When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany - Ask Jax Anything

Episode Date: September 13, 2024

Jax gets VERY candid as he answers all of your questions on this episode of When Reality Hits! Check out our great sponsors!! QUINCE: Switch to high-quality closet essentials at Quince.com/jb for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! HIYA HEALTH: Your kids deserve the best vitamins! Get 50% off your first order at HiyaHealth.com/realityhits  G-DEFY: Need comfy shoes? Visit GDefy.com and use code REALITYHITS for $20 off your order of $100 or more WAYFAIR: Get ready for the season of change at Wayfair.com OR get the Wayfair mobile app!

Hey everybody, it's Jax here with Jax and Brittany Take. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I messed up already. Okay, hey everybody, it's Jax Taylor, When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany. We are back. Okay, it's gonna be just me this week. You know, first of all, I just want to say thank you to so many of you out there that reach out to me personally over the Instagram, you know, the DMs, you know, the comments sections, you know, I've been really reading all of your messages and it's been really,

really amazing to see how many of you have, you know, shared your struggles, your personal struggles, your mental health battles. You know, it's really made me feel not only supported, but seen by so many of you guys. And I don't think I've ever really realized how many people have similar battles. You know, when you deal with mental health issues daily, it can be a very lonely, lonely place at times, where you feel so misunderstood, confused, alone.

You know, and there's so many times you question yourself. You know, am I crazy? Like, what's going on? Like, I just, you know, you can't handle life sometimes. You know, what's wrong with me? You know, it's just very, very tough. You know, I've made some really, I've had some, sorry, I've had some really dark moments and a lot that I've kept to myself over the years.

So I'm finally able to, you know, speak openly on things and understand myself a little more. And it's really been very freeing in a way. And thanks to this podcast and everything, I can kind of reach out to people and kind of hear back from everybody else as well. So anyway, I just want to say thank you so much for all your all kind messages

and sharing your personal stories with me. I've been getting so many questions from people over the past few weeks. So I wanted to dedicate this episode to you guys. So many of you have been written in and I'm going to answer as many questions as I can here. So here it goes, bear with me again. It's just me today and I really, really appreciate you guys and all your support and let's get going, okay?

So here we go with some of your guys' questions. So the first one, how was it being reunite, reunite, sorry, I'm sorry, again. How was it being reunited with Cruz after leaving the facility and this is from Diane chefs? I gotta say it was the highlights of You know this whole thing. It was my end goal. It was kind of like the Super Bowl. It was Gosh, I had so many emotions. I cried my eyes out because I was kind of in fear that he wasn't going to remember me. I mean, everyone's going to say, everyone's saying, you know, your son's going to remember

you, your son's going to remember you. But, you know, when he came running, you know, to me, it was, I can't even tell you the emotions I had. I was just crying and he was just so happy to see me. He let go of our nanny's hand and he ran right up to me. It was just the most beautiful thing ever. So yeah, that answers that and I literally didn't let go of him for a very long time. He was connected to my hip there for the next, actually the full day. So yeah, it was very, very amazing and it was very emotional, a lot of tears on my end, but he's just doing so well.

And I'm just I'm just so proud of him. So there's that. I hope that answers that. Okay, so what does a typical day look like when you wake up? So I guess this question is for what was a typical day of my typical day when I was in the facility. So I would wake up at 7 45, I would have a cup of coffee, I would have a protein shake, I would take my medication, I would then, you know, take one of the nurses, she would take me to the gym. I was allowed to leave to go to the gym for one hour, two hours a day, then I would get back, take a shower,

and then I would be in therapy for three to four hours. Yeah, three to four hours, there would be a lunch break in there in between. And then after that, we would take a little bit of a break and then I would either go back to the gym or I would take a nap or I would go right back into therapy. So on average, every day it was seven hours of therapy. Sometimes it was three hours here and four hours there or three hours here.

It really kind of varied, but seven hours every day I had therapy in that. It was really, really intense. I was meeting with doctors, different therapists, going over different, just different things that are going on in my life. My drug of choice is anger, and it's one of those things where other people got to leave their drug at the door where unfortunately I brought mine in with me

because obviously you can't leave anger at the door. So it was tough, it was tough talking through these things, being emotional, letting my guard down, being vulnerable, kind of digging into my past, talking to complete strangers about my life and kind of being, I was a little bit of embarrassed sometimes because you know, these are things that as a 45 year old man are embarrassing to me and in the beginning I was very I guess guarded and

But it took me at least about a week or week or so for me to like kind of let my guard down and kind of Really really open up and it was an amazing experience. At some point I would like to do another stay at a facility or another one like maybe in a different state, but I really got a lot out of this. Like I said, it's something that I really needed to do and I'm sad that I took this long to do it because Brittany has been asking me to do something like this for a very long time.

