Alex Baskin knows there are a lot of questions about the future of The Valley, especially considering one of its founding cast members, Jax Taylor, just announced his departure from the Bravo series last Wednesday. 

“We’re making our plans for next season,” the executive producer tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Jax is obviously a mainstay. We did spend half the season without him, and that period of time was really full and rich, so I don’t think that we’re [searching] for story to tell. I think it’s going to be different, but I don’t think different is a bad thing.” 

An extension of Vanderpump Rules, the spinoff was created around the crux of following the former stars of the Lisa Vanderpump-led series into their adult lives, living in California’s San Fernando Valley. With no shortage of drama, The Valley has wrapped its sophomore season more broken than when filming on season two began. 

Plagued by the separation and, as the season played out, the beginning of Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s divorce, season two was tainted by a domestic situation that occurred before filming when Taylor got angry with his wife and flipped a coffee table that bruised her knee. The incident led him to reveal a cocaine addiction, go to rehab and continue a series of questionable behaviors on- and off-camera, which ultimately sparked a push for his removal from the series. 

“I think in some cases the response from the audience is a good thing,” Baskin admits. “I think it forces someone to assess where they are and what they might need to do.” 

Season two was full of dark subject matter (including Danny Booko inappropriately grabbing Jasmine Goode’s partner, allegations that Jason Caperna takes his wedding ring of when he’s out at bars and much more), though Valley star Kristen Doute’s engagement and the recent off-camera welcoming of her first child, after bringing viewers along her fertility journey, was an undoubted shining light amid the darkness.

In a post-mortem interview with THR, Baskin discusses what shifts will come in a potential next season of The Valley (though the series hasn’t yet been formally renewed for season three), the status of the Vanderpump Rules reboot and his reaction to Scheana Shay recently revealing she omitted her husband’s infidelity in season 11. 

***

Throughout everything that Brittany has gone through amid her separation with Jax, she kept a great positive attitude throughout season two. How did you navigate supporting her and allowing her to tell her side of the story while also still juggling that the other side of her story comes from a cast member on the show?

I think that in many ways those two things are in alignment, because the fact that it involved another cast member on the show meant that we sort of, by definition, had to tell it fully and completely from both points of view. I think it made it easier to put it all out there, and Brittany was really determined to tell the entirety of the story. She started the season a changed person who sort of found a reserve of strength that she didn’t previously have. She very much wanted to share what she was going through, and in fact, she, in some ways, couldn’t help it. This was the story of her life, and she was really compelled to share it with her friends, and by extension, the audience. And so we told the story from start to finish, and obviously it culminates in the reunion.

Another crucial piece of Brittany’s story is her son. She revealed that during season two, she was going through Cruz’s autism testing, and then right before season two came out, she also revealed that her son was diagnosed with autism. Her story is inspiring, not only going through her separation, but also navigating motherhood. What moments do you think, if not those that I mentioned, were Brittany’s highlights throughout season two?

I think that she had a number of highlights, but I think that the composite is the highlight, which is that the audience has seen Brittany really grow. She was really young when she came into this space [on Vanderpump Rules] in the first place, and she was a little bit wide-eyed, and by her own account, naive. And to see this self-possessed woman who was determined to take care of her son and herself, I think, is pretty inspiring, and you sort of see all faces of her too. You see the strong mother, you see someone who is determined to get out of a marriage that doesn’t work for her. You also see someone navigating situations with her friends. I think Brittany really sort of puts it all out there and is willing to show her imperfections and her vulnerabilities, but at the same time, I think, sort of sets the stage for a new phase in life. 

One of the main highlights of the entirety of season two was Kristen’s journey. It’s really inspiring watching her get engaged and go through her fertility journey, watching as the show is airing and she’s already pregnant and having her child. You worked with her on Vanderpump Rules, so what was it like depicting her story this season on The Valley?

