Bravo picked up cameras for Summer House spinoff In the City amid all the drama over Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s scandalous romance.
“In the City, which launches in a couple weeks, you’ll see in the first episode we have a new scene that we shot with a couple of the cast members,” Bravo chairman Frances Berwick confirmed to The Ankler on Wednesday, April 29. “So, we did pick up [cameras] there but we just didn’t feel like that was the right thing to do on Summer House.”
Berwick further explained, “It does come back to the emotional well-being of the cast members, and we didn’t think that was right. We did take a beat before we covered that. And that was obviously in the reunion last week; as everyone now knows, we taped the reunion last week.”
Us Weekly reached out to Bravo for additional comment.
Amanda Batula Calls West Wilson ‘Cutie’ in Shocking ‘In the City’ Trailer
In the City — which premieres Tuesday, May 19 — features Amanda, 34, her estranged husband, Kyle Cooke, Lindsay Hubbard and more Summer House favorites living their day-to-day lives in New York City outside of the familiar trappings of the Hamptons.
Fans already expected to see the fallout of Amanda and Kyle’s split on the show, filmed in January, with her newfound romance with West, 31, only increasing interest in In the City. (Season 1 was filmed prior to West and Amanda going public with their relationship.)
Amanda and West stunned fans on March 31 when they confirmed their romance after months of denying there were dating.
“We’ve seen the growing online speculation, so while this is still very new, we wanted to provide some clarity,” they said in a joint Instagram statement. “It was never our intention to purposely hide anything. Given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it.”
They went on, “We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, longstanding friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care.”
“As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling,” they added. “We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless. We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.”
The announcement sent shockwaves through the Bravoverse, with Amanda’s ex Kyle, 43, and West’s ex Ciara Miller weighing in, along with others in the Summer House cast.
Fans will get to see the Summer House cast hash out the messy romance drama at the season 10 reunion, which was filmed on Thursday, April 23. Audio from the taping leaked hours after filming wrapped but Bravo confirmed on Sunday, April 26, that the culprit had been found and dealt with.
“An investigation into the recent leak of the Summer House reunion audio has concluded that the audio was an unauthorized recording and distributed by an individual involved in the production of the reunion,” the network told Us. “There is no evidence that any member of the cast was involved in the recording of the audio. We take these matters seriously and will continue to take appropriate measures to respond to the unauthorized distribution of our content.”
Why Kyle Cooke Thinks ‘Summer House’ Is in ‘Jeopardy’ Over Amanda and West
Bravo’s statement concluded, “We are aware that there is additional improperly obtained audio circulating and we caution all parties and platforms to refrain from posting, sharing, or amplifying any unauthorized audio.”
In the City premieres on Bravo Tuesday, May 19, at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes of Summer House air on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