And it's just, I come from a background where we just, we really don't ask for help. The men in my family just really never ask for help. And it wasn't my father's fault, it wasn't my grandfather's fault, it's just we were never brought up to ask for help. And I'm hoping that I can break that cycle now with my son if he needs help that he can ask.

So that's kind of what I got out of this and it was an amazing run. So my next question is, do you think reality TV made marriage harder? That is a tough question. And this is from KT Loca. KT Loca. Do I think reality TV made marriage harder?

I wanna say yes and no. I mean, you know, it'd be silly to say it doesn't make it harder because obviously you're in the public eye. So you're not only getting pressure from your family and your peers, but you're getting pressure from the outside world too, from whatever's going on in your life.

Everybody's got something to say. Everybody out there's living in a perfect marriage and they love to put their two cents in. So yes, it is harder, but I feel like if you have a perfect marriage and they love to put their two cents in. So, yes it's harder, but I feel like if you have a strong marriage and I guess a strong support system, you can get through it. But it does make it harder. I'm not gonna sit here and say it doesn't.

It does, it does. But you just gotta really work at it. You gotta go to therapy, you gotta take time for one another, you gotta do date nights, you gotta not lose the romance, you gotta not feed into the public, you gotta feed into social media and the comment sections, you gotta stay away from that. And that's, I think, what killed my marriage. If I had to say what killed my marriage the most, I think I took Brittany for granted a lot of the times.

I think I was given a lot of wiggle room with my behavior. I think I've had this anger for a very, very long time. As long as I can remember, I've been a very angry person since I was a kid. But I think during our marriage, I was never held accountable for my actions. I was never given any consequences. It was always like, oh, it's just Jax, he'll get over it. Oh, it's just he'll get over it. Or he won't be like this forever.

I was never given any like, listen, if you don't stop this, I'm gonna leave you until Brittany had enough. I've never really had anybody hold me accountable for my actions and tell me like listen You know you need to go somewhere, so I think You know after nine years of putting Brittany through the ringer She kindly had enough and and I kind of had no choice That's kind of you know where I stand with how marriage is on reality TV

It can just it can go one way or the other you just have to really You have to really work hard extra harder on your marriage when you're on reality TV, if that answers the question. I know I took a long route on that, but I hope that answers that question. Are you in pain after walking, running, or even just standing? It's not your feet, it's your shoes. This summer, switch to G-Defy shoes with their patented technology. It aligns with your body, provides superior shock absorption

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one hour at a time. I don't think setting goals is a future goals. I mean, this is a tough question because when you set goals sometimes you can set yourself up for failure. So I'm very one day at a time. Right now I just moved into my new place. You know, I'm taking better care of my health. I'm trying to stay on a structured routine.

I'm trying to, you know, make a lot of time for my son. I'm trying to, you know, create other, you know, other jobs. I'm trying to focus on my bar and my podcast and possibly another podcast that I like to get into regarding mental health. I'm'm trying to focus on my bar and my podcast and possibly another podcast that I like to get into regarding mental health. I'm just trying to stay focused and I'm just trying to, I guess they say, keep my side of the street clean and that's my goal right now. I try to read all my journals that I've written over when I was in the facility and just try

to stay focused. Setting goals right now, it's just, I'm not there yet. I think in time I will be, but right now I'm just kind of focused one day at a time and when I kind of build myself up a little bit better, then I'll start setting some goals. But right now it's just one day at a time and making sure that I'm okay for my son.

Okay, the next question. Who are the key people in your life who you feel you can go to for support? I hope you have some key people in your life that you feel you can trust. That's a great question too. Living in LA and it's tough to have good friends that you can trust, I have a lot.

Yeah? Sure. Yeah, Who are the key people in your life who you feel you can go to for support? I hope you have some key people in your life that you feel you can trust. I have a few people that I can trust. I hate to say that I only have a few. I have a lot of acquaintances. LA is kind of the home of a lot of acquaintances, and it's really hard to find good people that will be in your life for you,

because out here, everybody's clawing to the top, and everybody has ulterior motives. And, you know, where I'm from in the Midwest, you know, the people's morals are a little bit different than they are here, so I have a handful. I have a handful. I have some people that I work with on my team. I have my sister.

