I’m going to point out an obvious but unpleasant truth: Kristen Doute isn’t the easiest friend to get along with. The Vanderpump Rules alum has had a lot of televised friendship breakups. From Lisa Vanderpump to the Witches of Weho, the Valley star knows how to burn a bridge better than she ever did table etiquette. However, counter-truth, it’s not always 100% Kristen’s fault. Which is why half of her imploded friendships end up regenerating like a Phoenix from the ashes after the initial shock and horror passes — Kristen Doute is a special brand of chaos you just can’t quit. Kristen’s current bestie breakdown with pal and costar Michelle Lally seems to be one of the rare cases where I’m forced to ask myself… am I actually on Kristen’s side? Yes, indeed I am, and let me explain why as we unpack Michelle and Kristen’s friendship timeline.
Kristen and Michelle have been friends since Brittany’s wedding
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Call me Sherlock Holmes, but I’m pretty sure (based on some light social media stalking) that Kristen and Michelle likely met at Brittany and Jax’s Kentucky Castle wedding back in 2019. This would make sense since Michelle and Jesse got married in 2018, and likely brought his wife into the fold of drama queens around that time. That makes their “close friendship” five years old now, which explains the level of emotion involved in their recent fiery fallout.
Kristen started a rumor with a capital “R”… or did she?
The trouble began in the second episode of the season (say what you want about Doute but that girl clocks in for work) when Kristen repeated a rumor that she heard from Zach about Michelle. The dreaded accusation was that Michelle was a Republican (yes, they exist in Los Angeles, too). To make matters worse, Kristen elaborated that Janet had secretly warned Jasmine that Michelle was probably racist and/or homophobic because of it. Michelle soon became livid about Kristen repeating these labels in association with her name (though she’s remained strangely unphased that one of her good friends had a conversation that implied that sentiment in the first place) and Kirsten responded with loaded statements that she’d always keep Michelle’s secrets safe to “protect her.” As the tension between the Lallys and the Doutes (Luke Doute has a nice ring to it, no?) has steadily risen week after week, fans have noticed that all of Michelle’s ire, about the “rumor” and her fractured relationship with Jesse, seems to have unfairly been projected onto Kristen alone.
Kristen drops the B word Bomb
On this week’s episode of The Valley, the conflict came to a head at another aggressive dinner party where Jesse banged his fists on the table. Kristen got caught complaining in the hallway about Michelle’s dishonesty, which sent Jesse into a primal rage that producers had to physically hold him back from acting on. After Michelle interjected on her husband’s behalf and loudly advised Kristen to “stop protecting her” Kristen decided to do just that (about three minutes of screen time after saying she’d never do such a thing to Michelle’s family). What was Michelle’s big secret that Kristen and Luke have been dangling over our heads? That for the past year Michelle has had a consistent boyfriend on the side behind Jesse’s back.
Are Michelle and Kristen still friends?
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There are still a few episodes to go but it looks like things do not get better from here for the former friends, as Michelle recently confirmed on an Instagram Story that she and Kristen were dunzo. Maybe the reunion will bring them back together, especially now that Michelle and Jesse are getting divorced, anyway? If anyone can revive a dead relationship, it’s Kristen Doute.
