Lindsay Hubbard, one of the stars of Bravo’s Summer House, was doing an on-camera interview for a different reality show when shocking news broke that two of her Summer House castmates had gotten together.
At the end of March, Amanda Batula, who was still married to Kyle Cooke, and West Wilson, who had previously dated Batula’s close friend Ciara Miller, released a statement about their budding relationship.
Carl Radke, fellow Summer House star, told Deadline that he saw the pair’s statement when he landed in Los Angeles and realized that Hubbard was in the middle of shooting confessionals for Summer House spinoff In the City.
This required a quick pivot from producers, as they revealed during a conversation featuring Hubbard, fellow castmate Carl Radke, executive producer Jamie Jakimo and showrunner Trish Gold for Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio.
Watch the conversation below and scroll down for more photos from the event.
Jakimo, executive producer and SVP Programming at Summer House producer Truly Original, said, “When some news was put on the internet, we happened to have Lindsay in the studio with us. This is real. We follow what’s real, so we knew we had to camera up. We were on a green screen for a different show. This is happening now. Get the cameras. When something is newsworthy, noteworthy and affecting these cast members, we’re going to capture it.”
The only problem was that the show was already in post and the reunion was coming up.
“As producers, we’re learning things in real time, much like cast members,” Jakimo added. “We’ve become very nimble over the years where when we see things happening, when we get a call from somebody like Lindsay.”
The scandal dominated the internet and continues to do so, and helped Summer House land its first-ever Emmy nomination after 10 seasons. The show is competing against the likes of Love on the Spectrum, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked and Welcome to Wrexham in the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program category.
Hubbard told Deadline that she was “overwhelmed with excitement” about the nomination and joked that it was “overdue.” “Being recognized after 10 seasons is incredible,” Radke added. “We really are real friends, which of course provides a lot of ups and downs.”
While the scandal involving Batula, Wilson and Miller may have got the headlines for Season 10, there were other storylines, including Hubbard and Radke becoming friends again after previously being together.
“I was just excited and glad that [Lindsay] and I could continue to kind of grow the friendship, get some closure from the past, kind of try to move on with respect and try to build a new chapter of a friendship. You saw pieces of that like the conversation her and I had at the Labor Day party,” Radke said. “Watching it back was really meaningful and touching. She’s been just cool with me.”
L-R: Lindsay Hubbard, Jamie Jakimo, Trish Gold and Carl Radke
“We really tell these people’s stories,” added Gold. “It’s less about trying to make sure we get every little bit, but really rounding out everybody’s stories and being able to tell a complete story. How do we help move through this when relationships are fractured? One of the things that’s so pivotal is when Summer House is repairing relationships, because they are friends, and I think that’s unique to our show versus some of the other shows that are out there.”
The cast is currently filming Season 11 in a new house as well as a crossover with Below Deck Mediterranean. Wilson and Batula are no longer on the show, but Hubbard, Radke, Cooke, Miller, Jesse Solomon, Bailey Taylor, KJ Dillard and Mia Calabrese are.
“It feels good to be back. We’re like the little show that could. I feel like we have finally hit our stride. But now, it’s a new chapter,” said Radke. “It’s normal and natural for it to evolve with maybe some new faces or some people graduate or do whatever. It’s a totally new summer, but we have a new house.”
Hubbard said that the whole situation “took a lot out of us.” She said, “We spent a lot of time on it, emotionally, mentally, physically. We were all ready to put it behind us and just celebrate a fresh start and a new house with a fun summer.”
They’re all single now, as well, Hubbard stressed. “That makes for a fun summer.”
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