Caperna takes his wedding ring off when he\u2019s out at bars and much more), though Valley star Kristen Doute<\/a>\u2019s engagement and the recent off-camera welcoming of her first child, after bringing viewers along her fertility journey, was an undoubted shining light amid the darkness.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a post-mortem interview with THR, Baskin discusses what shifts will come in a potential next season of The Valley (though the series hasn\u2019t yet been formally renewed for season three), the status of the Vanderpump Rules reboot<\/a> and his reaction to Scheana Shay recently\u00a0revealing she omitted her husband\u2019s infidelity in season 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout everything that Brittany has gone through amid her separation with Jax, she kept a great positive attitude throughout season two. How did you navigate supporting her and allowing her to tell her side of the story while also still juggling that the other side of her story comes from a cast member on the show?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think that in many ways those two things are in alignment, because the fact that it involved another cast member on the show meant that we sort of, by definition, had to tell it fully and completely from both points of view. I think it made it easier to put it all out there, and Brittany was really determined to tell the entirety of the story. She started the season a changed person who sort of found a reserve of strength that she didn\u2019t previously have. She very much wanted to share what she was going through, and in fact, she, in some ways, couldn\u2019t help it. This was the story of her life, and she was really compelled to share it with her friends, and by extension, the audience. And so we told the story from start to finish, and obviously it culminates in the reunion.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother crucial piece of Brittany\u2019s story is her son. She revealed<\/a> that during season two, she was going through Cruz\u2019s autism testing, and then right before season two came out, she also revealed<\/a> that her son was diagnosed with autism. Her story is inspiring, not only going through her separation, but also navigating motherhood. What moments do you think, if not those that I mentioned, were Brittany\u2019s highlights throughout season two?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think that she had a number of highlights, but I think that the composite is the highlight, which is that the audience has seen Brittany really grow. She was really young when she came into this space [on Vanderpump Rules] in the first place, and she was a little bit wide-eyed, and by her own account, naive. And to see this self-possessed woman who was determined to take care of her son and herself, I think, is pretty inspiring, and you sort of see all faces of her too. You see the strong mother, you see someone who is determined to get out of a marriage that doesn\u2019t work for her. You also see someone navigating situations with her friends. I think Brittany really sort of puts it all out there and is willing to show her imperfections and her vulnerabilities, but at the same time, I think, sort of sets the stage for a new phase in life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the main highlights of the entirety of season two was Kristen\u2019s journey. It\u2019s really inspiring watching her get engaged and go through her fertility journey, watching as the show is airing and she\u2019s already pregnant and having her child<\/a>. You worked with her on Vanderpump Rules, so what was it like depicting her story this season on The Valley?<\/p>\n

\n\tOh, it was so much fun to be able to tell a story of growth. We\u2019re all so proud of Kristen and so happy for her, and to see what she\u2019s been through over the years, and to see the struggle for her to find someone that she wanted to be with and to have a child, and to see that all come to fruition for her really means a lot to the people who know her and to the audience who also knows her and has been on that journey with her. She has really come a long way.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLuke Broderick and Kristen Doute<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMario Perez\/Bravo<\/p>\n