Oh, it was so much fun to be able to tell a story of growth. We’re all so proud of Kristen and so happy for her, and to see what she’s been through over the years, and to see the struggle for her to find someone that she wanted to be with and to have a child, and to see that all come to fruition for her really means a lot to the people who know her and to the audience who also knows her and has been on that journey with her. She has really come a long way.

Jasmine Goode and Zack Wickham were featured much more throughout season two. They were already embedded into this group in season one, but they were much more embedded into the storyline in season two. Is that why they were promoted to full-time status this year?

We have a good problem on the show, which is that we were just teaming with cast members, and they’re all contributory, they’re all tied together. Jasmine and Zack in season one were almost like 1A status, because, in part, they weren’t coupled up on the show. We sort of knew going into the [second] season that they would be as prominent as anyone, and they really delivered in every sense. [I] was pleased to see that, and we figured out how to service the stories of everyone. I think that’s part of what makes this show work, and it was part of the same formula for Vanderpump Rules too, which is a large, extensive cast of an interconnected group of friends.

Speaking of Vanderpump Rules, Scheana, Lala Kent and Tom Schwartz were all featured on season two. This has drawn some backlash from some fans. Have you seen this backlash, and what do you think about the fans’ overall consensus of [not wanting to] have these Vanderpump stars now infiltrate The Valley? 

Well, I think it’s a super passionate fanbase, and it is amazing to me that we’re even a little bit removed from season 11 of Vanderpump Rules and those passions haven’t cooled, and so [we] certainly take note of that. I wouldn’t say that there’s any consensus, I would say that there’s a lot of heated thoughts. But I think part of what is fun about these series’ is that there’s something for everyone, and I think there’s a lot of different points of view, and I think obviously those three are very much a part of this group, just naturally, and they’re very comfortable living their lives in front of the cameras. They’re used to it, they’ve been doing it for a long time.

Scheana was the Vanderpump star that was most shown on The Valley. By the [end of the season], she was at the finale party, and it kind of felt like you’re setting us up for Scheana to be on the show next season [with her husband] Brock Davies. Is that a conversation that’s going on right now?

Yeah, I mean, we’re making our plans for next season. I wouldn’t say we were trying to set the stage to do anything in particular, but again, Scheana is really friends with that entire group, and so you actually have to take pains, in some cases, to not include that group, or those Vanderpump folks, because they are connected to this group. But we weren’t trying to sort of set anything up. You know, I said after season one that we weren’t adding any more primary cast members, and in part, we were really crowded, and we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to shine. And we did want to give Jasmine and Zack the chance to be more involved and take on more prominence. Now, we’re figuring out where we go from here. Obviously, there are already changes: Jax isn’t coming back, so season three will be different just by virtue of that. We’re sort of figuring out what else it’s going to look like.

Scheana recently announced that before season 11 of Vanderpump started filming that Brock cheated on her. Had you known about this infidelity? And when [the news of his affair] came out, what was your reaction? Do you wish that you could have shown her story on season 11?

Yeah, I do. We didn’t know about it. She kept it, obviously, under very tight wraps, so very few people in her life knew. And sure, I think it’s a story that we would have and should have covered. These are series’ about people’s lives, and they’re very much predicated on seeing it all, knowing what’s going on with them. Something that was obviously of great importance to Scheana and probably defined that period of her life would have been something we would have wanted in the show. 

This is the second time that Jax has stepped away from a show. In his statement, it kind of sounded like the door was open for him to potentially make a return if he gets the help that he needs. How many more chances do you think that he’s going to get? Where do you draw the line and say enough’s enough, and maybe this person shouldn’t be on reality TV and it’s not healthy for them? 

It’s a really good question. Our thoughts first are we think that’s the right move for him to make, and we’re not thinking about what his future with the show looks like. We’re A) focused on making our show, and B) it’s sort of up to him to do what he needs to do, to take care of himself, and then that impacts the rest of it. So we’re not having those conversations at this point. We’re focused on making the show we’re making with the group that is here, but we think that that is the right decision for him, and hopefully he uses this time to make healthy choices and put himself in a position to succeed in life.

