West Wilson broke his silence about leaving Summer House ahead of season 11.
“I wanted to tell it on my own but that [exit rumor] is true,” West, 31, revealed during The Broadcast Boys’ Wednesday, June 24, Instagram breakdown of the Summer House scandal. “In [Bravo’s] defense, I don’t think it would have been a fun summer.”
Us Weekly exclusively reported on June 15 that West will not return to Summer House after he faced a hostile interrogation from castmates at the recent season 10 reunion over his relationship with costar Amanda Batula. (West previously dated Amanda’s best friend Ciara Miller while Amanda announced her separation from estranged husband Kyle Cooke in January.)
“West isn’t coming back,” a source told Us at the time. “He could still make an appearance on Summer House or [Amanda’s spinoff show] In the City in the future, especially if things with Amanda progress, but he’s not a cast member this season.”
An insider later revealed exclusively to Us that West’s departure from Summer House was a mutual decision between him and the network.
“[West was] already feeling like his time on the show was coming to an end,” the source added. “It became even clearer that there wasn’t a long-term fit anymore. He is at peace with the decision and is focusing on his podcast and other business ventures.”
West and Amanda announced that they were dating in March, despite both previously publicly denying that there were any romantic feelings between them.
“We’ve seen the growing online speculation, so while this is still very new, we wanted to provide some clarity,” they said in a March 31 joint statement. “It was never our intention to purposely hide anything. Given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it.”
The couple added, “We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, longstanding friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care.”
“As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling,” they concluded. “We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless. We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.”
During his interview with ‘The Broadcast Boys’ podcast, West shared details about how his and Amanda’s controversial March announcement led to the couple being intimate for the first time.
“We f***ed after the statement but we’d been like making out and having sleepovers for a long time. … I was still doing the wrong thing but I was like … I’m not committing a crime,” he said.
West also addressed speculation that he and Amanda released their public statement in March because of the existence of an apparent video of them “canoodling.”
“I haven’t seen [the video] but I’ve heard from credible sources it does [exist],” he told ‘The Broadcast Boys’ hosts Lucas Brody and Nelson Vergara. “It’s very illegal, I’d like to note.”
He clarified, “From what I’ve been told it was Amanda and I canoodling in my apartment from one of my neighbors across the street. That’s what kinda kicked off everything into panic, rush mode.”
“I guess I’ve always thought in New York there’s an unspoken rule that we can all see each other across our f***ing windows and balconies, like, don’t film each other,” he later argued.
Summer House airs on Bravo. Old episodes can be streamed on Peacock.
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