Jesse Lally shared his thoughts with fellow Bravolebrity Teddi Mellencamp in a text message she shared publicly.

The Valley star reacts to ex Michelle Saniei’s romance with Dr. Dre: ‘Was wondering why’ daughter got new Beats

Jesse Lally shared his thoughts with fellow Bravolebrity Teddi Mellencamp in a text message she shared publicly.

By Kathleen Perricone

April 29, 2026 7:26 p.m. ET

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Jesse Lally; Dr. Dre; Michelle Saniei. Credit:

Rich Polk/Bravo; Taylor Hill/Getty; Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

- *The Valley* star Jesse Lally says he found out about ex-wife Michelle Saniei's romance with Dr. Dre on social media.

- Lally opened up to Teddi Mellencamp via text, seemingly joking he had a hunch when his daughter "got a new pair of Beats."

- Dr. Dre and Saniei were photographed holding hands in Malibu after a date at hotspot Nobu.

Jesse Lally needed to take a beat when he heard the news about his ex-wife Michelle Saniei’s relationship with Dr. Dre.

“I saw it on social media, the same way as everybody else,” *The Valley* reality star told TMZ on Wednesday, several days after Saniei was photographed holding hands with the music producer in Malibu. “The Dr. Dre thing… didn’t see that one coming.”

But he may have had a hunch.

Dr. Dre photographed holding hands with 'The Valley' reality star Michelle Saniei in Malibu

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Teddi Mellencamp revealed to Tamra Judge on *Two T’s in a Pod* that she had texted Lally, a fellow Bravolebrity, about the rumored romance. He responded, perhaps sarcastically, with an observation he recently made of his daughter with Saniei: “I was wondering why Isabella got a new pair of Beats [headphones].”

Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics with record executive Jimmy Iovine and launched their first brand of headphones in 2008. Six years later, they introduced Beats Music, a streaming service subsequently purchased by Apple for $3.4 billion in May 2014.

Dr. Dre with Beats headphones in 2011.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The rapper declared himself “the first billionaire in hip-hop” at the time, however his net worth was reportedly closer to $800 million. Twelve years later, in April 2026, Dr. Dre officially became the second billionaire in hip-hop, according to *Forbes*.

Lally didn’t elaborate on whether the 5-year-old is listening to Dr. Dre’s music. But coincidentally, the 45-year-old was a fan of Dre’s hip-hop group with Ice Cube and Eazy-E when he was Isabella’s age.

“NWA was the first cassette I ever bought in 1988, the year Michelle was born,” Lally told TMZ. As for his ex-wife and *The Valley* costar, “I don’t think she ever listened to rap music.”

Saniei and Lally on 'The Valley' in 2024, prior to their split.

Casey Durkin/Bravo via Getty

Lally, a former model who had his own celebrity romance with Anna Nicole Smith in the early 2000s, insists he’s “cool” with whatever makes Saniei happy. His only concern is for his young daughter, who struggled with Saniei’s breakup with boyfriend Aaron Nosler last year.

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“I hope she continues to be a good mom to Isabella, and has Isabella’s best interests at heart,” Lally told TMZ, “because I don’t think we can work with the same collateral damage that we dealt with, with Aaron and Michelle breaking up. I just hope she’s really focused on Isabella right now… other than that, she can do whatever she wants.”

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Source: “EW Celebrity”