When the Summer House cast reconvened for the second-to-last weekend of Season 10, the question on everyone’s mind seemed to revolve around why Amanda Batula was not in the Hamptons.
After speaking to her on the phone, even Kyle Cooke admitted that he didn’t have a clear explanation for Amanda’s absence in the second half of Episode 12. “Well, I just got off the phone with her, and I thought she was just gonna come out later tonight,” he told the guys. “And I don’t know if she’s gonna make it at all. … It is what it is. I don’t know. I was just like, ‘C’mon, like, second to last weekend…'”
When Ciara Miller arrived, she also asked Kyle about her “girlfriend” Amanda’s whereabouts. “Oh, she didn’t tell you? She kind of bailed,” he responded, prompting Ciara to question why she’d done that.
RELATED: Kyle Cooke Describes Getting a “Rude Awakening” in Amanda’s Absence: “Makes Me Realize…”
“I don’t really have a good answer,” Kyle replied. “She’s been on the struggle bus.”
What Amanda Batula told Ciara Miller about her absence from Summer House
Shortly afterward, Ciara decided to call Amanda to get to the bottom of “where the f–k” she was. During their FaceTime conversation, Ciara joked that she was “gonna kill” Amanda because the boy-to-girl ratio was so lopsided without her there.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t do it,” Amanda told Ciara. “The idea of, like, going out there is overwhelming me so much. I was like, I just need to, like, not go.”
Amanda, meanwhile, offered a Summer House producer more of an explanation for missing the group’s penultimate weekend in the Hamptons.
RELATED: See What Has West Wilson Taking Amanda Batula’s Side on Summer House (VIDEO)
“Obviously, this summer, for Kyle and I, has been rough so far,” Amanda elaborated in a confessional. “And I feel like it’s sort of catching up to me at this point. I’ve been showing up with a smile on my face every weekend and being, like, the joyful, bubbly Amanda, and trying to power through it all. And it’s to a point where, like, I can’t take it anymore, and I just need to be alone right now.”
As Amanda further revealed to Ciara, “I just need to, like, give myself some time.”
While Ciara assured Amanda that she understood the reasoning, West Wilson interrupted their call to apologize for his behavior the previous weekend. He had offered to come back later, but Ciara told him to proceed, while also leaving Amanda on FaceTime to hear their brief talk.
Why Amanda Batula’s absence was a “rude awakening” for Kyle Cooke
During Kyle’s phone call with Amanda in Summer House‘s April 21 episode, he encouraged his wife to “hang in there” and said that she would be “missed.” Following the cast’s fun night out in the Hamptons (and more late-night antics back at the share house), Kyle’s tune seemed to change a bit, however.
“Here I am, for the first time in a long time, having fun, feeling a little more lighthearted, feeling a little like myself, and it’s ’cause my wife’s nowhere to be seen,” Kyle declared to a producer. “And that is a rude awakening. And it makes me realize just how effed we really are.”
In the interim, Kyle also had a candid chat with Ben Waddell, saying, “Yo, real talk, I’m going to level with you. I basically, like, really felt bad the first couple of weeks because I felt like you saw me at my worst.”
Ben, for his part, had to stop Kyle there and showed his castmate some grace, referring to his marital issues with Amanda, as well as Loverboy’s financial downturn.
“I don’t think this is your worst,” Ben insisted. “I’ve seen what you are going through. Like, don’t think that, like, I am judging you about anything. Everyone goes through troubles with business and relationships. I’m not looking at that going, ‘That’s who you are.’ Mate, I know exactly who you are.”
As their marriage continues to crumble on Summer House, find out why Amanda and Kyle maintained “separate bank accounts” after their wedding.