\n\tJasmine Goode and Zack Wickham were featured much more throughout season two. They were already embedded into this group in season one, but they were much more embedded into the storyline in season two. Is that why they were promoted to full-time status this year?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe have a good problem on the show, which is that we were just teaming with cast members, and they\u2019re all contributory, they\u2019re all tied together. Jasmine and Zack in season one were almost like 1A status, because, in part, they weren\u2019t coupled up on the show. We sort of knew going into the [second] season that they would be as prominent as anyone, and they really delivered in every sense. [I] was pleased to see that, and we figured out how to service the stories of everyone. I think that\u2019s part of what makes this show work, and it was part of the same formula for Vanderpump Rules too, which is a large, extensive cast of an interconnected group of friends.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of Vanderpump Rules, Scheana, Lala Kent and Tom Schwartz were all featured<\/a> on season two. This has drawn some backlash from some fans. Have you seen this backlash, and what do you think about the fans\u2019 overall consensus of [not wanting to] have these Vanderpump stars now infiltrate The Valley?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I think it\u2019s a super passionate fanbase, and it is amazing to me that we\u2019re even a little bit removed from season 11 of Vanderpump Rules<\/a> and those passions haven\u2019t cooled, and so [we] certainly take note of that. I wouldn\u2019t say that there\u2019s any consensus, I would say that there\u2019s a lot of heated thoughts. But I think part of what is fun about these series\u2019 is that there\u2019s something for everyone, and I think there\u2019s a lot of different points of view, and I think obviously those three are very much a part of this group, just naturally, and they\u2019re very comfortable living their lives in front of the cameras. They\u2019re used to it, they\u2019ve been doing it for a long time.<\/p>\n

\n\tScheana was the Vanderpump star that was most shown on The Valley. By the [end of the season], she was at the finale party, and it kind of felt like you\u2019re setting us up for Scheana to be on the show next season [with her husband] Brock Davies. Is that a conversation that\u2019s going on right now?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I mean, we\u2019re making our plans for next season. I wouldn\u2019t say we were trying to set the stage to do anything in particular, but again, Scheana is really friends with that entire group, and so you actually have to take pains, in some cases, to not include that group, or those Vanderpump folks, because they are connected to this group. But we weren\u2019t trying to sort of set anything up. You know, I said after season one that we weren\u2019t adding<\/a> any more primary cast members, and in part, we were really crowded, and we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to shine. And we did want to give Jasmine and Zack the chance to be more involved and take on more prominence. Now, we\u2019re figuring out where we go from here. Obviously, there are already changes: Jax isn\u2019t coming back, so season three will be different just by virtue of that. We\u2019re sort of figuring out what else it\u2019s going to look like.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBrittany Cartwright<\/a>, Michelle Saniei and Scheana Shay<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGriffin Nagel\/Bravo<\/p>\n

\n\tScheana recently announced<\/a> that before season 11 of Vanderpump started filming that Brock cheated on her. Had you known about this infidelity? And when [the news of his affair] came out, what was your reaction? Do you wish that you could have shown her story on season 11?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I do. We didn\u2019t know about it. She kept it, obviously, under very tight wraps, so very few people in her life knew. And sure, I think it\u2019s a story that we would have and should have covered. These are series\u2019 about people\u2019s lives, and they\u2019re very much predicated on seeing it all, knowing what\u2019s going on with them. Something that was obviously of great importance to Scheana and probably defined that period of her life would have been something we would have wanted in the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the second time that Jax has stepped away from a show. In his statement, it kind of sounded like the door was open for him to potentially make a return if he gets the help that he needs. How many more chances do you think that he\u2019s going to get? Where do you draw the line and say enough\u2019s enough, and maybe this person shouldn\u2019t be on reality TV and it\u2019s not healthy for them?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a really good question. Our thoughts first are we think that\u2019s the right move for him to make, and we\u2019re not thinking about what his future with the show looks like. We\u2019re A) focused on making our show, and B) it\u2019s sort of up to him to do what he needs to do, to take care of himself, and then that impacts the rest of it. So we\u2019re not having those conversations at this point. We\u2019re focused on making the show we\u2019re making with the group that is here, but we think that that is the right decision for him, and hopefully he uses this time to make healthy choices and put himself in a position to succeed in life.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you think that his decision to step away was purely personal, or do you think that it was influenced by the backlash that he\u2019s gotten throughout season two?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think in some cases the response from the audience is a good thing, and I think it forces someone to assess where they are and what they might need to do. So I\u2019m sure that played a role in it, because the audience was very clear, understandably, how they felt about the situation, and they were very clear too, that by large, they understood why he was on the show the entirety of the season, because we were documenting what happened, but they sort of separated that from their feelings about the appropriateness of him being on the show going forward. And certainly that\u2019s something that we take into account, and he took it into account. It\u2019s hard to say whether or not he would have made that decision on his own but for the influence of the audience. But the important thing is that he got there, and we all want him, and the audience included, to take care of himself.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you move forward with season three, losing one of the main anchors of the show? Obviously, [The Valley] was birthed out of Vanderpump, and out of [those original stars in] Kristen, Jax and Brittany, we\u2019re losing Jax. How do you move forward with season three? What does that look like?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, we have a really large and robust group. You know, Jax is obviously a mainstay. We did spend half the season without him, and that period of time was really full and rich, so I don\u2019t think that we\u2019re [searching] for story to tell. I think it\u2019s going to be different, but I don\u2019t think different is a bad thing. And I think the alternative, on the one hand, there\u2019s sort of Jax doing the right thing and us supporting understanding that stepping away is right, but also, I think there\u2019s telling the same story over and over again, there\u2019s the risk of that. I think that\u2019s the place that we would have been to from a show standpoint. I think it opens up more space for story to unfold. And undoubtedly, with this group, it will.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBrittany Cartwright, Andy Cohen, Jax Taylor and Jesse Lally<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGriffin Nagel\/Bravo<\/p>\n

