“When she gets to the bottom of the barrel, she will do whatever she can to ruin people’s lives,” Jax said of Kristen Doute.
From The Valley to the mountains — Big Bear Mountain, to be exact — the rumors of infidelity surrounding Michelle Saniei Lally show no signs of stopping.
In a teaser for The Valley’s Season 1, Episode 9, Jax Taylor thought the Babymoon in Big Bear for Janet Caperna was the perfect time to pull Michelle to the side to ask about rumors peddled by Kristen Doute, the latter of whom was not invited to the event. Kristen, who remained back in L.A. with boyfriend Luke Broderick and friend Zack Wickham, alleged Michelle was texting other men outside her marriage to Jesse Lally.
“I’ll put $20 in the damn jar; this is the last time I’m gonna talk about Kristen,” Jax told Michelle. “But she’s told something to me that you need to know that she’s passing around.”
Jax Taylor confronts Michelle Lally about cheating rumors
The friends armed themselves with margaritas and headed outside to a balcony with sweeping views of the rustic landscape.
“Oh, Michelle,” Jax said as they stepped outside. “I just want to get this off my chest because I’ve known this for too long. I gotta get this off my ass.”
Michelle said she was scared of what Jax might say as the two sat down, though Jax reassured her there was nothing to fear. They covered themselves in blankets by the electric fire pit as Jax — and Jesse’s longtime pal — spilled the beans.
“So, three of four months ago, there was a girls’ night at my house,” Jax began. “You guys all had fun, whatever, whatever. I came home towards the end of the night, and Kristen was hammered. And then she started talking about you.”
What did Kristen Doute allegedly say at the girls’ night?
In the teaser, Jax told Michelle that Kristen said there was another man.
“I know the kind of person Kristen is. When she gets to the bottom of the barrel, she will do whatever she can to ruin people’s lives,” Jax maintained. “And I want you to get ahead of it.”
Throughout The Valley’s debut season, Kristen held secrets over Michelle’s head and claimed to protect her in what most of the group perceived as veiled threats. Jax told Jasmine Goode that he had heard from Kristen that Michelle was “texting other men,” while Kristen had previously told producers that Michelle was having an “emotional affair” with another.
“Kristen was saying that, you know, Michelle is texting guys — a particular person — on the side,” Jax told Michelle in the recent clip.
Who could the mystery man in the texts be on The Valley?
Not only are there whispers from Jax and Kristen about Michelle’s alleged texting, but suspicion has swirled about Michelle spending a lot of time outside the home at the historic Chateau Marmont in the company of a “super famous” director. Michelle recently denied there was anything to the rumors about her and the director, telling The Daily Dish the relationship was strictly about work.
Kristen later dropped a bombshell that Michelle allegedly “had a f-cking boyfriend for a year,” though the claim was not heard by the rest of the cast.
Michelle and Jesse confirmed at the series premiere party in March 2024 that they had decided to separate after six years of marriage. Since then, Jesse confirmed he was romantically involved with socialite Lacy Nicole, and Michelle is now linked with financial advisor Aaron Nosler.
Michelle recently confirmed that Aaron and the unnamed director are not the same person.
See Michelle’s response to Jax’s confrontation as The Valley continues, airing Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo and streaming the next day on Peacock.