Michelle Lally and Jesse Lally are offering their individual recollections about what led to their split, The Valley drama and more — and their versions aren’t exactly lining up.
The former couple spoke out on different podcasts on Wednesday, June 5, just one day after The Valley season 1 finale aired on Bravo. During her chat with Jana Kramer on the “Whine Down” podcast, Michelle, 36, recalled making attempts to save her marriage to no avail.
“I gave him a list. This is why I’m unhappy, this is what I need from you,” she revealed. “And so I think it was a combination of him just not believing I would ever leave. And he was very comfortable because at the end of the day, he could do whatever he wants.”
Jesse, 43, meanwhile, told Teddi Mellencamp on an episode of the “Two Ts In a Pod: Popping Off” podcast that the decision to part ways came more out of left field.
“We still had our issues [while filming]. But I didn’t think — until I watched the show, I was like, ‘Wow, it was really that bad. Like I did not see it at all,'” he admitted. “We had kind of swept everything under the rug.”
Jesse did recall getting a list of issues he should work on, saying, “She just gave me a couple of things that bothered her and I said I would work on it. … So it was like being a little bit more patient, being a little bit more present. Things like that is what she wanted me to work on, and she said she would stay if I did well.”
Jesse and Michelle got married in 2018 after several years of dating. They expanded their family with daughter Isabella in 2020, but it was clear during the first season of the Vanderpump Rules spinoff that their marriage was on the rocks.
Us Weekly broke the news of their split in March, days before The Valley premiered. The first season of the Vanderpump Rules spinoff plagued Jesse and Michelle with various rumors about their marriage — including accusations of infidelity. They ultimately called it quits off screen in fall 2023, after filming on The Valley had wrapped.
Michelle has since moved on with Aaron Nosler, while Jesse is dating girlfriend Lacy Nicole.
Keep scrolling to compare and contrast Michelle and Jesse’s sides of the story:
Was Jesse ‘Blindsided’ by Michelle’s Decision to Pull the Plug?
During Jesse’s tell-all, he recalled feeling “a little blindsided” by the breakup. “When I watched it back and I see scenes with Michelle saying that she wasn’t attracted to me anymore, I didn’t see it [then]. Like, I didn’t. I didn’t feel it and I actually felt a little blindsided in October [2023] when she said she was leaving,” Jesse said on Wednesday.
Michelle, however, didn’t see how Jesse could be surprised.
“He wasn’t blindsided because I told him specifically what needed to change,” she shared. “It was like he was living a great life and he had his wife and daughter at home. So yeah, why would he want a divorce when he has the perfect image of the perfect family? Yet he gets to do whatever he wants. Of course, he didn’t want to get divorced.”
According to Michelle, Jesse was trying to ignore their problems, adding, “I just thought it was him. He just wasn’t blindsided. He just didn’t want to believe it and he thought it would never happen and it would never come to that. Him pretending was bulls—t to me.”
What Led to Michelle Feeling Like a Single Mom Before Their Breakup?
After becoming a mother, Michelle said she didn’t get enough support from Jesse.
“I was always with Isabella. I was always taking her to the park or taking her to activities and it was more important for him to go out to dinners or lunches with friends and drink and go out of town,” she claimed. “He just had a different priority and his family wasn’t his No. 1 priority. And that was how it originally started. Just the time alone was very difficult and I felt very lonely.”
She continued: “I felt like a single mom at one point, even though I was married. And I said, like he was never fully present even though he was there. So when that starts, it only gets worse.”
Jesse’s version acknowledged Michelle’s hard work while pointing out that he was as present as possible.
“I spent six months with Michelle and the baby. Then eventually things opened up [amid the COVID-19 pandemic] and it was like, ‘OK, I have to go [places]. She can’t go out with the baby and she’s breastfeeding. We don’t know what’s going on. So I’m going shopping, I’m going to the office and I’m doing all these things,'” he noted. “I think with [the] no help and no support and [claims] I wasn’t really being of service to the family. I was being of service to work in business and stuff like that.”
