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Summer House is a reality show set in the Hamptons that’s been full of drama for 10 seasons. But the scandal happening off-screen and in between filming is what has got fans more invested than ever.
Three years ago, cast members Ciara Miller and West Wilson were dating during the series’ eighth season. Earlier this year, Miller’s best friend on the show, Amanda Batula, announced her separation from her husband Kyle Cook. On Mar. 31, after weeks of speculation and denial regarding their relationship, Wilson and Batula confirmed that they have been hooking up.
Today on Commotion, guest host Amil Niazi is joined by culture critics Ashley Ray and Chris Murphy to talk about what’s happening and what it says about this moment in reality television.
We’ve included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.
WATCH | Today’s episode on YouTube:
Amil: I want to get into the drama that is driving the internet crazy, but first, why should anyone who doesn’t watch the show care about what is happening here?
Ashley: Yeah, obviously this is not, say, a “Scandoval” level of Bravo drama. I think a lot of people know the Tom Sandoval of it all, the Ariana Madix. This isn’t quite that, but it’s still a really interesting look at how current society has these parasocial relationships with reality stars. It’s a look at how reality treats race. It’s a look at different versions of sort of girl’s girl feminism and how to support your friends. It just has sort of every topic that’s just in the discourse right now all kind of thrown in together, and it’s something to talk about. And I think for me, the most interesting part is the race aspect, and Bravo sort of having a reckoning in how they treat their Black female stars and the romantic interests that they choose for them.
Chris: Yeah, Ashley nailed it. And I have to say that for anybody who might not be so Bravo-pilled as we might be – as we may be – which I think we all are. If you have ever had a friend group where something messy happened, where two people hooked up who maybe shouldn’t have, where feelings were hurt, any sort of love triangle, you can tap into the story. It’s really kind of a universal parable for what happens when messy people make questionable — if not outright bad — decisions.
Ashley: For a little more detail, Amanda and Ciara: very, very close friends, Ciara leaned on Amanda when West was – he’s a playboy, basically – and kind of treated her like a dog. So there’s an element of: “Amanda, why are you hooking up with this guy who treated your friend so badly?” And then you have the sort of fall from grace of it. So people weren’t big fans of Amanda. Then she left Kyle. That divorce, it gave her a lot of just love and adoration among fans.
She’s getting brand deals. She’s finally being herself. She got a deal with a weed company and stuff. And when all this comes out with West, that she’s betrayed Ciara essentially, she’s lost all these deals. They’re deleting pictures of her, people don’t want anything to do with her now. Fans are like, “I won’t support any product she uses.” So that’s kind of why people are coming at Amanda so hard. She’s no longer being the girl’s girl. She was kind of just being uplifted as finally losing her loser husband. And now it’s like, “Oh no, girl, you’re still centering men. We don’t like this. We got to protect Ciara.” And now Ciara is coming into more of the spotlight now, I would say. She kind of was always in the best friend role. And in this moment, everyone is just kind of like, “She is clearly the one hurt.” Yes, they broke up three years ago, but they did have some — it was clear — “Sierra kind of wanted to get back with him” thing. So that’s what makes it very messy.
Amil: Very messy. Chris, why are people freaking out? You know, for everything that Ashley has said, these people are also ostensibly single. People can do what they want. Why has this driven people mad?
Chris: Yeah, I think it’s less the relationship – the Kyle-and-Amanda-of-it-all betrayal – but it’s really the Ciara-and-Amanda-of-it-all that’s the betrayal. It’s the friendship. It’s the girl besties. It’s Ciara who has been there for Amanda, ride or die. We’ve seen her be a really good friend to her amidst this — her marriage, Amanda’s marriage breaking up. For Amanda to go and hook up with probably the one guy that Ciara has shown a lot of interest to, that she’s had ups and downs with — for her to do that to ostensibly one of her best friends — it’s such a classic, not to be crass, but “bros before hoes.” It breaks the golden rule of friendships, of how you treat your friends, especially when you know that they care about somebody. So I think that’s why people are really locked into this.
You can listen to the full discussion from today’s show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Panel produced by Jessica Low.