Estranged “Summer House” couple Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula put on a united front on May 19 at the New York City premiere of Bravo’s highly anticipated spinoff “In The City,” posing arm-in-arm on the red carpet just four months after announcing the end of their four-year marriage.
Considering what has transpired in recent months, it was a tad surprising seeing the two post together. Notably absent from Batula’s side was West Wilson, the “Summer House” castmate she went public with in late March. Wilson previously dated Batula’s longtime friend Ciara Miller, and a massive fallout between the entire cast ensued.
When online trolls began to take aim at Batula for having the audacity to show up at her new show’s premiere, Cooke took to social media to defend his former spouse.
Kyle Cooke Defends Amanda Batula After They Drew Heat for Posing Together at ‘In the City’ Premiere
“Guys — yes, Amanda and I took a picture together,” Cooke began. “I was just happy that she showed up — she almost didn’t come to a show that she participated in. … With all due respect, we’re all adults here and we all showed up to a premiere party and yes — Amanda did not want to come and I convinced her to come. We took a photo together. Grow the (expletive) up.”
Cooke and Batula’s history dates back nearly a decade. Viewers watched Batula evolve from Cooke’s longtime girlfriend into his wife when the pair married in September of 2021.
Their marriage played out on screen with unusual transparency. Couples therapy, infertility conversations, business friction and Cooke’s history of partying were all storylines on “Summer House.” By Season the time season 10 rolled around, the fissures were gigantic.
The pair announced their separation in a joint statement on January 19, saying they had “mutually and amicably decided to part ways.” Then, in March, Batula confirmed her relationship with Wilson.
Expected Major Drama on the New ‘Summer House’ Spinoff
The current dynamic between Cooke and Batula is largely what makes “In The City,” premiering Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo, so combustible. The spinoff, which functions as a fall-set continuation of “Summer House,” follows Cooke, Batula and Lindsay Hubbard through their day-to-day Manhattan lives alongside returning alum Andrea Denver, his wife Lexi Sundin, the newly-pregnant Danielle Olivera and longtime friends new to viewers, including Loverboy investor Kenny Martin and nightlife operator Gavin Moseley.
Bravo has confirmed the Wilson-Batula relationship will be addressed in the first episode. Wilson is not a cast member but appears in the trailer.
Hubbard has emphasized that the series leans on real life: new parenthood, separations, career pivots and the messy business of growing up in a city where the bar tab never closes. Several cast members are navigating marriages and partnerships in different stages, including newcomer Georgina Ferzli, a dermatologist and single mother who is Hubbard’s best friend.
The premiere airs as a two-hour event immediately following the “Summer House” Season 10 finale, with episodes streaming the next day on Peacock. Whether Cooke and Batula can keep cohabiting the same cast — let alone the same red carpet — remains the franchise’s most pressing question.
