Janet Caperna knows what you’re thinking. It’s a good story, after all. Recently, the star of Bravo’s The Valley has been reading fan commentary about how, exactly, a sign-language interpreter from Ohio ended up friends with the entire cast of Vanderpump Rules, and she has to admit the theories are pretty entertaining.
“I think people really want this villain origin story or something,” Caperna, 35, tells me. “Where it’s like, she sought out this life of fame, and she came from nowhere Ohio to the big city to sneak into this whole thing. Honestly, someone should write that. It’s a movie I would watch.”
By “this whole thing,” Caperna is referring to the Bravo universe, which she joined as a castmate on The Valley eight years after befriending Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay at a Los Angeles pool party. The quasi-spinoff to the wildly popular reality show follows several former cast members of VPR—Brittany Cartwright, Jax Taylor, Kristen Doute—as they move into the next phase of their lives as parents, along with their gang of parent friends.
Caperna and her husband Jason are two of the new faces on the show, though both had appeared in VPR background scenes. But it’s only Caperna, who readily admits she’s been branded a “villain” by some viewers, who has faced scrutiny for essentially, in reality TV parlance, “not being here for the right reasons.” In her opinion, the explosive fights that have earned her this so-called “villain” label are actually proof that her relationships with Doute, Cartwright, and the others are genuine, not the opposite.
“I think in our group, because everybody’s been real friends for so long, it is complicated and there’s a lot of constantly evolving and changing relationships,” she says. “Kristen and I were very close for a long time, and we had a lot of love there. When you have a lot of love, you can also have a lot of hate. I see myself sometimes on the show, and I’m like, oh, I didn’t see myself doing or saying that. But you live and learn through it. The parts of me that I think are ‘villainous’ on the show, I do see how that came across. It was not a good move, and I try to learn and be better for it.”
Caperna is also unapologetic about the fact that she watched and enjoyed Vanderpump Rules and other Bravo shows before starring in one herself, a fact that leads Doute to call her a “fan” as an insult in an upcoming episode. The label makes Caperna laugh.
“What’s funny is, she’s like, you’re a fan. I’m like, you realize that it’s because of fans you get to do this fun job?” she says. “What’s weirder to me, I guess, is when I have people in my comments saying, you’re just a fan. I’m like, what are you? Obviously, if you watch the show and you’re in my comments, you’re also just as much of a fan as I was.”
Caperna chatted with Glamour more about that “fan” label, what it was like to step into the Bravo spotlight, and what she has learned so far.
Glamour: Season two has been pretty explosive so far. What was your goal coming into filming?
Janet Caperna: I wanted to have more fun. Season one was the first time I had cameras in my life. I was super pregnant. I think when we started filming, I was six months pregnant, so it was so much new all at once. I watch it back, and that’s not what I would’ve normally done if I wasn’t sober, pregnant, and uncomfortable. So season two, I really wanted to feel like myself and be able to have a couple drinks and have fun with my friends. In season one, I always felt like I was on the defense and very protective of my space.
Of course, though, there’s always drama. In Tuesday night’s episode, we see the fallout from the argument in Santa Barbara over Danny’s drinking. Why was everyone so angry with him and Nia that night?
There was just a lot that we were seeing. It wasn’t just that Danny fell asleep in Santa Barbara. As soon as Danny has one or two drinks, Nia says, we have to go the babysitter’s calling, and they’re out of there. We all have commitments, jobs, things going on in our lives. So when we agree to all show up and do the show together, if people are constantly leaving early and bailing, we wouldn’t have much going on. We all agreed that we would share everything as it comes.
At the dinner to hash things out, you discuss your past with an ex who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Why did you bring that up to Nia and were you surprised by her negative reaction?