And I have a couple buddies that I can go to for support when I need it. But it's slim pickings. I hate to say that. But it's just one of those things where you just got to keep your circle small. And just focus. I focus on myself and with my therapist so that's about it for that one Next one. Are you still living in the valley? Did you move out? Yes? I finally moved out about two weeks ago I got myself a townhouse now. This has been everyone keeps, do I live with Tom Schwartz? I do not live with Tom Schwartz. He has a townhouse that is next to mine,

but they are completely separate. We have our own building, but we do not live together. But yes, I did move out. I thought it was a good move for me to, you know, get my own place because it wasn't fair for Brittany to keep getting these Airbnbs, and she wasn't sure where she was gonna go. And plus, I just didn't want my son

to be bouncing around to all these places. It didn't seem right. They weren't his home. It wasn't his house. It wasn't his pool. It wasn't his bedroom. So while I was in the facility, I took it upon myself to find a townhouse that is absolutely

beautiful, brand new, very secure, updated, remodeled, super safe for crews. I wanted something that would be very, very safe for crews. She will be like, okay, wow, this place is absolutely beautiful. It's secure. It's brand new. And yes, I know I live next to Tom Schwartz, but he is my best friend at the end of the day. And if I need help with something,

if I need help with crews, he's right there. I have a couple other buddies that live down the street. I know everyone's thinking like, oh my gosh, they're just gonna get crazy party life. That's not true. We are all older now. We all have different ideas in life. And I think we have a good support system here.

And I really like it. Tom has come through a divorce, so he kinda helps me get through this. So yeah, to answer your question, I did move out. I've been now here, I would say three weeks. Finally got internet. That took me a while, but the building's absolutely beautiful.

I'm really happy here, and I honestly can't wait for Brittany to see this place. I know it's gonna take time for her to come here, but I really can't wait for Brittany to see this place. I know it's gonna take time for her to come here, but I really can't wait for her to see it. And Cruz's room is absolutely beautiful, thanks to my team for helping me out and do that, and thanks to some of the companies that helped me out, like Wayfair.

And I can't think of somebody else. Wayfair, I'm sorry, Mixed Tiles made his room just absolutely beautiful. So yeah. so next question. Are you living with Schwartz? So I kinda answered that question in the last one. He is living in this vicinity, but we each have our own townhouses.

We are not living together. Just to make that very, very clear. But like I said, he is my best friend. And having your best friend who's gone through a divorce and we're the same age, you know, it really really helps. You know, I've been with my wife for 10 years and now I'm alone. So having my best friend nearby is very very helpful and he's gone through what I've gone through. He's, you know, a year ahead of me in this game, two years ahead of me in this game. So, you know, it helps having

him here and, you know, he loves Cruz him here. And, you know, he loves Cruz. And when Cruz gets to come over here, he's gonna, you know, love hanging out with his Uncle Tom. Saw your tattoo, I'm sorry, saw you got a tattoo. Are you going to get more? Corinne Casale? Yes, I am, actually. It's kind of my midlife crisis thing right now.

A lot of people go buy cars or buy motorcycles or get ear piercings or shave their heads or do whatever. Mine is tattoos. I really, really enjoy tattoos. I've wanted to get more in the past. Life got in the way and I didn't have time. Each one of my tattoos means something. I obviously struggle big time with mental health, so each one of my tattoos symbolizes

mental health in some fashion. So yes, I'm actually going to get my next tattoo on Monday. I'm doing the other arm, completing the other arm. And actually, the next tattoo is going to be, I think it's the Archangel Michael. I think that's his name. I think it's Michael the Archangel, Michael the Archangel, which is kind of who overlooks you when you're confronting the good and the bad. So yes, I am, I'm gonna keep getting more, I love tattoos. All right, next question. What did you think of Raquel making a statement about you?

This is coming from at PWXO. Now I heard about this while I was in treatment. I got an email from my manager about this. I'm just gonna make this very clear. I've talked to Raquel maybe three to four times in my entire life. And each time I talked to her, it was hi or bye. It was no more than three to four

words each time. I don't know her from Adam. I don't even, I still don't know to this date what she said about me. I can look it up if I want to, but I don't really care. It's not, I'm not looking for any kind of validation from her. I honestly wish her the best and that's basically all. I don't know her. I don't really know what she's going through right now. I obviously know what happened with the scandal situation, but I really don't research what she does, research her podcast or listen to her podcast

or listen to anything she says, to be honest. And that's not just a dig at her. It's just I have other things to do in my life. So, like I said, I've talked to Raquel three to four times in my life, and it's been no more than three to four words, so I just wanna get that very clear, because people ask me this question all the time,

and I just, I don't know her, so that's it for that. When Reality Hits is brought to you by Haya. Typically, children's vitamins are basically candy in disguise, filled with those two teaspoons of sugar, unhealthy chemicals, and other gummy junk growing kids should never eat. That's why Haya was created, the pediatrician-approved superpower chewable vitamin. Now Cruz takes these every single morning with his breakfast and he's off to school and he loves them.

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hiahealth.com slash reality hits. This deal is not available on their regular website. Go to hiahealth.com slash reality hits. This deal is not available on their regular website. Go to hyahealth.com, that's H-I-Y-A-H-E-A-L-T-H.com slash reality hits and get your kids the full body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults. If you could take back any one thing in the past, what would it be? Wow.

