Janet Caperna‘s castmates might think she’s secretly “messy” when it comes to drama on The Valley — but the rookie reality star still believes Bravo veteran Kristen Doute is the primary “pot-stirrer” in the group. After all, it was Doute who relayed the bombshell rumors about Michelle Lally that contributed to tainting not one, but two cast dinner parties. But hey! The chaos Doute brings to the Bravoverse is what made her a well-loved television personality in the first place.
In a messy game of telephone that came to light at Michelle and Jesse Lally‘s Capri-themed dinner party, Doute accused Caperna of calling Michelle a “racist” and a Republican, which Caperna has vehemently denied. Despite Doute’s previous attempt to smooth things over with the Lallys, she engaged in yet another heated confrontation with the now-estranged couple at Jax Taylor‘s hair loss event that ended in her claiming Michelle was having a year-long affair, something Caperna said she hadn’t heard of until she watched the episode back.
“[Doute] keeps dropping these bombs and then kind of retreating. And then everybody’s kind of left looking around like, ‘What is this mess that has just happened?’” Caperna told DECIDER, admitting that all she wanted to do when shit hit the fan was eat her food “while it was still hot.” And can you blame her? She was seven months pregnant, for God’s sake!
Caperna, for her part, has been close with the Vanderpump Rules crew for years — meaning she had a front-row seat to how reality TV works long before joining The Valley. “I feel like I had the best internship ever to do reality TV – like watching all of them do it,” she said. While the new mom “can be a little messy” at times (her words, not mine), she was quick to shut down Taylor for comparing himself to her in the show.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god. How do I tell him that this is offensive?’” Caperna joked.
In a new interview with DECIDER, Caperna opened up about The Valley, the most shocking piece of information Zillow has taught her about her castmates, and whether Scheana Shay and Lala Kent have talked to her about switching from Vanderpump Rules to the hit spinoff. Keep reading for the full interview.
DECIDER: You’ve been in and around the Vanderpump Rules crew for a while. What is it like to fully be in their shoes and on a TV show of your own? Did any of the vets give you advice heading into it?
JANET CAPERNA: I’ve known all the Vanderpump crowd for about seven years and I feel like I had the best internship ever to do reality TV – like watching all of them do it. But I don’t think you can ever be fully prepared for it when it’s your life. The best advice that I got that I did not follow at all was from Scheana, who told me not to eat on camera. But I was seven months pregnant and starving all the time. So I think you’ll see me in the background or foreground eating all the time. Now I see why she said that because I’ll see multiple shots of me just, like, piling food into my face. I’m like, “Oh, I get it now. I see what she meant.”
It’s reality! You gotta eat.
It’s reality. If I wouldn’t have eaten on camera, I would have never eaten. So I had to do it.
I love you and Jason as a couple. How has it been going as new parents?
It’s been great so far. I mean, it’s scary. We’re a lot more worried, I think now than we have been in the past. But Jason’s an amazing father. He’s so, so helpful. I feel like we don’t keep score with like, “Oh, I did this and you did this.” We both praise each other – or try to praise each other – for doing all the little things together. So seeing him become a father has been the most amazing thing in my entire life.
This is my first time leaving my baby. And he’s at home now with [Jason’s] mom, who’s the best grandma ever. So it was a little scary, but I knew that they were all in good hands when I left.
I think one of the most relatable things you’ve said on the show was that you look up your friends’ houses on Zillow. Did you learn anything from Zillow about any of your castmates and their homes that shocked you?
Interesting. Honestly, Jax and Brittany have, like, six or seven bathrooms at their house. I saw that and I was like, “Oh, your Zillow is wrong. It says you guys have a million bathrooms.” And then Brittany walked me through each of them and I was like, “Oh my god, you guys do have an unbelievable amount of bathrooms.” That’s maybe the most shocking thing.
That’s so many bathrooms for two and a half people.
Yeah and Lala and Scheana both just bought houses in the Valley and when they were like, “Oh my god, we just closed.” They both texted me. They’re like, “Stop by.” Before they sent me the address, I was like, “Is this it?” Because I found it on Zillow before they could send me the address and I was like, “I’ll be over in a few.”
In the beginning of the season, Jax called you the “silent killer.” And in the most recent episode, Jasmine said you could be messy. Do you think these characterizations are unfair? Because I do!
I mean, yes and no. I feel like everything on reality TV is the exaggerated version of yourself. So I can be a little messy. I do like a little gossip. I think that that’s fair – maybe not to the extent that it’s shown. Also, when we filmed I was not working for the first time in my life and pregnant so I was a little bit bored and curious. So when there was something going on, I was like, “Ooh, what? What was that? What was happening?”
