It’s no secret that Jesse and Michelle Saniei Lally’s marriage was struggling on the first season of The Valley, but when Michelle finally made the decision to officially call it quits just days after cameras stopped rolling, Jesse was left stunned.
The Luxury real estate agent shared in the finale — which picked up again six months after filming had initially wrapped — that Michelle announced she was leaving him just three days after the cameras turned off, despite his best efforts to hang on to the marriage.
“It made me feel like a f-cking idiot. It made me feel like, uh, like I was blind and blindsided,” he admitted.
Why did Jesse and Michelle Saniei Lally divorce?
Jesse spent most of the first season trying to find ways to rekindle his romance, whether it was seeking the advice of a life coach or embarking on a trippy ayahuasca-induced spiritual retreat to minimize his ego.
“We are on two polar opposite sides of our relationship and the whole point was to spend the summer working to come to a middle ground and every time I take three steps forward, she takes six steps backwards and it feels like f-cking sh-t,” a frustrated Jesse told producers.
When cameras returned in March 2024 to film the finale’s second half, they captured the former couple in a much starker and heartbreaking spot.
Now living separately and making plans for a divorce, Michelle and Jesse talked custody of daughter Isabella Bunny and argued over the minute details of splitting up their real estate business.
“I just want to get divorced and the sooner the better,” Michelle told him.
For Michelle, the decision to leave came after months of feeling like she’d “lost a lot of those feelings” she once had for her husband.
“I finally hit that point where I knew I’m done and I want to move on and I want to get divorced and start my new life,” she said in her own confessional about the final breaking point. “There’s no question whether or not I made the right choice.”
But the decision hasn’t come without its trade-offs, especially for their young daughter.
“To be the one who makes the decision to get divorced is incredibly hard because one day I’m gonna have to tell my daughter that I left her dad,” Michelle confessed to producers while holding back tears. “At the end of the day, I’m doing what’s best for her, but I always thought that my child would be raised with two parents that are together and ultimately the dream was not reality.”
Here’s what you may have missed on Bravo:
Brittany Insists Divorce is Now On the Table for Her and Jax: “We Would Go Down That Path”
Scheana Condemns Jax’s ‘Monstrous’ Treatment of Brittany as The Valley Cast Defends Him
Michelle Lally Tearfully Admits There’s “Nothing” Jesse Could Do to Make Her “Attracted to Him”
Isabella was also at the forefront of Jesse’s mind as he still struggled with his new reality or “f-cking sh-tstorm kaleidoscope of divorce” as he called it.
“You know, it’s hard because I just keep thinking about Isabella and um, Isabella didn’t choose this. So, we have to remember that,” he said. “All we have left is to make sure that she lives the best way and the best life she can.”
Despite the challenges, during a girls night with Nia Booko, new mom Janet Caperna and Brittany Cartwright — who is going through her own split with husband Jax Taylor — Michelle shared that she was “relieved” and “happy” about her decision to end the marriage.
“Now, I’m looking back and I’m like what took me so long to do it?” she said.
To learn more about what tore the couple apart, watch Season 1 of The Valley Tuesday nights on Bravo or available to stream on Peacock.