Do you think that his decision to step away was purely personal, or do you think that it was influenced by the backlash that he’s gotten throughout season two?

I think in some cases the response from the audience is a good thing, and I think it forces someone to assess where they are and what they might need to do. So I’m sure that played a role in it, because the audience was very clear, understandably, how they felt about the situation, and they were very clear too, that by large, they understood why he was on the show the entirety of the season, because we were documenting what happened, but they sort of separated that from their feelings about the appropriateness of him being on the show going forward. And certainly that’s something that we take into account, and he took it into account. It’s hard to say whether or not he would have made that decision on his own but for the influence of the audience. But the important thing is that he got there, and we all want him, and the audience included, to take care of himself.

How do you move forward with season three, losing one of the main anchors of the show? Obviously, [The Valley] was birthed out of Vanderpump, and out of [those original stars in] Kristen, Jax and Brittany, we’re losing Jax. How do you move forward with season three? What does that look like?

Well, we have a really large and robust group. You know, Jax is obviously a mainstay. We did spend half the season without him, and that period of time was really full and rich, so I don’t think that we’re [searching] for story to tell. I think it’s going to be different, but I don’t think different is a bad thing. And I think the alternative, on the one hand, there’s sort of Jax doing the right thing and us supporting understanding that stepping away is right, but also, I think there’s telling the same story over and over again, there’s the risk of that. I think that’s the place that we would have been to from a show standpoint. I think it opens up more space for for story to unfold. And undoubtedly, with this group, it will. 

You previously said that if [The Valley] gets picked up for season three, it will likely film in the summer, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve been filming. It seems like that’s like the typical [filming] schedule that The Valley follows, in alignment with Vanderpump, so what’s happening with season three?

We’re eyeing just a little bit of a push, which honestly is related to when we aired and how long our season was, because it sometimes can be a challenge to film while the reunion is airing. It’s nothing beyond that. Yeah, it’s a little bit different, and we had sort of gotten used to this as a summer show, but it’s not a kind of a radically different timeline. 

So you’re not dead set on having the summer filming schedule for The Valley?

No, that can vary a little bit. And the fun thing is, we’ll catch different events. We’ll catch different moments in people’s lives. There’s [more] birthdays and whatever else, and so I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 

You’re also working on the Vanderpump Rules reboot. There is a lot of skepticism about how the new cast is going to live up to the original. Are they living up to the OG cast?

Well, as I’ve said, I am so excited for the audience to watch a series that has a lot of the hallmarks of the original but feels completely different. We are not trying to make the series that we did the first time around, and it’s sort of got back to the basic principles of that show, which is falling around a group of interconnected coworkers and friends at SUR. And, this group just happens to be very different — they’re the 2025 version. So you see it’s Gen Z and their relationships to each other, to the world, are very different, but it still has all of the really fun, juicy ingredients. I understand the skepticism. I know that to the audience, this feels like an exercise in putting forward an imposter, but I really would encourage everyone to stick with us and give us a chance, because I think they’re going to be won over. I think they’re going to see that the show naturally came together, because, again, we didn’t force together a group that didn’t exist, and it’s a lot of fun, and it really captures the life stage that we saw in the early days of Vanderpump Rules and as opposed to the later life stage [in the later seasons]. I’m excited to reverse everyone’s skepticism and convert that into enjoyment and passion for the new series.

Do you know when the Vanderpump Rules reboot might be coming, and is there anything else that you can tease about the reboot?

It’s coming up, so it’s not too far away. And I would say that there is a lot of dating within the group, a lot of hookups within the group. The friendships are deep, it’s messy and complicated and really fun. I can’t wait for it to drop and I can’t wait for, like I said, the skepticism to melt away and take the form of enjoyment.

***
New episodes of The Valley air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock on Wednesdays. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.