I don’t know about a silent killer. I think that’s a little far. I’m not trying to kill anybody. I just want to know what’s going on. Then when Jax compared himself to me, I was like, “Oh my god. How do I tell him that this is offensive?”
Some Bravo shows take seasons before they get a dinner party from Hell. But in just the handful of episodes we’ve seen so far from The Valley, there have already been two. How are you navigating the chaos? Who would you say is the primary pot-stirrer?
Honestly, the primary pot-stirrer – I have to give it to Kristen because she keeps dropping these bombs and then kind of retreating. And then everybody’s kind of left looking around like, “What is this mess that has just happened?” Honestly, at all of these dinner parties, all I wanted to do was finish my food while it was still hot. So I think you see in the most recent episode where there’s a bunch of stuff happening in the hallway – Jason wants to get up and [I] yank him down. I’m like, “No, we are sitting. We are eating our hot meal. Whatever is going on out there, I don’t care.”
Kristen claimed in the most recent episode that Michelle had a boyfriend while she was still married to Jesse. What do you know about this? Do you think Kristen was wrong for bringing that up on-camera?
I do think it was wrong for Kristen to bring it up on camera and if she was going to bring it up on camera, I would have loved to see her say it to Michelle’s face so that Michelle could defend herself and clear that up. To be honest, when I saw the episode, that was the first I had ever heard of a boyfriend. As soon as it started playing, I was like, “Woah, rewind that. Did Kristen just say Michelle has a boyfriend?” Jason and I both were … trying to figure it out. So I’m just as clueless as everybody else. And now I want to get to the bottom of it.
Speaking of Michelle, she recently confirmed that she’s seeing someone new and she looks so happy. Have you met him? What do you think of him?
I have not met him but Jason actually has met him. They went out together when they were single years ago. So he was like, “Oh my gosh, I know that guy.” I have not met him yet. But I’ve heard he’s a really nice guy and I can just tell Michelle is a lot lighter and happier. To be honest, watching the show back, I didn’t realize how unhappy she was until I saw a peek behind her home life. It made me sad to see because Michelle is a really light and bright energy and to see her happy again, makes me really happy.
We’re also seeing Jesse clearly going through something on the show. In addition to flirting with that Burning Man pop up girl, he made some odd jokes about Michelle and the unnamed director in last week’s episode. Do you think his behavior is a reaction to the realization that his marriage is in trouble?
I think so. I think Jesse carried on his party routine even after having a child and I think until Michelle was ready to call it quits or was considering that – I think that really woke him up. And then I think he was rushing to try anything he could to fix it but I feel like it was a little bit too late, unfortunately.
Do you think Kristen went too far by calling Jesse abusive at the dinner?
I did. You saw my reaction. I think “abusive” is a really strong word and it has heavy implications. I thought Jesse was joking when he slammed his hands on the table. We were all poking him, saying like, “What’s wrong? You’re being really quiet.” And he was joking like, “Oh, you want me to do this again like our last dinner?” All of us on the end of the table where he was, laughed about it. And then Kristen, who was on the opposite end, immediately was like, “Abuse!” And it was like, “Oh my gosh, come on.” Jesse can be a jerk sometimes but, in this instance, I really think he was joking.
Speaking of couples, it’s no secret you’re very close to Brittany. How is she doing since the separation from Jax? She seems to be thriving!
She’s doing really well. First of all, she’s in the sexiest Airbnb you’ll ever see. Every time I walk in, I’m like, “It feels like vacation here.” She’s like, “I know.” But her primary focus right now is Cruz and she’s just being the best mom she can be. She and Jax actually seem to be getting along better now that they’re living separately and actually enjoy spending a little bit of time together so I’m hoping they can just co-parent as best they can and we’ll see what happens.
Jax seems to be very critical of Brittany and how she blows off steam. As Brittany’s BFF, what are your thoughts on that?
I think it’s a little hypocritical. I think Jax gets his guys night. Brittany deserves to go out and have fun. Brittany is responsible about it. Yeah, she had a little bit too much to drink at our girls night but we were all safe at an Airbnb – not driving. Her child’s home safe with dad. She deserves to have a couple tequila shots and shimmy like she did. But I think she should be allowed to have fun. I wish that Jax wasn’t so hard on her with that aspect. She deserves a night out. All moms do!
There are a lot of conspiracies that Lala and/or Scheana might make the jump to The Valley if given the opportunity. Would you welcome them? And have they ever talked to you about making the switch?
I would love both of them to come on over. That would be awesome. They’re such a part of our group anyway. They’re friends with everybody. I would love for them to make the jump over. If we could steal them I would. And yeah, they’ve talked about it a little bit. They’re like, “We’ll see what happens.” I think it’s authentic to our friendships and our lives. So if Bravo will do it, I’ll happily have them.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The Valley airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
