Just because Michelle Lally and Jesse Lally are no longer together doesn’t mean filming The Valley got any easier.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Michelle opened up about her experience working with Jesse on season 2 of the hit Bravo series.
“It was incredibly hard at times,” Michelle shared while at ChainFEST LA on Saturday, October 5. “We have so many ups and downs and just trying to navigate that at times can be challenging.”
The tension isn’t limited to just their interactions on screen. “I always want to say he’s the father of my child,” the reality star, who shares 4-year-old daughter Isabella with Jesse, added. “But it is very hard to get divorced.”
Season 1 of The Valley captured the end of Michelle and Jesse’s marriage. Usconfirmed shortly before the show debuted earlier this year that Michelle and Jesse filed for divorce following their fifth wedding anniversary.
“We still had our issues [while filming]. But I didn’t think — until I watched the show, I was like, ‘Wow, it was really that bad. Like I did not see it at all,’” Jesse recalled on an episode of the “Two Ts In a Pod: Popping Off” in June. “We had kind of swept everything under the rug.”
He continued: “She just gave me a couple of things that bothered her and I said I would work on it. … So it was like being a little bit more patient, being a little bit more present. Things like that is what she wanted me to work on, and she said she would stay if I did well.”
Michelle, meanwhile, had a different take on their split.
“I gave him a list. This is why I’m unhappy, this is what I need from you,” she told Jana Kramer on the “Whine Down” podcast that same month. “And so I think it was a combination of him just not believing I would ever leave. And he was very comfortable because at the end of the day, he could do whatever he wants.”
After calling it quits, Michelle moved on with Aaron Nosler, while Jesse started dating girlfriend Lacy Nicole. Having Aaron in her corner this time around made it easier for Michelle.
“I had somebody very supportive,” she told Us about how season 2 differed, to which Aaron noted, “I tried to help and bring a positive light into it.”
Despite the challenges with Jesse, Michelle is looking forward to viewers seeing another version of her. “I’m super excited to show the new chapter of my life and my boyfriend Aaron,” she gushed. “I feel like myself. We’re going to see the real me and how happy I am.”
With reporting by Lanae Brody