I don't, geez, how do you answer this question? This is from Lyssa Hasado. If I could take back any one thing in the past, what would that be? There's a lot that I would take back to be honest, but obviously everyone's gonna want to say the the situation I had with with that other girl before Brittany and I were married the Cheating scandal obviously that was bad I would have liked to stay engaged a little longer. I wish we didn't rush our wedding as fast as we did I wish we would have took a little more time on that. I wish we didn't rush our wedding as fast as we did. I wish we would have took a little more time on that. I wish I would have not rushed my relationship with Brittany so quickly.

I think the fact that I rushed it so fast because she moved here from Kentucky, I think things moved a little quicker than they should have. I don't think that we got to know each other as well as we should have in the beginning. she moved here from Kentucky, I think things moved a little quicker than they should've. I don't think that we got to know each other as well as we should've in the beginning. Now, that being said, we've been together 10 years and we know everything about each other. But if you're asking me to go back, what would I have done different?

That was what I would have done different. I don't think I would have just probably asked her to move in so quickly. I would have tried to have been girlfriend and boyfriend a little bit longer. I think maybe that was one of my downfalls that I rushed everything so quickly. Obviously, my anger got in the way. My, my ego got in the way of a lot of things. My what's the word I'm looking for? I was very aggressive, I was very entitled.

I had such entitlement. There's a lot of things I wish I could take back, especially now that I can reflect and look back, especially after being in the facility, I can look back and be like, okay, this is what I did wrong. And I can look back and be like, well, this happened because of this, and this happened because of that.

Now, if I wouldn't have done this, then this wouldn't have happened. So, I mean, it's easier to say,. If I wouldn't have done this, then this wouldn't have happened. It's easier to say, yes, I wish I'd taken all these things away, but these are all mistakes that I made and I'm learning from them. Those are the things. I know that's probably going to surprise a lot of people, but I wish I would have really have gotten to know Brittany as a girlfriend, boyfriend, quicker, or a little bit slower

than just rushing into our relationship. I think that maybe you've taken a little bit of a toll on us too. So I know that's pretty, no one's really ever asked me that question before. So I think now looking back after being in the facility, that's kind of where I stand with that. Yeah. Okay. How will you and Brittany share the podcast now?

This is coming from Ash Johnson, 1904. So right now we are doing one week on and one week off. And right now this is working for us. My goal, and you know, I'm probably getting way, way, way ahead of myself. My goal is for us to come back and do this together. I want to be a divorce success story. I want to go on and talk about marriage,

talk about divorce, talk about separation, because the whole world is going through things that I'm going through. Everybody in this world is going through crazy things, divorce, separation, losing a partner, whatever. And I feel like Brittany and I, at some point, could possibly come together and say,

and talk about where it went wrong, what we did wrong, what we did right, what would we change, and hopefully, change people's opinions of marriage or divorce or whatever, but are you still continuing therapy? Yes, I am. I'm seeing a life coach, which he was on my podcast last week, his name is Scott. And I'm also talking to my therapist,

who I was speaking to within the facility. Her name was Tracy, who was just an amazing, amazing person. I've gone through different therapists in the past. As you guys know, about eight years ago, I decided to see a therapist after everybody was trying to make me go when I was anti-therapy, anti-therapy. And then I finally found a woman

and this woman decided to out me at a bar one night and it just so happens just as goes to show you how small the world is this therapist who I was seeing who I was letting my guard down who I was being very vulnerable to was sitting at a bar in Hollywood and it just so happens that Kristen Doty and Carmen if some of you guys remember Carmen was my ex-girlfriend was sitting at the bar too. And this woman was telling everybody that she was Jack's Taylor's therapist

and she was just going in on my life. And how I found this out was, as I was with Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz in Australia, we were doing a tour there, like we do appearances, I literally got off the plane, jet lagged as hell. I get five to six missed calls from Kristen Doty, which I thought was the weirdest thing because I was like, well, I haven't really talked to her. Why is she calling me when she knows where I'm at? And I finally call her and she tells me, Jack, your therapist was at a bar

wasted getting drunk telling everybody about your life. So long story short, obviously I didn't see a therapist for a long time after that. After letting my guard down, finally seeing a therapist, then this happens to me. You can understand why I didn't wanna go back to therapy for a long time. So, jump to about what, eight years later,

it was time to see a therapist. It was time to give therapy a second chance. What I went through was a very, very unusual situation, but it did happen, and it did give me a little PTSD. So anyway, obviously in the treatment, there were multiple therapists, and I really connected with Tracy. There was some males and there was some females.

I wanted to go the male route. I really did. I started off with the male route. I really did. I started off with a male and I just thought for me, after going through what I went through, I just thought a male kind of knows another male pretty well. Not that women don't know men. I just think that a man knows what another man is going through and why he does certain things.

