Brittany Cartwright is celebrating a new start!
On Tuesday, Aug. 27, Cartwright, 35, filed for divorce from Jax Taylor, 45, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE, almost six months after the Vanderpump Rules stars announced they were “taking time apart.”
In the days leading up to the filing, Cartwright suggested she was ready for a fresh start, taking to Instagram to share two snaps of herself posing in a lime green dress featuring a cutout chest.
The reality star wore her brunette hair in a glam up ‘do and looked confidently at the camera with her hand on her hip in the first shot, while she looked away from the lens in a second image. She added some extra height to the look with a pair of strappy nude heels.
“Out with the old, in with the new. 💚,” Cartwright captioned the post.
Later on Tuesday, the day her divorce was announced, Cartwright was photographed rocking a tight blue maxi dress and heels. She wore her hair in loose waves around her shoulders as she headed out for dinner in Los Angeles.
Cartwright and Taylor, who first met in Las Vegas in 2015 before marrying in 2019, share a 3-year-old son, Cruz, together. In her filing, Cartwright requested primary legal and physical custody of the toddler, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE, though did call for Taylor to be given visitation rights.
The Bravo star also asked the court to terminate spousal support to both parties.
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Following the filing, a source exclusively told PEOPLE that the divorce was “something Brittany knew she had to do for the best interest of herself and her son.”
The insider added that Cartwright, who cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce, filed “in order to move forward and put a stop to this tumultuous cycle they’ve been living in.”
“There’s a lot that has transpired over the past few months that she could not look past,” the source continued. “This decision wasn’t made lightly but she feels adamant that it was the right one.”
The source said that Taylor “is feeling mixed emotions” and “knows this is ultimately the right decision but is sad that things ended up the way they have.”
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A representative for the couple did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Cartwright and Taylor’s relationship was documented on Vanderpump Rules and their spinoff Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky.
After briefly stepping away from the cameras, the couple returned to TV to star in the new Bravo reality series The Valley in March 2024.
Casey Durkin/Bravo
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Earlier this month, PEOPLE reported that Taylor had exited the in-patient treatment center he checked into in late July. An insider said he plans to return to film season 2 of The Valley.
At The Valley‘s premiere in March, Cartwright told PEOPLE that although she’s been Taylor’s “ride or die for nine years,” “there’s only so much that a woman can take.”
“It’s tough, it’s tough, but we’re handling it the best way we can,” Taylor said of the separation at the time.
