Stars in The Valley’s Vanderpump universe

Welcome to The Vanderpump extended universe in a new reality series The Valley. Series producer Lisa Vanderpump – a veteran of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – has cast five couples with close ties to each other, and to the epicentre of drama, her Vanderpump Rules series. 

While the couples are in their late 30s and early 40s, Los Angeles is home to childhoods that never end, so we’ll follow along as they all try to find themselves, and wrestle with “adulting” as they juggle their responsibilities as partners, parents and semi-employed people. Let’s just say they make a lot of podcasts. 

With multiple tangled relationships in their past, the well of Vanderpump drama sometimes overflows. So we’ve picked through over 12 years of history to highlight what you need to know. 

Binge The Valley Season 1 now.

Watch the trailer for The Valley

Lisa Vanderpump

Bow down to the sun in this universe. The producer behind The Valley is Lisa Vanderpump. A British transplant to Los Angeles and besties with drag queen Trixie Mattel, Lisa (a working actress since the age of 13) brought a devoted fan following with her from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where she was a cast member from 2010 to 2019. Since 2013, she has been the co-executive producer and star of Vanderpump Rules, which centres on her dynamic with the staff at her ever-changing chain of LA- and Vegas-based businesses including SUR Restaurant and Lounge, Pump Restaurant, and Tom Tom Restaurant and Bar.

In LA, 1 March is dedicated to Lisa Vanderpump Day in recognition of her charity work. And as a rarity in Housewives terms and a unicorn in Los Angeles, Lisa has been married to businessman Ken Todd since 1982. Her chosen couples, however, don’t look set to stay the distance. 

1. Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor

Jax was a major player on Vanderpump Rules between 2013 and 2020. An ex Navy recruit and model, he started working at Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants SUR and Villa Blanca in 2009, where he met his Vanderpump Rules co-star, Brittany. The two started dating in 2015, and in 2017, they had their own spinoff series, Vanderpump Rules: Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky. 

Their wedding arrangements hit a highly publicised snag when they had to fire Ryan Dotson, the pastor they’d asked to officiate, after he made homophobic and anti-trans posts online. And in August 2024, Brittany filed for divorce. Their marital meltdown is a keystone of their story in The Valley (and in the latest season of Vanderpump Rules), as they work out custody of their son Cruz.

Thanks to his reputation for raising hell on Vanderpump rules and his evil moustache, along with his general positioning as lead clown in the red flag parade, Jax landed a starring role in the 2023 competition reality series House of Villains, where he was the first contestant to be voted off. Jax went public with his mental health struggles in 2024, announcing his diagnosis with bipolar disorder before he checked into a treatment facility. He currently co-owns the bar Jax’s Studio City and hosts a podcast, In the Mind of a Man with Jax Taylor.

2. Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick

Wannabe actress Kristen spent eight seasons as a drama llama on Vanderpump Rules (2013-2020) while working at SUR. But in 2020 she was fired from both the show and the restaurant (along with co-worker Stassi Schroeder) for filing false police reports against another SUR worker, Faith Stowers, in an ongoing pattern of racially motivated harassment that Jax also participated in. The crime saw Kristen’s Basic Witch Potion wines (produced by Suits: LA star Stephen Amell’s company, Nocking Point Wines) get pulled from shelves. 

Before becoming engaged to reality TV newcomer Luke in 2024 after they met at a wedding in 2022, Kristen dated Vanderpump Rules bad boy Tom Sandoval between 2007 and 2013, but cheated on him with Jax Taylor, then moved on to relationships with other Vanderpump Rules co-stars James Kennedy (who was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2024) and Brian Carter. 

Kristen and Luke start the season trying for a baby together. While Luke hosts a podcast with Kristen, he is either keeping his real job under wraps, or he’s unemployed. A Hollywood hater, he’s also desperate to get Kristen to move to his hometown in Colorado. His Instagram account has been scrubbed of anything pre-Kristen.

3. Jesse Lally and Michelle Saniei

Jesse, a former model, works at luxury, high-end estate agency The Beverly Hills Estates, where he fell in love with his co-worker, Michelle Saniei. These reality show newcomers married in 2018, after Jesse proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The two have a young daughter together, but as we join them in the series, their marriage is falling apart at the seams. In reality, they have been separated since 2023, and Michelle is currently dating financial adviser Aaron Nosler. Jesse has vocally and publicly theorised about men that Michelle has possibly cheated on him with, including posting a rumour on The Valley’s guys’ group chat that Michelle had sex with a billionaire for big bucks (a claim that comes to a head in The Valley Season 2). 

Jesse goes way back with Jax Taylor, who was his one-time New York modeling buddy and former roommate. And Jesse and Michelle were guests at Jax and Brittany’s wedding in 2019. So Jesse has been along for many of the Vanderpump Rules guys’ recent getaways. 

4. Daniel and Nia Booko

Miss USA 2014 and Miss Universe 2014 first runner up Nia Sanchez comes to the Vanderpump universe as a pageant veteran of mean girl games, with a black belt in taekwondo. She was arguably more famous than her husband, actor, model and Hannah Montana guest star turned voice actor Daniel Booko (he did some of the groaning for the zombies in sci-fi series The Walking Dead) when they married in 2014 after two years together. They had their fourth child together on 5 June 2025. And Nia hosts a podcast titled Hold My Crown with Nia Sanchez. 

While the two are familiar with the acting world, entertainment and behind-the-scenes rivalries, this is their first reality TV adventure. Danny and Nia met the Vandepump crew about two years back when they attended Jax and Brittany’s New Year’s Eve party. But otherwise, they’re innocent to the whole world of Vanderpump “scandovals” (scandals centred on Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval).

5. Janet and Jason Caperna

Executive-assistant-turned-new-mom Janet has been friends with Jax, Brittany and Kristen for years. She was a co-host on the podcast Scheananigans with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay – the first friend she made after moving from Ohio to LA in 2017. In 2023 Janet was a guest on Kristen’s podcast Sex, Love, and What Else Matters with Kristen Doute, where she spoke about her divorce from her first husband, and her later impulsive quickie wedding with Jason in June 2022. 

Jason has a grownup job and practises at the worker’s compensation firm Acumen Law. He met Janet while hanging out with Schaena and her Vanderpump Rules friends Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix.

This is just the tip of the “I can’t believe they did that” iceberg. So binge The Valley Season 1 now.