The Valley’s Jesse Lally and Michelle Lally Reach Temporary Custody Deal in Divorce

The Valley stars Jesse Lally and Michelle Lally reached a temporary custody deal for their 3-year-old daughter amid their ongoing divorce proceedings, In Touch can exclusively report.

Jesse, 43, responded to the petition brought up by Michelle, 36, on March 1, where she proposed they share legal and physical custody of their daughter, Isabella, according to court documents obtained by In Touch.

Jesse and Michelle agreed to a regular parenting schedule, which included detailed custody arrangements for the holidays. “The parties agree to continue to follow the ‘2-day on, 2-day off’ custodial schedule that is in effect as of singing this stipulation,” the legal documents detailed. “This custodial schedule will be modified as follows as per agreement by the parties.” The temporary custody deal was to be in effect until the order was “modified by agreement of the parties or further order from the court.”

In Touch confirmed Michelle filed for divorce from Jesse and listed their date of separation as October 16, 2023 — just days after they celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. Michelle cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for ending the five-year marriage, which began on October 12, 2018.

In his response, Jesse confirmed the same separation date as Michelle and agreed that the marriage was over with no hope for a reconciliation. In addition, the dad of one said spousal support would be “determined by written agreement of the parties,” as “separate property assets and debts to be determined in mediation and confirmed to the parties per written agreement.”

Michelle and Jesse’s split wasn’t officially confirmed until March, several months later. Us Weekly confirmed the news just days before their breakup aired in an episode of The Valley that same month. A month after the episode aired, Michelle revealed that her split from Jesse happened shortly after filming season 1 of the Bravo show, but reality TV cameras seemingly made it difficult to take action.

“We filmed [The Valley] last summer and we finished filming in September [2023],” she explained to costar Brittany Cartwright during the April 25 episode of her “When Reality Hits” podcast. “I had the conversation with Jesse at the beginning of October that it was no longer going to work and I wanted to file for divorce.”

She continued, “Jesse and I have actually not been together since October and since then we were free to date and do whatever we want.”

During the Vanderpump Rules spinoff, Michelle told Brittany, 35, that she was ready to file for divorce immediately after their split. “I am more permanent. I have filed for divorce, and it is happening. We are in the middle of it and hopefully, before the end of the year it will be finalized,” she said, noting that legal proceedings can take a “minimum of six months” after the initial divorce filing. “We as of right now don’t have to go to court because we are basically in agreement with almost everything. Hopefully, we don’t need to and we will be done. My goal is to be done and move on with my life.”