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Nia Booko and her husband, Danny Booko, weighed in on their drama with Janet and Jason Caperna during an interview last week.
As Nia, 36, noted that Janet was the common denominator in her ongoing issues with members of The Valley cast, addressed the claims about “Darkside Danny,” and explained how the show changed after Jax Taylor‘s exit, Danny, 42, suggested that Janet added nothing to the show, accused Lala Kent, 35, of taking on Jax’s role, and confirmed the last time he spoke to Jax, 46.
“I will say there was space for stepping forward [with Janet and Jason], don’t know what into, but forward, [but] I don’t think any positive movements were happening during season three. I don’t think I ever was gonna be friends with them again, but I wanted to be in a better place,” Nia explained during a March 31 interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Meanwhile, Danny said that going into filming, the ball was in the Capernas’ court.
“They just kept perpetuating and bringing up things that they had no part of, and that nobody else was talking about. It had been squashed, and so we felt like apologies needed to be said about certain things, and you’ll see kind of how it plays out,” he teased.
Then, when it was noted that Janet was having issues with many co-stars, Nia asked, “What’s the common denominator?” She and Danny then wondered if Janet had a place in their friend group.
“That’s a hard question. I think she makes sense within a piece of the friend group, not as a whole, for me at least,” Nia shared.
“For me, no,” Danny replied. “I don’t feel like she adds anything and should be in this friend group, but there are a couple of people who are friends with her. I don’t know. I can’t ever get a read on her. I feel like each season she’s a different person and flip flops all over the place, and this season, she may have had Lala in her ear a little bit and vice versa, which sucks because Lala was someone I was hoping to get to know and create a friendship, but she had only her one side of everything and that was from Janet.”
When asked about the surprises that were to come on season three, Danny suggested he was surprised that Janet didn’t change after season two, saying, “You’d think Janet would’ve made some changes because I think the surprise is that she…”
“Maybe ends up being who she is,” Nia answered.
Nia then said that “Darkside Danny” was not real “in any way, shape, or form of what people were referencing” amid season two.
“It’s already been said, it was a planned, intentional thing from [Jax]. He had made phone calls and said, ‘This is the plan of attack,’ so it’s unfortunate,“ she explained, as Danny noted that “the stories kept changing over and over.”
As for Lala, Danny compared her to Jax.
“They took Jax off, and they added Lala. She, uh, I think she knows her assignment, and she came in ready to stir that pot and kind of take that role, as well as the rest of the crew that were kind of part of that whole shooting squad,” she explained. “Bringing Lala and [Tom Schwartz] into the mix shifts the dynamic. Lala brings a lot of surprises, I would say.”
While Danny had a friendship with Jax previously, he confirmed that they no longer speak.
“I don’t know when the last time I talked to him was,” he shared. “It was probably after the reunion. I appreciated his apology and him admitting to doing this and trying to create this narrative and attack, but beyond that, there hasn’t been much of a conversation.”
According to Nia, the show “feels so much lighter” without Jax.
“Of course, there’s drama. Everyone’s sharing their life. [Kristen Doute] and [Luke Broderick] are navigating first-time parenthood, us navigating four under four, there’s a lot of things that people will relate to and understand, and there’s drama within those things, but it feels so much lighter without him,” she revealed.
Also, during the interview, Danny admitted to being hesitant to return.
“I think after, especially after season two, that was a tough time in our life and our marriage, and having to have those conversations was important to have of, is it worth it, and how we’re gonna handle ourselves going into season three with the amount of attacks that were constantly coming after us,” he explained.
Then, speaking of their decision to sign back on, Danny signaled viewers.
“Just the feedback that they would give. ‘Thank you so much for being so vulnerable, thank you so much for sharing how you guys share, thank you so much for being relatable, and we love you guys, and please don’t leave the show.’ A lot of that,” he shared. “It was more of seeing the platform that we had given and the positivity that it could impact so many people.”
The Valley season three airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.