West Wilson has three phrases that sum up his expertise taping Summer season Home‘s season 8 reunion: “terrible, horrible, horrible.”
“Yeah, not nice,” West laments to ET, reflecting on how he dealt with his first-ever all-cast sit-down with Bravo maestro Andy Cohen.
The 28-year-old sports activities journalist joined the long-running collection as one in every of two Hamptons newcomers final summer season, alongside Jesse Solomon. He rapidly sparked up a romance with Ciara Miller, who’s been part of the ensemble since season 5, however the two by no means outlined their relationship earlier than cameras went down final September. The reunion will see West and Ciara lastly clarify what they’re… or aren’t. Half 1 premieres Thursday evening on Bravo.
“Deer within the headlights, I feel that may be a good metaphor for that complete expertise for me,” he says. “If I get the chance to do one other one, I feel there’s actually nowhere else to go however up.”
Days after filming the two-part particular, Ciara’s bestie Paige DeSorbo advised Web page Six she and the nurse-turned-model “cooked or over-cooked” West when it was his flip within the scorching seat.
“I by no means felt — truthfully, I am going to even defend Paige; I do not assume anybody stated something, like, pointless, or something uncalled for, that I’d need them to take again,” he notes. “[It was] simply, you realize, somewhat heated 5, 10 minutes, and I kinda needed to buck up, which I did not do. So no, it was high quality, however Paige is, like… Paige could be very expert at reunions, I feel.”
West says Paige’s major goal was to make him perceive he might’ve “been most likely extra considerate and ahead pondering with my actions” when it got here to Ciara. The 2 performed a little bit of relationship hen over their three months collectively on digital camera, with every occasion seemingly ready for the opposite to make the transfer on going official. Ciara gave West a gap to just do that at a horseback driving date late within the season; West advised her he wanted to get his “s**t collectively” first.
“Typically one of the simplest ways to study issues is have your folks inform them to you,” he affords of what Paige unloads on him on the reunion. “It is remedy within the weirdest manner potential.”
“I most likely might have stood up for myself perhaps somewhat extra,” he confesses. “I attempted to react an excessive amount of, as an alternative of simply talking how I felt and provides my aspect of the story. I feel I simply type of heard issues and tried to show these round, you realize?”
Within the weeks since filming, his “each thought, each second” has been full of issues he needs he would have stated on set. He does not plan to tune in for the episodes.
“I’m tremendous uncomfortable in any sort of very conflicting surroundings,” he explains. “I need not watch. … I used to be there.”
Viewers already acquired a touch on the cringe to come back when Bravo dropped the trailer for the reunion, with West stumbling over his phrases in an try to elucidate his incapability to decide to Ciara.
“The Bravo fanbase is all ladies, simply issues I’ve by no means…” he began, earlier than Amanda Batula reduce him off to ask, “Too many temptations?”
“Terrible sound chew for me, for positive,” West admits. “I feel I most likely panicked and was similar to rattling s**t off, to be sincere — and that is to not say that that is not an actual factor, I feel, I naturally — and this can be a fault of mine, for positive — however I do actually lock into relationships. I like consistency and like a really clear image of what is to come back, and I similar to had no clue of what courting on TV was like, and [I was] somewhat bit afraid.”
“I feel I most likely worded all of it horribly improper,” he continues. “I do know I worded every little thing horrible, however there have been simply so many questions I had, and I introduced these as much as her in actual time, after which I feel I attempted to get those self same phrases out on the reunion.”
West notes he was navigating “a bizarre new territory,” present in a state of pre-fame limbo forward of season 8’s February premiere. In that point, superfans caught on that he was solid earlier than the community formally introduced it, and fan pages devoted to Bravo-lebrities had been labeling him “Ciara’s new man” with none official affirmation. That preliminary consideration threw West for a little bit of a loop, and solely grew to become a much bigger concern as soon as the present began airing and he was virtually instantaneously branded a fan-favorite.
“I for positive seemed like an fool there,” he reiterates.
West is now coping with the pendulum swing of the Bravo fandom; beloved for a lot of the season, he says the temperature has cooled (a minimum of within the feedback part) as viewers speculate he and Ciara did not make it.
“My largest fear is that… I imply, it is already coming true, however [being put on] the pedestal early on, one screw up… it is like I used to be arrange, type of,” he rattles off. “Not set as much as fail, but it surely’s like everybody, the second issues go improper, goes to be like, ‘Oh, we had been all improper about you, you are not no matter folks wish to say…'”
West clarifies that “85, 90 %” of the expertise has been constructive, simply 100% “overstimulating.”
“I attempted to have, like, a really sensible POV from the start to only keep equilibrium and never learn an excessive amount of into the nice, as a result of clearly that comes with it,” he says, whereas shutting down hypothesis he is let a style of fame go to his head.
“I feel if I used to be going to show into, like, an enormous douchebag a**gap, I’d have achieved it by now,” he says, referencing his time as a D1 faculty athlete and sports activities persona as proof.
“I feel I’ve gotten to the place I’m and gotten a variety of cool issues [because] I’ve all the time stayed me,” he continues. He is effectively conscious that Summer season Home is just a part of his life, and a comparatively small half at that. Whereas capturing season 8, he landed a brand new job at Complicated Sports activities.
“I wish to have a profession,” he declares. “F**ok my f**king Instagram and contribute to one thing aside from that and [reality TV].”
“I interviewed Patrick Mahomes, who — as a lifelong Chiefs fan — doing {that a} month in the past was, like, that’s going to be laborious to high,” he says. “For me, simply with the ability to be West, a producer at a comparatively respectable media firm, is essential to me and, you realize, the TV stuff can come after that.”
West could be very a lot all the way down to return to the Hamptons for season 9, although Bravo has but to make any official casting bulletins about who’s or is not coming again. Tensions stay excessive between Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard; the 2 known as off their engagement on the tail-end of filming season 8. A lot of the reunion is anticipated to deal with the fallout of their breakup.
“At one level, after what felt like eight hours of simply arguing, Carl stated one thing the place he was like, ‘And I really feel like right now has gone so effectively and I’ve realized a lot…’ and all, each one, of us checked out one another like, ‘You assume right now has gone effectively?! After hours of simply yelling?'” West previews. “We had been like all similar to, right now has not been that good, however … Carl seeing the sweetness in them getting s**t off their chest was, like, such a second for everybody that we had been similar to, ‘Oh my god, that’s such a stunning POV to have.’ However, I’ll by no means knock anybody for silver-lining something.”
West says he wouldn’t be shocked in the event that they each keep within the share home (and subsequently, star on the present once more) come July.
“Their relationship is, like, so complicated, as a result of they have been in these homes collectively in so many alternative capacities with one another, that being an ex-engaged couple, they’ll each someway make it work,” he says. “I would not select to try this, however I would not put it previous both of them to be like, ‘Yeah, f**ok, I’ll simply ignore him for an entire summer season.’ I do not know. I’m like such a, I am unable to ignore folks. It is tiresome. It appears like extra work than simply being cordial.”
Different highlights from the reunion for West embrace Paige and Danielle Olivera moving into it and Andy reducing off Kyle Cooke‘s much-maligned mullet. As for whether or not the reunion lastly solutions the query, “What would Jesse Solomon do?” West has some not-great information.
“Rattling, I do not even know if it does,” he reveals. “I feel all of us sang [that song] once more, although.”
Summer season Home airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. The reunion episodes will debut subsequent day on Peacock, prolonged and uncensored.
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