I really was trying to help. I dated somebody who struggled with drugs and alcohol, and I started seeing little signs of things that I used to do in that relationship, like hiding when he was drinking in the pantry… It reminds me of the situation I was in. That night when everything kind of blew up, obviously, everybody had been drinking. Brittany and Jasmine are yelling and getting really upset. A lot of it was directed at Nia because Danny’s asleep. I had a moment where I thought, she doesn’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve to take all the heat right now for his actions. Their feelings are valid, but it’s misplaced on Nia… I’ve been there, and I felt for Nia. I didn’t want us all to be just attacking her and saying, “You’re hiding it.” If she’s hiding it, it’s probably because she’s going through something and maybe we need to approach it in a way where—if she’s going through something with his drinking, and she’s having issues with it—she has friends that will support her.
Also, she was saying, “Please say all this stuff to my face.” She got up from the table, and that’s when most of the conversations happened. So in tonight’s episode, she sits down at the table and is like, “I want you guys to tell me to my face if there’s any issues…” Well, when I did, I got my head bitten off. So, it’s hard to feel safe being like, “Hey, Nia, I want to tell you directly this is what I’m seeing. This is what I’m noticing, if you need anything.” When the last time I did that, I got snapped at and was told not to compare my life to hers and things like that. It’s a difficult place, where you’re seeing somebody struggle to offer help, but they’re not in a place where they want to take it.
You also are on the outs with Kristen. How are you guys now?
Kristen’s tough. This summer, I really wanted to come to a place of at least peace with her, and there is a lot of love there. I am so happy to see her pregnant now, and Luke is great for her. Our friendship had been struggling about a year before cameras were up and in our lives. We’d been at each other’s throats about little things back and forth.
Then you guys got in a blowup over the whole “Michelle is a racist Republican” thing in season one.
That really was the thing that we couldn’t get back from. Every time we would talk about it, it would be like, you did this and you did this. Then, so much time had passed where we weren’t great that it became, where do we go from here? This past summer, I really wanted to at least be able to have fun together. That’s something that we’ve always been able to do. I would love it if we could get back to that. I put some effort in, and I don’t know how great it went, but right now, when I think of her, I only spread positive thoughts and energy her way. She’s super, super pregnant and due very soon. So I try to hold back any negative thoughts.
The internet is very interested in your backstory and how you ended up friends with Scheana Shay and the Vanderpump Rules crew. So, how did it happen?
I have an aunt and uncle who live in Los Angeles, and I used to come out and visit. I always loved LA. In Ohio, I got married when I was 22, and by 27 I realized, oh, I was way too young to be making that decision, and we were separating. I married someone who was from my hometown. Our lives were very on top of each other’s, and it was hard to kind of separate and still be in our small hometown together. I wanted space, and LA seemed like a safe space for me to leave and start over, where I have family and a home base and people to eat Thanksgiving with. I decided to get divorced, moved to LA, and I met Scheana my first weekend right after I signed a lease. I met her at a pool party the next day.
Did you know who she was?
Yes, I had watched Bravo for years; it was my mom and I’s thing. We watched Housewives and then Housewives led us into Vanderpump. So I was like, oh my gosh, that’s Scheana from Bravo. I went up to her and introduced myself as a fan. I was like, I love you on the show. It was right after she was getting divorced, and you don’t meet very many people when you’re in your twenties who are going through that. I started talking to her about life and we had a lot of other things in common. We ended up talking for a majority of the day, and I left and was like, oh, that’s so funny. What a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I met Scheana and we had this great talk.
A couple days later, she was texting me. I didn’t even realize we exchanged phone numbers, but she texted me. It was the week of my birthday, and Scheana was like, what are you doing for your birthday? I said, “Nothing. I have two friends here and will probably get dinner with my aunt and uncle.” She was like, be ready at 9:00 AM. She took me to Disneyland for the entire day for my birthday. She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes, and I thought that was the kindest thing.
What a crazy way to start your life in LA!
