In an effort to avoid getting divorced, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are doing everything within their power, including dating other people.

Taylor, 44, opened out about his recent outing with model Paige Woolen and provided a startling update on his marriage to Cartwright, 35, on Friday, May 31, during their podcast, “When Reality Hits.”

“I am not — I repeat not — dating anybody. I was seen out with someone and it was strictly lunch. Obviously, Brittany and I are separated and have been for a long time,” he noted. “What we are going through right now is tough. Marriage is not easy.”

Taylor said he and Cartwright have been discussing next steps amid their separation. “We are trying to figure out a lot of different things: therapy, separation and maybe, possibly, dating other people,” he revealed. “We are trying to exhaust everything before we have to go down the divorce road — if that would be the case.”

“We are both on the same page about dating other people. That is OK,” he continued. “We are both in agreement that this is OK. The most important thing, though, is our son.”

He added, “Part of taking some time apart means exploring other people. All marriages are different but this is what is good for our marriage. This is something we talked about and we are on the same page. We have a couple of rules with it but this is what we are exploring.”

Taylor didn’t want listeners to think the exploration was one-sid

“That is not to say Brittany isn’t doing what she’s doing. I know it’s not out there what she is doing but she’s doing her own thing, too, he said.

Despite all that justification, Taylor maintains that he’s not dating Woolen. “I am not dating anybody — nor do I plan on dating anybody,” he concluded. “I don’t know if I am ready to start the dating thing again. I don’t think I am. We are just hanging out right now with whoever. I know Brittany is probably doing her own thing too. We are in argument about it.”

Scheana Shay saw things in a different light. She questioned Woolen’s attendance at the birthday celebration of former Vanderpump Rules costar Jeremy Madix during Friday’s episode of her podcast, “Scheananigans.” Video from the occasion showed Woolen standing close to Taylor and jokingly declaring that she’s “pregnant.”

“This sense of humor that you think you have is not going to fly with this friend group. There’s nothing funny about what you said. By her saying that, it opened the door for so many people to scrutinize Jax and Brittany’s parenting and to talk about Cruz,” Shay, 39, said about Cartwright and Taylor’s 3-year-old son. “I know Brittany was really upset this weekend because of that.”

Cartwright, for her part, has remained tight-lipped about the situation. Rather than stating outright how she feels, Cartwright has taken an oblique route to sharing her current mental state. She shared a video of a fan looking horrified at Taylor’s behavior on a recent episode of The Valley to her Instagram Stories on Sunday, May 26.

“Thank you, & just imagine what I’ve been through behind closed doors,” Cartwright wrote.