Jax Taylor Reveals Surprising Person Who Convinced Him to Contact His Estranged Mother

Bravo Jax Taylor.

Jax Taylor gave an update on his relationship with his mom, Marie Cauchi.

The former “Vanderpump Rules”  star opened up about his difficult family situation while speaking on his “When Reality Hits With Jax & Brittany” podcast. On the May 9, 2023, episode of the podcast, Taylor revealed that after not speaking to his mother for over five years, it was Scheana Shay’s mom, Erika van Olphen, who convinced him to reach out to her.

Here’s what you need to know:

Jax Taylor Revealed Why He Recently Started Texting His Mom

In 2017, Taylor’s father, Ronald Cauchi, passed away from esophageal cancer, according to E! News.  It was shortly after that time that the former Bravo star stopped talking to his mother. Taylor married Brittany Cartwright in 2019 and two years later they welcomed a son, Cruz.

“I haven’t spoken to my mother since my father’s funeral, which has now been five years,” Taylor said on his podcast. “So she’s missed my wedding, she’s missed the birth of Cruz.”

He explained that over the past few months, he had been “going back and forth” about reaching out to his mom, but that it was a former “Vanderpump Rules” co-star’s mom who convinced him he needed to contact her. “The reason I did it is she reached out to Erika, Scheana’s mom. She is friends with Erika,” Taylor said of his mom. “I don’t know how much they talk. …Erika pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, You need to reach out to your mom. What do you think about that?’”

Taylor said he told van Olphen he would think about it.  He also revealed they Shay was in the conversation too, and that they all got emotional and cried. “I just gave up,” he said. “It’s my mom. …This is what is making me happy now,” he added. “I’m sending her pictures of Cruz. It hasn’t gone any further than that.”

“Vanderpump Rules” fans know that van Olphen is a very hands-on grandmother to Shay’s 2-year-old daughter, Summer Moon. She regularly babysits her granddaughter and posts photos of her on Instagram. When Summer turned two in April 2023, van Olphen posted a sweet birthday message to her.

“Summer Moon, you are my world!” the doting grandmother wrote. “You have brought me so much joy I can’t even explain it! …I pray everyday that I will live long enough to watch you grow up to the amazing young lady I know you’ll be! Happy birthday my little bestie! ❤️~Nona.”

While Taylor’s mom has yet to meet Cruz, Cartwright’s mother, Sherri, is very involved in her toddler grandson’s life. On the podcast, Cartwright said her mom could never imagine not having Cruz in her life. She also said she wishes Taylor’s mom would try “harder” on her end.

Jax Taylor Said A lot of People “Bailed” on His Mom

Bravo – Screenshot of ClipJay Taylor and his mother Marie Cauchi have had a rocky relationship since his father died in 2017.

On his podcast, Taylor said he didn’t want to go into details about his estrangement from his mom. “This is a really touchy subject,” he added.

Without giving specifics, Taylor hinted that the estrangement had something to do with how his mother handled things when his father died.  While he said what his mother did was “wrong,” he acknowledged that he doesn’t know what it’s like to be married to someone for 40-something years as his parents were.  “I don’t know what goes on in your brain,” he said, adding again that a lot of people “bailed” on his mom that year. “My mother’s friends don’t talk to her anymore, her family doesn’t talk to her anymore,” he said.

Taylor noted that his sister, Jenny, also stopped speaking to their mom. He then revealed that after talking to van Olphen, he broke the ice with his mom by texting her some photos of Cruz.

“I recently texted my mother,” Taylor said. “We haven’t spoken, but we text. I reached out to her about three weeks ago and I’ve been sending her pictures of Cruz. This is as far as it’s gone up to this date. I sent her pictures and I said this: ‘Listen, I know we haven’t spoken but I want you to see your grandson.’ And I’ve been sending her pictures.”

Taylor noted that when he did decide to reach out to his mom he checked in with his sister first to make sure she was okay with it because they had a “pact” not to communicate with her.

“My heart breaks I know we don’t get along and it sucks,” he said. “I wish we could just squash this and move on. I hope maybe one day we can. Life is so fricking short. It’s so short, wasting all this time not spending it with my mother. I lost my father and eventually one day my mother’s not going to be there anymore, so I just feel like I have to do something.”

Taylor also explained he only reached out to his mom for Cruz, so that his son would know that he at least tried to open up communication with his grandmother. “I’m putting in the effort now,” he said. “I’m texting, we’re sending pictures back and forth. She is replying, not as much as I would have hoped, but she is replying. But that’s what’s going on right now.”

Still, Taylor said that the text exchange has taken a “weight” off of him. “She deserves to see him, she deserves to see him grow,” he said of his mom. “I’m working on it. Family’s a tough thing.”

Years before van Olphen convinced him to reach out to his mother, Taylor’s former boss, Lisa Vanderpump, also talked to him about his estrangement from his mom. After the former SUR bartender neglected to invite his mom to his wedding, Vanderpump advised him to try to reconcile with her before he had children. “Is she going to miss out on everything?” Vanderpump said of Taylor’s mom,  according to People. “To me, that’s very sad.”

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