Jax Taylor Reveals Who Didn't Deserve to Be on 'House of Villains'
Jax Taylor Exit Interview
After three episodes of E! Network's new reality TV phenomenon, House of Villains has finally sent its first villain packing (via jet-propulsion/upside-down chair, no less). After a few tumultuous days in the mansion, which included driving cars blindfolded, sleeping on a couch and being called a demon, Vanderpump Rules' Jax Taylor was voted out in a 7-0 unanimous vote. While many of the show's other contestants came from strategic competition shows like Survivor and Big Brother, Jax hailed from behind the bar at Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant SUR. From the jump, Jax seemed out of his depth and quickly became a consensus target for the house due to his physical strength and lack of strategic acumen.
Following his elimination, Parade got on a call with Jax to discuss his rocky stint on House of Villains, why cast member Tiffany "New York" Pollard brought him to tears and which cast member he thinks wasn't iconic enough to be called a villain. Here's what Jax had to say:
Related: A Breakdown of the 'House of Villains' Cast's Most Villainous Moments
E! Network
So my first question, which I feel like is the most important question, what was that chair flip like at the end?
It was pretty aggressive. I mean, the hydraulics on that thing were intense.
Right before that, New York had some choice words for you that sort of came out of nowhere [editor's note: she called him a "demon"]. What was your relationship with her like on the show?
I thought we had a great relationship. When we first got on the house, we had a really nice conversation, kind of just about our past and stuff, so she threw me for a loop, and I definitely teared up as you saw. That's a real tear, like I never in my life have gotten emotional over something like that, especially over somebody that I just met five minutes ago. I mean, I've never had anybody call me that in my life. I took it to heart, you know, I really, really did.
But I also didn't do my research on some of these people. So later, I looked them up, and that's her shtick. That's her character. I feel like this was a very scripted moment for her. She was very scripted on the show because she would come down, she would make her presence known and then go back up to her bedroom. It wasn't just me. From what I've been told, she did it to everybody. At some point or another, she comes off and says, you're this or that. I think that's just her thing. And that's what people expect of her.
I really didn't do my homework on the show like I was supposed to. I should have researched Survivor. I should have researched Big Brother, Road Rules, The Challenge, just to see how these kind of games work because I've never been a part of a competition show like this before. To be honest, I'm such an alpha male I don't really prepare. I just go in and bully my way through things and that usually works for me, but that didn't work this time.
So you didn't have a strategy going in?
No, the strategy I had was absolutely no strategy, but also in my defense, I was a little bit behind the eight ball. I was the one of the last ones in the house. Everybody's already formed alliances. Everyone's already picked their bedrooms. I was forced to be in a bedroom with two girls. I felt like I was already going to be voted off.
I asked everybody who at the premiere party. I was in my head about it a little bit. I'm like, "Did I offend anybody in any way?" And they said, "No, you didn't. You're just a very alpha male. You're intimidating. You're aggressive, and you're athletic, and you want to win." Those people are, unfortunately, the ones that get voted off first.
Have you had communication with many of your other villains after the show?
Yeah, right now I'm on a tour, a House of Villains viewing party tour with Jonny Fairplay. We did our first city last weekend in Boston. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to Clearwater, Florida. Every week until December, we're doing a viewing party in a different city.
Also, Johnny Bananas lives in Orange County. So I started hanging out with him a little bit more. Him and I probably hit it off the best on the show. We're pretty much the same guy, you know, big guys that like to work out, full of tattoos, like to talk about cars, like to talk about women, drink beer, talk about sports. I mean, we're the same freaking person. We really, really are. So I got along with him the best.
E! Network
My favorite person on the show was Bobby [Lytes]. I was like a fan girl with Bobby. I just think he's the best. I think he's just iconic TV. I was sad to go because I was going to miss him. Like I learned a lot from him.
Do you think you'd go on another competition show or a second season of House of Villains?
Yeah, yeah, I would definitely definitely do it. I would play the game completely different. I would do my homework. I would study. I would know who each one of these people are. Like I said, I went in very, very naive. To be honest, I just felt like it was a very intimidating house. Everybody, especially the women, are just iconic on that show, and they can kill you with words. And I was just scared. The last thing I wanted to do was get in a confrontation with New York, Omarosa or Tanisha. Like they are petrifying, petrifying.
How was being on set with all of them? Because just from watching the episode, it seems like they're not really doing what production wants them to.
It's a lot of different personalities. You're dealing with iconic, very alpha alpha people. Everybody that was there was the alpha person on their show, so now you're putting all these alpha people under one house with no technology, with no doors on anything. It's just chaos.
There were times obviously where I was annoyed. I felt bad for my sleeping arrangements, that was awful. I felt bad for the girls. I felt bad for myself. I took myself out of the situation though. I did not sleep in the room with the girls. I'm a married man. I decided to put myself on the couch and take away the snoring because I know what my wife has to deal with. But even then I couldn't even get in the shower. Those girls lived in the bathroom.
Are there any funny stories or moments that didn't make the episode?
The biggest part that kind of annoyed me was that I had a kind of a vulnerable moment, a heart-to-heart situation, where we woke up one morning and I was having a cup of coffee and Shake [Chatterjee] came up to me. He was kind of just picking my brain a little bit, because he's the newest person on reality TV. To be honest, I don't think he deserved to be on that show. I feel like there's a lot more legends that could have been on that show. Shake reminded me of one of those people who won a prize to hang out with a celebrity. He's one of those. He was not iconic enough to be in that house.
So we were sitting down, we were having breakfast. And he's like, "How did you get to where you are? How did you build this or build that?" Because he was Googling people and finding out their net worths. And so he knew all about me before we sat down. So he's like, "I saw your house. You live in this, and your house is worth this much money, and you have this, and I see your Instagram, you have all these."
Related: Shake Chatterjee Describes What It Was Like When Omarosa Arrived to 'House of Villains
And I go, "You have to understand, I've been in this world for a very long time. And it's kind of like the Michael Jordan rule, right? Michael Jordan made no money with the Chicago Bulls. He made his money with Nike, with Gatorade, with McDonald's, all these brands. A TV show gives you a platform. You got to use the platform to build your brand. If you want to do this as a career, then this is what you have to do."
So I just thought I was doing the right thing. Then he went back up in the room as you saw. He's like, "Jax is bragging." I'm not bragging about anything. I'm just telling you how I got to from point A to point B. And this is how you do it. So again, I was not playing the game. I wasn't villainous enough. I thought I was being a nice guy, and it bit me in the a--.
Well I think that's all the time I have with you, but thank you so much.
No problem, and I know you saw me voted off today but that's not the last you've seen of me on House of Villains.
House of Villains airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on E!. Viewers can also catch up on the E! app.
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