It’s an unconventional way to make friends, but that’s the truth. There are many people in this circle who will say, I didn’t watch the show. I didn’t know who they were. I don’t think it’s embarrassing to say, “I loved you on a show.” Maybe most people don’t make friends that way, but that’s our friendship story. If I hadn’t met Scheana and gone up to her and talked to her…that’s how I met Jason. We have a baby now. So I credit that as being the butterfly effect of how I made so many of my friends in LA through Scheana, how I met my husband, and then now being a part of a show. I always say, one day I’ll write a memoir that’s like, I owe my life to Scheana Shay.
Why do you think so many people are fascinated by your past and how you ended up here?
I think it’s strange, it’s not typical that people start friendships when they’re on a show and someone’s a fan of the show. That doesn’t happen. I don’t like to see a hierarchy of, oh, I’m on a show, so you’re a fan, so you’re a peasant and we’re better than you. That’s nuts. I’ve made friends with plenty of fans who were like, “I love The Valley.” I think that people have run with it and made it into, she must have used Scheana to get into the group to get on reality TV. And I see that, and that hurts my feelings because it makes me seem malicious and that I have bad intentions. When really, Scheana showed me from the second I moved here that she was just a really good person and a friend to me, and that’s what I was looking for when I moved here—a community of people.
Did you want to be on reality TV? If not, what made you join The Valley?
I didn’t necessarily want to be on reality tv. I thought it was so cool being friends with Scheana; I got to kind of watch it all, and I thought that was really cool. It was fun to be at the parties when they were filming and see how it was all done, but I never necessarily was seeking it out. It’s not something I ever applied for or auditioned for. I was a sign language interpreter in Ohio.
Once you got to Los Angeles, you worked as a personal assistant. Where were you at in your career when The Valley came calling?
I had started a job that was not a good match, so I put in notice for that. Shortly after that, I found out I was pregnant; right around that time was also when Brittany was like, “The show’s getting greenlit. We want you guys to be a part of it. Will you interview and meet with producers?” I remember Jason said, “I can’t be a lawyer and on reality TV.” And I was like, I don’t know if I could do what I’ve seen everybody else do. It’s a lot.
But it was also like, Okay, do I try to get an assistant job again before I’m showing? Or do we take a chance and do this new, crazy thing that’s being offered to us? And we said, all right, we’ll do it for a year and see what happens. Then somehow, season two rolled around and we kept going with it. It was never something I thought I would be doing. It happened to work out that way. But I’m so grateful now I get to be home with my baby all the time. If I was assisting still, I’d be gone 50 hours a week and someone else’s schedule would be my priority. Getting to do the show has allowed me to be home with our baby all the time.
When you started filming, you were six months pregnant. What was that like?
It was crazy. I couldn’t know what to expect. I had an idea from watching everybody else, but I was like, okay, I’m going into a show with people I care about and my very closest friends. I’ll be in a protected bubble. I won’t have to worry. Then, I think a week into filming, I was like, oh, this is not what I was expecting. Everything kind of blew up. Everybody’s arguing.
It was crazy, stressful, but it was also very fun. Now getting to watch back season one, and then seeing our son on season two, it’s a crazy home video situation where we have this time of our lives documented. It was definitely stressful at times filming pregnant, and I hope I showed grace to Nia and Kristen filming the reunion pregnant. It is a lot. We survived, and we got a healthy, happy baby out of it, so it worked.
What should we look forward to from you for the rest of the season?
I’m hoping that by the end of the reunion, there’ll be some resolution with people. I think that it was good for some friendships and relationships. I think I left on a better note, and I’m excited to see that. And then some, it’s like, maybe we just put a pin in this for a little while and we’ll see what happens there.
Learning how to be on reality TV, it’s tough!
It’s tough, but it’s also fun. It’s a really awesome opportunity that we get to work with our friends—and our enemies.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The post Janet Caperna of The Valley Doesn’t Care if You Call Her a Fan—or the Villain appeared first on Glamour.