I personally think women see men, they do, they see them very well, but they wanna see them how they wanna see them and not how we are, if that makes any sense. So I connected with a man for a little bit, he ended up leaving, and then I went to Tracy, and like I said, she's absolutely amazing. And what I love about Tracy is,

is she is not just a teacher, she is a person that struggled, you know? It's nice to talk to somebody that's gone through exactly what I'm gone through. You're not dealing with a therapist who went to Harvard and is reading all these books on psychology and just reading out of the books and trying to tell you what things are.

It's so much better to talk to somebody who's actually gone through what I've gone through and has beat it and has tools to give me. That's what I found with Tracy. Yes, I am continuing therapy. I'm actually going to find another therapist very soon. I'm looking for another one because I'm really getting addicted to therapy. I kind of like it, to be honest.

It sets my week up. Are you scared of being diagnosed with bipolar? Have bipolar and mixed emotion, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It says, are you scared of being diagnosed with bipolar? I have bipolar and I have mixed emotions. Crystal Stulz. I knew something was wrong. Everybody in my life knew something was wrong with me.

I'm one of those guys that don't want to know that something's wrong. Like if I'm sick, I don't wanna know. If, you know, God forbid I have cancer, I don't wanna know. I don't wanna go to the hospital for anything. If I can put some band-aid on it or some tape on it, if I can just pour some bleach on it, and that could be it, that's how I am.

So going to the facility, I knew I was gonna be diagnosed with something. I knew I was gonna get blood work done. I knew I was gonna be put on medication. I knew there was gonna be multiple doctors looking at me and that's what I was, I guess, scared, anxious, excited. There was excitement in there because I'm finally gonna find out what's wrong with me

and I don't have a choice. So they went in, I went in, I'll be honest. I was on Lexapro before I got in there. I was on there on Lexapro for about, I wanna say six weeks prior to the facility and I did not see a change. I did not see anything, nothing was happening. I went to the doctor there and I said,

listen, I think I'm depressed. I'm on Lexapro. I've been on it for six weeks. I don't feel any different. And after being like, you know, gone through so many different like seeing so many doctors, they were like, Jax, you are not depressed. You are bipolar. You are bipolar two, I think it's called number two. It's just one and two. I'm the second one. And I was like, what does that mean? They're like, first of all, you're on the wrong medication. You're done with this medication. We're gonna put you on something else.

I'm not gonna tell you guys what I'm on. I'm not on lithium. I know all of you guys have reached out to me about lithium. I am not on that. There's too many side effects on this stuff. I don't really wanna tell everybody what I'm on, but I'm not on lithium.

I am extremely happy with the medication that I'm on. I got to say, since I've been on this medication, I've maybe gotten angry a couple times, but I feel I know myself getting angry and I can pull back. I can pull back and I can tell when like you know I can tell when like okay I need it or I need an anxiety pill but for the most part it's been a really really you know good I guess drug or medication that I've been on. It's been working a lot. In fact I have to check in this week to see if I should up my dosage or not and I may or I may not. I'm going to talk it over with my doctor but everything right now is going well.

To answer your question, I'm happy that I'm being diagnosed with bipolar. I would like to be an advocate for it. I'd like to talk about it. I want to research it. I want to know everything I can possibly know about this disorder. It does run in my family. I don't want to say who has it in my family, but I do have family members that do have it and I did not know it's, I don't know what the word I it in my family, but I do have family members that do have it, and I did not know it's

I don't know what the word I'm looking for. It's genetic. I did not know that so To answer your question. I'm not scared. I'm excited I'm happy to finally know what is wrong with me When reality hits is sponsored by Wayfair. How do you like to get ready for fall? Let's get cozy. Love candles? Do you cook up a storm? Fall is calling and Wayfair has everything you need to welcome the new season into your space.

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Actually, I was having this question the other day. And this is from at PON67. I guess I can say this. I don't think I'm going to have any more kids. I don't think so. I think I just want to spend all my time and all my energy on my son, Cruz. I'm not sure what his future is gonna be like, but I wanna make sure that I can give him

my full attention, and I just don't think it's fair to bring another child to this world and not give them equal amount of attention. And I love my son more than anything in this world. I'm gonna tear up, sorry. And I, we are trying to figure out right now what his next road is gonna be like. So as of right now, and I think for the future, I think I'm done with kids. You know, I'm 45 years old. I'm at that window right now, is if you do it, you gotta do it now. And yeah, I think we're gonna just say no. I'm not gonna have any more kids. And I guess this is the first time

I've ever said this out loud. So yeah, to answer your question, no, I don't want any more kids. What's your favorite meal? My favorite meal? Well, I love going to this place called Craig's in West Hollywood with my team. Favorite meal? Well, I love going to this place called Craig's in West Hollywood with my team.

