[This story contains spoilers from Summer House: The Aftermath, the 20th episode of season 10.]
Putting a cap on the dramatic ending to Summer House’s 10th season, Bravo aired a surprise bonus episode on Tuesday night, which shed a little bit (emphasis on little) more light into the dynamics of Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s now infamous relationship.
Lindsay Hubbard said it best at the tail end of the third reunion episode: “I didn’t learn anything… I just feel like there’s not a lot of clarity.”
The Aftermath revealed a few more details to the scandal, but not many that would shock tapped-in viewers who have been dissecting every part of the controversy online since well before Batula and Wilson themselves confirmed their relationship on March 31.
Most of the shock factor for the bonus episode came from the lineup of sit-downs, including Batula and Hubbard; Wilson and Kyle Cooke; and Ciara Miller and Meija Moreno, the latter of which is Wilson’s ex who was kept away from Summer House cameras.
Batula and Hubbard’s segment was spent diving deeper into why Batula fell for Wilson. Most notably, there was little to no mention of Miller, whom Batula was close friends with and previously dated Wilson. The In The City stars instead dug into the origins of the scandal, specifically Batula’s lack of “self-love and self-worth” that erupted following her marriage to Cooke, which Hubbard argued has now carried over into her romance with Wilson.
What’s more is watching Batula say that she’s “now realizing” Wilson is sabotaging aspects of her life, all the while knowing that the two are still modernly together and traveled to Italy to attend a wedding after her segment with Hubbard was filmed on May 13.
Still, Batula and Hubbard’s sit-down was the meatiest from The Aftermath. Batula admitted that she may have confused her euphoric feelings of finding herself post-separation for romantic feelings for her former friend in Wilson, and she also clarified that he pursued her romantically.
“I didn’t go for him, he pursued me,” Batula said, to which Hubbard said, “He told Ciara that you were the one obsessed with him, and you were the one who has a crush on him, and nothing physical had happened at that point. And that was March 6.”
“That’s such fucking bullshit,” Batula added, as Hubbard told her co-star she felt Wilson “manipulated” her.
Hubbard also questioned her on why, if things hadn’t turned physical so early in their connection, she didn’t shut down the romance given her friendship and Wilson’s past ties to Miller.
“Because I was so selfish and so focused on my happiness and feeling good for the first time, it overwhelmed me, this feeling of just, like, someone caring about me,” Batula offered.
“But so many people care about you?” Hubbard said, though Batula clarified she appreciated the care from “a guy.” The original Summer House star encouraged Batula to work on herself instead of pursuing another relationship so soon after her separation from Cooke.
“You have to work on self-love and self-worth. You are getting your self-worth from Kyle, or lack thereof, and that ruined you,” Hubbard said. “And now, you’re doing it again with another guy, hoping that this guy is the reason you have self-love. And you have to learn how to do that on your own.”
Batula responded, “I think I was getting it confused.” Hubbard also called out Wilson’s lack of faithfulness to his ex Moreno (as she called out that Wilson is still “embarrassing” Batula despite their exclusivity), and told Batula that he was still speaking with Moreno on phone calls.
Hubbard clarified that Wilson and Moreno slept together in March, around the time his “connection” with Batula began, adding, “He cheated on you, and cheated on her, and somehow in this, you’re the other woman.”
“This guy is fucking you up,” Hubbard said. “Which I’m now realizing,” Batula admitted.
“Imagine fucking up so bad that we all forgot how bad of a husband Kyle was to you,” Hubbard also noted. “Like, you blew up your fucking life. You were winning. I hope that makes you angry.”
“I just feel really fucking stupid,” Batula concluded.
“To be honest, you should feel stupid. And the only way to save yourself in this moment is to separate yourself from the sinking ship that West Wilson is. Be the Rose on the Titanic, let go of the hand,” Hubbard said. “He’s got to go.”
Flash forward to Wilson and Cooke’s sit-down (which was filmed on May 20), where Wilson clarified that he was still not in love with Batula. He did express love for Cooke’s wife, however, noting that he “hope[s] and am looking forward to the way that I do care and will treat Amanda to at least lighten the fucking worry that you have or the thought that this is just a fucking joke and that I don’t care about anyone. That takes time, but I hope and do think that will help.”
A standout moment from their segment came at the top of filming when Cooke told Wilson he wanted their chat to be caught for cameras because they’ve lived the majority of their lives as such for viewers. Wilson clarified that he offered to have the conversation off-camera, hinting at that moment to his inevitable Summer House fate.
“I suggested off [camera], because I figured, and this won’t make it, because my [laughs] time on camera’s over and I didn’t want you to think I was trying,” Wilson said as he began to trail off into a different part of their chat. As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported, Wilson will not return for Summer House season 11.
Bravo did not return to THR’s request for comment to clarify if Wilson’s status with Summer House had been decided when his scene with Cooke was filmed on May 20.
Wilson also reiterated that his “beyond friendship” feelings for Batula began in February, despite what online sleuths may think.
“The timeline shit is very… I get that everyone wants to go back and watch the show and be like, ‘They were fucking hooking up then,’ we weren’t,” he said. “We had been close prior to it ever feeling [romantic].”
Finally, Miller and Moreno, two of Wilson’s exes, revealed more details about he and Moreno’s secret relationship. Miller herself apologized for locking lips with him during season 11, as she didn’t know they were in a private romance.
Moreno confirmed that she spent time at Wilson’s apartment while he was off filming in the Hamptons for Summer House season 11, revealing that she, at one point, liked the very private aspect of their romance.
Moreno also told Miller she hadn’t spoken with the former Summer House star for a few weeks (the segment was filmed on May 27) until after Wilson texted her “You win” after the cast filmed their three-part reunion.
Moreno also said they spoke on the phone for six hours after the reunion, and that their conversations have stayed mostly over phone calls “because of her,” referring to none other than Batula.
As filming gears up for Summer House season 11 in early July, only Wilson’s departure has been confirmed. What’s next for eager fans to find out will be whether Miller will return, and if Hubbard, Cooke and Batula each also appear on Summer House while juggling the show’s spinoff In The City. Bravo executive Josh Brown told THR last week that cast discussions are active, but the network is not viewing shifts as a reboot but more so as an evolution of the series.
“We do not feel like this is a reboot situation at all. We feel like this is evolving,” Brown said. “It really comes down to what the show is, which is obviously about a summer share in the Hamptons, and in real life, every summer, there might be a core group but the group does evolve in real life share houses. So these things evolve. We can’t say exactly how many people are returning or exactly how many new cast members are joining, but there’s always new people to freshen the dynamic and we were planning for that before any of this scandal hit.”
Summer House season 10 is now streaming on Peacock.
