The Valley‘s Jesse Lally is officially adding himself to the list of people Lala Kent is feuding with at the moment.
“I had actually always supported Scheana [Shay] and Brock [Davies] and even Lala coming on the show,” Jesse, 43, exclusively told Us Weekly when discussing Scheana and Lala’s guest appearances in season 2. “For Lala to come after me, I think she was trying to make her mark.”
Jesse made it clear that he is not on good terms with Lala, 34. “Honestly, I think she’s a bully and you won’t see her really pop up much,” he noted, adding that “obviously she was nine months pregnant.”
While reflecting on the VPR alum cameos, Jesse pointed out that The Valley cast had enough drama on their own without any outside help or influence.
“But we have such a strong dynamic — and obviously we could have done another 15 episodes this season and still not covered everything,” he added. “So there’s a lot going on between the group that we have now and Kristen [Doute]’s about to get married. She is also about to have a baby [with Luke Broderick]. Nia [Booko] is going to have a baby. Who knows? Maybe Aaron [Nosler] and Michelle [Lally] will have a baby. There’s drama in this group, without throwing anyone else.”
Season 2 of The Valley went into production before Bravo confirmed Vanderpump Rules would be going through a total cast overhaul for season 12. Bravo originally put VPR season 12 on pause after the cast ended up at odds following Tom Sandoval‘s split from Ariana Madix due to his affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss. While the new cast has yet to be announced, the OG cast has since moved on after news broke in late 2024.
“What a thrill it is to build on the legacy of this series by doing it all over again,” executive producer Alex Baskin shared in a November 2024 statement. “With profound appreciation for the original group and their iconic run, we can’t wait for the audience to see a dynamic new group of coworkers and friends make their way through life together.”
Lala has since hinted that she didn’t film too much for The Valley.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a big part of it. I pop in. I’m very, very pregnant at that point in time. We will see what makes it. It just made sense,” Lala, who was pregnant with now-8-month-old daughter Sosa via IUI at the time of filming, shared in January on an episode of Heather McDonald‘s “Juicy Scoop” podcast. “Scheana is a part of it. I think she gets her hands a little bit dirty, which I love.”
There were plenty of onscreen fights even without Lala around. One of the most notable tiffs featured Jesse and his estranged wife, Michelle Lally. (Shortly before The Valley debuted in 2024, Us broke the news that Michelle, 36, and Jesse had filed for divorce following their fifth wedding anniversary. Cameras have since allows fans to watch the former couple attempt to coparent their 4-year-old daughter, Isabella, to mixed results.)
“I was very interested to see how it would all come together because season 1 I was filming with Michelle. We knew what people were saying about us and with us. This season I was solo filming and had no idea what other people were saying,” Jesse explained to Us. “So it’s been interesting to watch things kind of unfold. You’ll see for everyone that it’s just such a roller coaster. One week could be something that happened to me, the next week it’s going to be somebody else. It’s been interesting to watch.”
According to Jesse, he has “such a good relationship with almost everybody” and “no real issues” with anyone on the cast.
“I spent a lot of time on the phone with everyone from Jason [Caperna] to Janet [Caperna], Danny [Booko], Jasmine [Goode] and we decompressed a lot after we finished shooting or after the end of a week. I knew what was coming at me,” he continued. “Michelle’s narrative was so transparent to me that I knew exactly what she was going to try to do.”
Jesse concluded: “I knew how disappointed she was with how she ended up looking toward the end of season 1. I knew going in exactly what she was going to do and say to sort of paint me as the villain and show people this side of her that she wasn’t able to show.”
The Valley airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
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