We have so much fun when we go there. It's kind of like an annual thing when everybody's in town. It's kind of our spot to go. I just got turned on by a new place from my publicist actually, John and Vinny's, and their pizza is absolutely amazing. Right now though, I have to say, and this is not a plug by any means, I really enjoy these factor meals. I'm now alone. I am by myself. I'm used to having a wife, you know, cook three to four times a week for me. But now I am by myself and now I'm, you know,

I'm a lot busier now and I really got turned on to these Factor meals and I just, I love them, they're easy. And like I said, this is not a plug by any means because there's so many different food, there's so many different food services out there. But Factor's is my favorite meals and they're healthy and I'm on a health kick right now. So I'm sticking with Factor. My favorite meals and they're healthy and I'm on a health kick right now, so I'm sticking with Factor.

My favorite, I'm sorry. Is that the question do you want? Oh, my favorite TV show, it's a toss, well, I think everybody knows Friends is my favorite TV show with The Office being a very close second. So thank you Casey Lee for that question. What's the biggest lesson you've learned from reality TV experience? Wow, I don't think clearly I've

learned my lesson. I don't have to be honest. I think I learn lessons every season. I always go into filming these series. I always go in with my head held high, but you know I always make the dumbest mistakes. I'm a very shoot first ask later kind of person. It gets me into a lot of trouble. You know, my whole reality career has been the villain. You know, I've been painted as the villain for for a very long time. And I thought, you know, that's kind of what people wanted to see.

So I continued that person. And it's hurt me in so many ways. I mean, it's destroyed my marriage. It's destroyed my friendships. But I thought, you know what? That's kind of what the people wanted. I thought that's what everybody liked. So I just kept going with that persona.

Anything else that I've learned? I've learned, I'm still learning this, but I'm trying to take a back seat. I'm trying not to be the number one guy in the group anymore. I think that guy has, he needs to retire, he needs to go away. I need to learn to take the back seat more in things. I need to be, I need to humble myself a little bit more.

I need to listen a little bit more. I need to not react as much as I do. And I have a fear of, you know, not being, you know, the main character. I have a huge fear of that. And again, these are things that I've never talked about before. So that fear, you know, it drives me, the villain in me,

because I feel like, well, maybe if I do this, or if I do this, or if I say this, that will just kind of create something that doesn't really need to be, but it will just keep me talked about. And that's just something that I've dealt with forever, and I'm trying so hard to cut back from that. So I guess, you know, I guess those are lessons.

I don't know if I've learned from them yet, but I'm really, really trying. Best advice for handling anxiety and depression. They're ask for help, ask, ask for help. Work out, working out is a huge, huge thing. Being healthy, getting plenty of rest, talking to your friends, going on hikes, meditating, meditating doesn't work for me,

but it works for a lot of people. Going to the gym is mine. Right now, I'm on a huge gym kick. I have a huge addictive personality. I have a big addictive personality. Once I get on something, I don't quit it. And right now, the gym is my thing. It's my drug of choice.

I love it. I'm going like twice a day right now. I'm like thrive on eating healthy and you know, drinking my protein shakes and getting up early and going to the gym, coming home, taking a shower and that's how I start my day. So that's how I'm dealing with my anxiety along with some medication of course. But yeah, that's the best thing for me is going to the gym and going for long walks too.

How do you handle the hate and negativity online? Oh my God. That is a tough one. I have to remember when you get hate that I've always been told, you know, when they stop talking about you, that's when you should worry. So when people are giving you hate online,

these are people that do not know who you are. Most of them are sitting in their parents' basement, they don't have a picture, they got a few followers, and they're just looking to get a rise out of you. Because 99.9% of the time, these people that say the negative things, if they saw you out in public, they would be the first one to ask for a picture.

They'll be the first one to ask for an autograph. They'll be the first one to ask you questions, the first one to buy you a drink. 99.9% of these people are those people. They just want to get a rise. They have no idea about our lives. They watch a snippet of us on TV. You have to understand we film hours and hours and hours of TV and you see, you know, you're seeing six, five to six different

couples and you're only seeing, you know, snippets of their lives and normally it's yelling and screaming or arguing or, you know, yeah that's basically all you're seeing. You're not seeing the good because why? Because well the good is not, the boring stuff is not that interesting, right? People wanna see the chaos. Unfortunately, that is what's shown a lot of the times. But there is a lot of good times. And people will come at me and say certain things

like, you don't know, you don't know my life day to day. You don't see what we film. You just see what they put on TV. And that's just the way TV is, it's for every TV show is like that, it doesn't matter what TV show, scripted or not, that's what goes on TV. So that's how people judge you.