In response to Michelle’s past comments, Jesse denied being “selfish.”
“It’s hard to hear things where she goes with the girls and says, ‘Oh, well, Jesse didn’t do anything for two years.’ And my mother’s like, ‘I have the videos and the photos. You were with her the entire time.’ So I don’t know if it was a Michelle thing or if it was just like it was,” he continued. “It was tough back then. We don’t have family nearby so I think it wasn’t selfishness. It was more, I abandoned them at certain times when they needed me.”
What Are Their Thoughts on Those Sexy Photo Rumors?
While Jax Taylor brought up rumors about Michelle sending “sexy photos” to a mysterious man, she has continued to deny the infidelity implications.
“I did not send any sexy photos. I explained another time that it might have been when we went to Las Vegas, you do sexy stories and sexy posts. But it wasn’t specifically to somebody and they responded to my story,” she detailed. “But it was very innocent and nothing more than that.”
Jesse denied there was any truth to it at the time but his tune has since become more neutral.
“At the time, I was like, ‘This can’t be true. I hadn’t heard anything like that.’ But as the summer went on, it was like, ‘OK, another story that I have to get behind,'” he said. “I got to the point where I was just a little tired of this round of gossip because it’s not really my style.”
What Happened After Filming Came to an End?
“I didn’t really go [into filming] thinking that we were going to talk about our marital problems. I thought we could kind of hide that or you could see it a little bit,” Michelle admitted. “But I didn’t know that was going to be the main story and happen that way. Then I went with the flow.”
In his tell-all, Jesse recalled keeping their issues a secret even after production wrapped and they parted ways.
“I didn’t tell anybody. Michelle lived in the house until February [2024]. We were separated for six months and we were still living together,” he revealed. “It was very difficult and it’s very toxic. I was still fighting [for the marriage].”
It wasn’t until Michelle found love that Jesse faced the facts, adding, “That’s when I was just like, ‘Enough is enough. I can’t deal with this anymore.'”
Where Each of Them Stand With Kristen?
Despite both writing Kristen, 41, off for her behavior in season 1, Jesse has actually turned a corner with his costar. Michelle, meanwhile, has no plans to work on her past friendship with Kristen after watching what she said on screen.
“I don’t know how to come back from that yet. Kristen and I haven’t had a conversation very much,” she noted. “So in the future, I don’t know what kind of relationship that will be because obviously I don’t trust her. But we’ll see.”
Jesse also used his podcast interview to clarify the events in the season 1 premiere. Although it seemed like Jesse touched Kristen’s nipple after she touched him first, he maintained that he didn’t.
“I never touched her. No. 1, I don’t treat women that way. And No. 2 — and that is the most important one — is I’m raising a little girl and I don’t want to assault women,” he explained. “I don’t want to make women feel in an uncomfortable position because I’m raising a little girl, and that’s the most important thing to me.”
Are There Any Regrets About Their Divorce?
“Jesse didn’t change. I think there’s so many similarities between [Jax] and Jesse and words don’t mean anything if the actions aren’t there,” Michelle said while referring to Jax’s ongoing separation with Brittany Cartwright. “And so we want to see action.”
During his tell-all, Jesse agreed with Michelle that there wasn’t anything that could have been done differently.
“Nothing. Knowing what I know now and being with somebody who is so incredible and is an amazing mother,” he noted. “I wouldn’t go backwards, always, always upwards.”
Michelle also discussed the issues she still has with Jesse. “We are still fighting. It’s slightly better, but I say that it’s a roller coaster. It really is. We have OK days, and we have terrible days. It’s difficult because we have different rules and what we think is appropriate and not appropriate. So trying to understand that. We’re constantly getting mad at each other. We’re still texting all the time and we’re just trying to figure it out,” she added. “But we’re nowhere near happy.”
Halfway through Jesse’s interview, Teddi hinted at tension when she revealed she wasn’t “allowed” to have Michelle and Jesse on separately. Instead, she had to choose and she went with Jesse after learning about Michelle’s tell-all with Jana.
