Vanderpump Rules viewers were right about Jax Taylor filming the series under the influence of cocaine.
“I thought for the most part that I was keeping a lot of it under the radar. But clearly I wasn’t,” Jax, 45, recalled on the Tuesday, March 4, episode of Alex Baskin‘s “Hot Mic” podcast. “When I watch back I’m like, ‘How big are my f—ing pupils? I’m sweating and there’s no reason to be sweating in the scene. Why am I sweating?’”
Jax acknowledged there were “some signs” Bravo fans picked up on, adding, “And [producers] did pull me aside a couple times and say, ‘Listen, calm down now.’ They didn’t know, but they thought I was drinking too much.”
Jax clarified that production wasn’t “supplying” the cast with alcohol or any substances.
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“I would go off on my own. We would film a scene and you have 30 minutes [of] downtime so most people go rest. I would go to a bar, get lit or go next door from SUR and that’s where we all went because we weren’t allowed to drink during scenes,” Jax, who will discuss more about his recovery and day-to-day on his new “In the Mind of a Man” podcast series, shared. “During certain times, we would go to parties. But when we’re doing these important scenes, they were like, ‘Stay away from that’. But we’d all sneak in the back alley or we would all go get ripped before a scene.”
Vanderpump Rules, which debuted in 2013, started as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and evolved into its own franchise. The show originally followed Lisa Vanderpump and the current staff at her restaurants SUR — Jax, Stassi Schroeder, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval and Kristen Doute — as they tried to navigate professional and personal conflict.
Jax became a breakout star over the years, in part because of his erratic behavior. Some of the more notable scenes include Jax declaring himself the “No. 1 guy in the group,” Jax cheating on then-girlfriend (and current estranged wife) Brittany Cartwright with Faith Stowers and fighting shirtless in a Las Vegas parking lot.
“[Vanderpump Rules viewers] could kind of tell that I was on something. Obviously production and [other] people, they didn’t know what I was doing,” Jax continued on Tuesday.” Everything I was doing was on my own but I was just on that train and I couldn’t get off.”
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After struggling with addiction for two decades, Jax is making a change.
“I have substance issues — primarily with cocaine. It’s hard to say out loud,” he revealed. “I’ve been dealing with this on and off since I was 23 and now I’m 45. There was times where I would stop doing it but then there were times where I’d go heavy on it.”
Jax told listeners of the “Hot Mic” podcast that he cut out alcohol as well, saying, “People ask you, ‘Do you have an alcohol problem too?’ I don’t necessarily think I have an alcohol problem but the two go hand in hand.”
He continued. “I can’t do cocaine without drinking. So I just gave up both. I’m proud to say I’m 83 days sober right now, which is the longest I’ve ever gone in my life without either.”
After his exit from Vanderpump Rules in 2020, Jax and Brittany moved on to The Valley. His struggles continued on the new series.
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“The next day is the worst [after using cocaine]. You feel like absolute s–t. You feel at the bottom of the barrel,” he detailed. “You have zero serotonin. You are just angry and depressed. Anybody who’s done cocaine will tell you that the next day is brutal. It’s weird why we do it for two hours of fun and the next 48 hours are miserable.”
In an exclusive statement to Us, Jax elaborated on his journey: “For many years I’ve depended on alcohol and drugs as a way to cope and mask many deeper issues. This past year has been the hardest year of my life but also the most eye opening and transformative. Coming to terms with my many mental health challenges and being honest about my addiction — both with myself and others has been a crucial part of my healing. It’s been a day-by-day process, but I’m committed to my recovery and working towards a healthier future in order to be a better person and someone my son will be proud of one day.”
Watch the video edition of Bravo’s “Hot Mic” podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
With reporting by Amanda Williams
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