Is it annoying? Yes, it's annoying. Do I dive into the comment section once in a while? Yeah, I do. I'll laugh at it, because again, these are people people just a lot of people are jealous. They're insecure They're dealing with their own demons and they'll project how they feel on to us. So that's kind of how I deal with that Many people online think you're a narcissist. Do you agree? I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest with this. Yes, I do agree. Um, I've literally had just learned

Probably five new terms that I've never learned before that I do And i'm probably gonna get in trouble for saying this But I do I do all of them and i've done them all for years and I had no idea I I breadcrumb a bread crumbing or what is it called cookie crumb bread crumbing? I I am a narcissist, yes. I love bomb, that's another one. Gaslighting. I'm missing some, but I do all these things. And I had no idea there was terms for these things.

And I was like, Jesus, I look up the definition for all these new terms. I'm like, oh my God, I do that. oh my God, I do that, I do that too. I'm like, I don't even know how to talk anymore without being labeled as one of these things. So yes, I have to humble myself and say, do you think you're a narcissist? And I do, I do. I don't know how I became one. I do believe I'm a narcissist.

I am not a doctor, so I can't like say that for sure. But by just looking up the definition, I have to agree. I have to agree with people calling me a narcissist. I can't fight them on that because I do have pretty much everything that's labeled under a narcissist. And I've been this person for years and I had no idea. Again, these things, I was never held accountable for my actions for many, many, many years until recently, until people have had enough. People were tired of walking on eggshells around me.

People just said, enough's enough. This is what you're doing. This is how you're hurting. I know you don't see it because you never had any consequences, but this is the shit you've done and this is the damage that you've caused. These are the things that you're doing. Again, I know it's late in life to learn all these things about yourself, but I guess

it's better late than never. Yes, to answer your question, I do believe I'm a narcissist. Yes. When Reality Hits is brought to you by Quince. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high-quality items I adore,ifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items I adore, ensuring my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget.

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That's quince.com, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash JB to get free shipping and a 365 day return policy. That's quince.com slash JB. Have you ever considered moving out of LA away from the limelight? It would be a lot better for your mental health. Come to Canada. First of all, if I had a dollar for every time

someone said, come to Canada, I'd be a very rich man and I can retire. Second of all, I absolutely love Canada. I've been to, I think I've been to every, I forget what you guys call them, providences or I can't remember, territories or whatever, but I've been to pretty much every major city in Canada. I'm about to go back to Toronto

and my first time being in Winnipeg. I think after Winnipeg I've literally hit them all there's not one city in Canada main city that I haven't gone to I absolutely love the people in Canada I love the food especially in Montreal Montreal's got to be probably my favorite places for food I don't know if anybody knows this but Montreal has the best food I've ever eaten in my entire life. I just love the people. It's a different place there. I think people are just a lot happier than they are here in the States. I don't know there's just something about Canada that's just just the people are just so great. I would love just to pick up and

move there tomorrow but obviously I can't you know I have a son and I have a job Would I move away from LA? I would love to move away from LA, but unfortunately my job is here You know this is what I do. I do this for a living. It's a little late in life to start over So you know I I own a restaurant. I have a podcast. I'm on a television show I'm hoping to expand my restaurant. I'm hoping to expand the podcast You know If I had a dream if I could move anywhere tomorrow, it would probably probably be Florida just because I love Florida

But as of right now, I don't see myself leaving in LA I've said it every year for the last 15 years and I'm getting out of this place. I hate it I've said it every year for the last 15 years and I'm getting out of this place, I hate it. But this is where I live. And now my son is here and my ex-wife doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon and I'm not gonna leave my son. So unfortunately I'm gonna be stuck here for a while.

Ha ha ha. And a shout out to the Canadians out there. Luke A. Cole, 245. I will see you guys in Canada shortly. I'm coming to Toronto WinPed, I can't wait. Back to Canada. Okay, what things have you been doing to prioritize your mental health?

Well, I just kind of answered that lastly, and this is from Mel Renid. Prioritizing, I'm working out a lot. I'm very, very, a lot healthier than I used to be. I've cut back on my drinking significantly. I just, I'm the gym. The gym is my new drug right now. I love, this is gonna sound,

I don't know how this is gonna sound, but I just love getting up in the morning. I love looking at myself in the mirror right now, and I love the way I look. I really, really do. I feel like I look healthy. I sound healthy. I have structure in my life right now

You know, I I'm forced myself to you know, get up at 7.45 I forced myself to make my cup of coffee check my emails go to the gym Come home take a shower and then you know, I find out what my schedule is like with Cruz what my schedule is like Get jacks is the bar. Do I have to go in? What's my schedule like for filming my TV show? I keep saying my TV show, it's everybody's TV show. What's it like for doing my podcast and things like that? So I keep myself very, very busy because the problem is, is when I sit still, that's when my mind starts to go,

and that's when I start living in between my ears, and that's the problem. So that's what I do to prioritize. Craziest or funniest encounter with a fan? I mean, this is gonna sound a little graphic, but women have made me sign their chests before. I think the craziest encounter with a fan, and this is God's honest, this has actually happened twice.