\n\tYou previously said that if [The Valley] gets picked up for season three, it will likely film in the summer, but it doesn\u2019t seem like they\u2019ve been filming. It seems like that\u2019s like the typical [filming] schedule that The Valley follows, in alignment with Vanderpump, so what\u2019s happening with season three?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re eyeing just a little bit of a push, which honestly is related to when we aired and how long our season was, because it sometimes can be a challenge to film while the reunion is airing. It\u2019s nothing beyond that. Yeah, it\u2019s a little bit different, and we had sort of gotten used to this as a summer show, but it\u2019s not a kind of a radically different timeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSo you\u2019re not dead set on having the summer filming schedule for The Valley?<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, that can vary a little bit. And the fun thing is, we\u2019ll catch different events. We\u2019ll catch different moments in people\u2019s lives. There\u2019s [more] birthdays and whatever else, and so I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re also working on the Vanderpump Rules reboot. There is a lot of skepticism about how the new cast is going to live up to the original. Are they living up to the OG cast?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, as I\u2019ve said, I am so excited for the audience to watch a series that has a lot of the hallmarks of the original but feels completely different<\/a>. We are not trying to make the series that we did the first time around, and it\u2019s sort of got back to the basic principles of that show, which is falling around a group of interconnected coworkers and friends at SUR. And, this group just happens to be very different \u2014 they\u2019re the 2025 version. So you see it\u2019s Gen Z and their relationships to each other, to the world, are very different, but it still has all of the really fun, juicy ingredients. I understand the skepticism. I know that to the audience, this feels like an exercise in putting forward an imposter, but I really would encourage everyone to stick with us and give us a chance, because I think they\u2019re going to be won over. I think they\u2019re going to see that the show naturally came together, because, again, we didn\u2019t force together a group that didn\u2019t exist, and it\u2019s a lot of fun, and it really captures the life stage that we saw in the early days of Vanderpump Rules and as opposed to the later life stage [in the later seasons]. I\u2019m excited to reverse everyone\u2019s skepticism and convert that into enjoyment and passion for the new series.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you know when the Vanderpump Rules reboot might be coming, and is there anything else that you can tease about the reboot?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s coming up, so it\u2019s not too far away. And I would say that there is a lot of dating within the group, a lot of hookups within the group. The friendships are deep, it\u2019s messy and complicated and really fun. I can\u2019t wait for it to drop and I can\u2019t wait for, like I said, the skepticism to melt away and take the form of enjoyment.<\/p>\n

\n\t***
New episodes of The Valley air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock on Wednesdays. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\n