Carl Radke wants you to know that he’s doing just fine.
I’m seated across from the Bravolebrity at Soft Bar, his modish non-alcoholic café in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and sipping on a drink called the “Steel Magnolia” — a mix of matcha, lavender Earl Grey tea and salted honey cloud that is, admittedly, quite refreshing. We’re tucked away in his upstairs office, which doubles as a recording studio for Radke’s self-help podcast “More Life,” to discuss — what else? — the explosive “Summer House” Season 10 reunion.
This year’s reunion was without question the most hotly anticipated in “Summer House” history, owing to cast members Amanda Batula and Westling “West” Wilson’s budding situationship. You see, Batula is best friends with Ciara Miller, who not only used to date Wilson (and still harbored feelings for him), but spent the majority of the season coaching Batula through her marital breakdown with Kyle Cooke, one of Wilson’s pals and Radke’s best friend. To make matters worse, Wilson was hiding a girlfriend of over a year up until he and Batula went public, and the two lied and gaslit all of their friends about their romance when rumors began swirling about it on Deuxmoi.
Meanwhile, Radke, 41, has emerged as far and away the most mature man on “Summer House” (and perhaps the entire Bravosphere). He’s overcome drug and alcohol addiction, and the tragic passing of his brother, to become “the person you’re supposed to be and always wanted to be,” as his ex-fiancée Lindsay Hubbard so succinctly put it. He is now over five years sober, has mended fences with Lindsay following their very public split, and is currently dating someone new (“We’re taking it slow,” he shares).