A husband and a wife came up to me and said, would you be interested in coming back with us? We have a plane, we'll take you back to where we live. One of them was in Charlotte. And would you partake in a, I guess the best way to say this, relations with my wife while I watch? And this was the husband saying this. And this has happened to me twice. And I have to say that is probably the oddest thing that's ever happened to

me yeah that's yeah I oh I've also had someone asked me if if they could have my sperm to have make a child I don't know if I'm saying this right but they needed my stuff to make a child and they would't know if I'm saying this right, but they needed my stuff to make a child. And they would pay me and my girlfriend at the time to do this. That was a pretty odd one as well. So those are the two oddest things I've had. Okay, how, I'm sorry, favorite menu items at Jax's.

Well, we gotta say Mammoth's Beer Cheese. That is delicious. I love the black and white shrimp. I also love the chicken parm. My partners are from New York and Jersey, so we got great Italian food. The pizza is by far some of the best pizza I've ever had in my life.

I mean, the way it's served and it's thin crust, it's crispy and it's cheesy. The french fries with the spicy aioli sauce are absolutely amazing. And of course you can't go wrong with the burgers. And even the salads are great. The salads are great too, and believe it or not, we have great mussels and clams.

So a little bit of everything, but my favorite, I would have to say, top thing, besides the wings, are the black and white shrimp. Absolutely amazing. All right, how is Cruz doing? What's your favorite thing to do with him? Cruz is doing great. He's getting, you know, growing like a weed every single day.

The kid gets cuter and cuter by the minute. Every day, Brittany is sending me pictures of him and being like, look at him today. I mean, look at him now. And like, she's styling his hair different or he's got a new outfit and he's in school and he's laughing. And the kid is happiest kid. I've ever seen in my life He is just he's just a doll and he's so smart

he's so you know witty and he's cute and he's just He's just so lovable and he's just got so much love and he gets it all all from his mama He's just like his mom in that he gets it all from his mama. He's just like his mom in that. He's just a very lovable, cute, sweet little boy and thank God he didn't get any shit from me. And he looks just like his mom too, I think. Some people say he looks like me,

but I think he looks just like his mom. So I love taking him to the park. I love taking him to Sky Zone. He is an amazing swimmer I mean, I can't get over how well he swims as a three and a half year old He's diving down at the bottom and deep into the pool picking up things, you know, he's jumping in doing somersaults He's just he's just an amazing little boy And that's why I don't think I can have another child just because I like I just I love him so much that I don't think

I could give myself to anybody Else or give attention to anybody else Who's the first phone call of the day? Who do you speak to most on the phone every day? I don't know if I'm allowed to say this or not, but I would have to say I speak to My manager Ryan and probably my publicist Lori the most. And I think that goes with anybody who's in the business that I'm in.

Other than checking on crews, I think that everybody kind of checks in with their team. And my team, I have a great team, Ryan who everybody knows, Lori who everybody knows. And I feel like I take up a lot, a lot of their time. And I feel like they do amazing, amazing things for me. I don't deserve them. I, you know, they don't get paid enough.

They don't, I probably put them through so much stress. But yeah, those are the people that I talk to the most. And if they're listening to this, they will agree. As you navigate your mental health journey, what can your fans do to help you support you? Just be patient. I would just really like to be patient. This season is going to be rough.

It's probably, I have to say, in all the years of reality TV, this will be the toughest season of my life for multiple different reasons. My mental health, my marriage, my friendships. There's just so much that has gone on in my life the past eight months to a year. I'm going through a lot. I'm not saying anybody else is, but I personally am going through a lot. I'm not saying anybody else is it is, but I personally am going through a lot that I'm trying to manage. I'm trying to, you know,

deal with my mental health. I'm trying to deal with my divorce. I'm trying to deal with my son. I'm trying to deal with my businesses. I'm trying to deal with living in this crazy world, that fucked up world that we live in. I'm trying to deal with a lot of things like everybody else, but my life just so happens to be on TV. So I'm asking you please, I beg you please realize that I am doing well now. I am getting better, that it's a long, long road. But just please be patient because I know the beginning is going to be a little rough to watch and I appreciate everybody

I really really do I appreciate all the comments You guys so many people have reached out to me that are dealing with what I'm dealing with and that's kind of why I want To do another podcast that talks about mental health, you know A little bit extra on men's mental health because I feel like men's mental health is not talked about enough And I feel like it makes me feel good. I get something out of this too. It makes me feel good talking about it. So again, to get back to this question, I appreciate all your guys' patience. I thank you for all the messages.

That being said, I think we're going to wrap it up for this week. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. I really, really love doing these questions. I feel like I answer a lot of questions that people have. I really, really appreciate it. It makes me feel good. It's kind of a form of therapy to me. So we'll wrap it up here. Everyone have a great great rest of the week. Thank you all for listening to When Reality Hits with Jackson Brittney and we'll see you next week.