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‘This Is Real Life’: How Bravo’s ‘The Valley’ Navigated Drug Addiction, a Violent Incident and a Cast Member in a Mental Health Facility
On Season 2 of 'The Valley' on Bravo, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's divorce—along with other storylines—have made the show TV's darkest drama.
But measured against the “Vanderpump Rules” storyline known as the Scandoval — the entrancing intra-cast cheating scandal turned international news story from spring 2023 — Taylor’s violent flare-up, and the fallout from it, has been its tonal opposite: deeply upsetting. Divorcing real estate agents Jesse Lally and Michelle Saniei appear to loathe one another; she’s accused him of blowing through their money, while he’s called her a “lying, cheating whore.” Voice actor Daniel Booko and former Miss USA Nia Sanchez Booko — who were living in an overstuffed condo with their three small children — have presented a united front as Daniel’s drinking has become a major storyline, centered on the time he got blackout drunk and inappropriately touched castmate Jasmine Goode and her now-fiancée Melissa Marie. Data aside, what’s perhaps most significant is an ineffable measurement: “The Valley” has sparked a tonnage of conversation in the Bravosphere, the term of art for the world of fan podcasts, social media accounts and subreddits that scrutinize every move the network’s cast members make — and every twist in the shows themselves.
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