Lake Rucker walked away from the Southern Hospitality Season 4 reunion with the same feelings she had heading into the show’s first-ever, two-part cast sit-down.
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“It was a lot of emotions flowing,” Lake explained in an exclusive April interview with BravoTV.com. “I was very emotional going into it, and I was very emotional leaving it, because these are just real friendships that you’re having to talk about. You kind of just have to lay it all out there.”
As she further reflected of the “anxiety-filled” experience, “I kind of went into it wanting to speak my mind on certain things, and I think I did that. I think that I’m also learning. I’m 23 years old, so my responses to things are a little bit more emotional than I would like. I want to be more definitive on certain things and be less in attack mode.”
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Having joined Southern Hospitality when she was just 21, the VIP host at Leva Bonaparte’s Republic Garden & Lounge is confident that experience will come with age, however. “I’m growing and learning, like any 23-year-old,” Lake added. “At 25 years old, I want to learn more than what I am right now.”
Where Lake Rucker stands with Michols Peña after Southern Hospitality Season 4
After hashing out some lingering issues at the reunion, Lake ended Season 4 on good terms with some of her castmates, while other friendships still require some more work. As was evident during the group’s sit-down with host Andy Cohen, things are still “wonderful” between Lake and Michols Peña, for example.
“My and Michols friendship is a beautiful thing,” Lake gushed. “He’s somebody that I can always rely on, and he can rely on me. We have each other’s back. He’s somebody that I call family, and he’s one of my people. I have a group of five core friends that I’ve held on for years, like childhood friends, and Michols is one of those people. He’s a part of my core five that, like, if I were to murder somebody, I’d call them up.”
Why Lake Rucker has remained “loyal” to Emmy Sharrett
One hot-button topic in Part 2 of the reunion was Lake’s tight bond with Emmy Sharrett, in spite of the major drama she created within the group, particularly with Bradley Carter. According to Lake, she and Emmy “are still friends” today.
“She’s also learning on this journey,” Lake explained. “I think that she made some mistakes this past season that she is trying to correct. And if she’s actively trying to correct them, then I’m more than happy to help her through that. People do make mistakes, and it’s OK to give people grace when they do so. I’m a very forgiving, loyal friend, and my loyalty goes deep. Once I give it to somebody, which I gave her my loyalty, I’m going to stick by it.”
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She elaborated, “I’m going to be there for her and her learning and growth journey but also tell her when she makes mistakes. Honestly, I feel like blind loyalty is a little bit contradictory. How could you be loyal to something that you’re blind to? I think giving her learning lessons and telling her what she’s wrong about is being a good friend.”
That said, Lake has also “made a lot of progress with Brad,” despite his ongoing rift with Emmy. “I think me and him are in a good place,” she added. “And I couldn’t have said the same thing last year.”
Lake Rucker opens up about her drama with Mia Alario and Molly Moore on Southern Hospitality
Though Lake and Molly Moore “have not spoken much” since filming the reunion, her ongoing feud with Mia Alario has been a bit more complicated to navigate.
“It’s hard because I looked up to her for a lot of different reasons,” Lake explained. “I wanted to have a connection with everybody in this group, especially the people of color. I found that with Michols, and even though me and Brad have our rough patches, I still have that with him.”
She hasn’t given up hope that her and Mia’s “friendship can grow” still, as difficult as that might be, however. “I thought that we could move past certain things,” Lake elaborated. “But it’s hard to do that when there’s a lot of heightened emotion and there’s a lot of history there.”
Lake’s wish for the future of her and Mia’s friendship? “I really hope that one day we can move past this rough patch, but as of right now, we haven’t really spoken. I do want people to know that I’m never going to judge people differently based off of their bodies. I hate that she felt that way, and I wish I could take back that comment. If she took it as an insult, I apologize for that. I want to make clear that I’m not a body-shamer.”
Lake also underscored the fact that she’s more than willing to find a “resolution” with both Mia and Molly in the future.
What’s next for Lake Rucker after Southern Hospitality Season 4
As viewers saw during the Season 4 finale, Lake has been focused on her career in the art world, outside of her job at Republic. Nowadays, she’s looking strengthen her “curatorial abilities” and even hopes to further merge her two professional worlds by co-hosting more paints and sips with Leva, in order to “hone in on the craft.”
“Art has always been my passion,” Lake said. “Leva giving me the ability to use not only her platform, but her businesses as a way to express myself, I’ve been very grateful for that.”
In addition to her VIP hosting gig at Republic, Lake has also been working at Alfred & Lu, the new Charleston business that Leva opened shortly after filming wrapped on Season 4 of Southern Hospitality. “It’s a little art shop that sells a little bit of everything,” she explained, specifically mentioning paintings by local artists, knickknacks, sweatshirts, and “fun” hats.
As Lake concluded, “I’m trying to figure out the next phase in my life. I’m still very young, and I have a lot more life to give, but I definitely want to travel a little bit more and work on my mental health.”
Now that the Season 4 reunion has officially wrapped, find out what the rest of the Southern Hospitality cast as been up to since filming ended.
—Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
