Summer House has gifted Us the meme-able queen that is Paige DeSorbo and dramatic breakups for the ages, but before the current cast was bringing in the ratings, Lauren and Ashley Wirkus were throwing watermelons (sorry, Carl Radke) around The Hamptons.
The now-36-year-old twins were part of the OG Summer House cast when the show premiered in 2017. While they definitely made their mark on the network — and have been referenced several times following their 2018 departure — Lauren and Ashley haven’t appeared on reality TV since.
While Lauren appeared on the first two seasons of Summer House as a main cast member, Ashley appeared in a “friend” role during season 2 after moving to California with husband Brad McAtee. (Ashley and Brad are parents of two sons, Dean, 6, and Cole, 3.)
Once Ashley left the show (and her job in real estate) for good, she opened her Uptown Cheapskate resale store in Carlsbad.
“It’s been a labor of love,” Ashley told Us Weekly exclusively of the business. “The first few years were obviously very rough starting a new business, and then COVID hit, but I powered through and stuck it out, and I’ve had my business eight years and counting. It’s doing better every year, which is amazing.”
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While Ashley put down roots in California, she’s actually gearing up for a move to Nashville — but plans to go “back and forth” between the two states.
Lauren, on the other hand, was working at a private equity firm for the entirety of her two seasons on Summer House before making a move back to the West Coast.
“I felt like a part of me was being drawn back to California,” she told Us. “I just had a come to Jesus moment where I could stay here … I could keep doing this, and I could keep dating terrible people in New York City, or I could move back home.”
Once Lauren relocated, she found love with NFL coach David Raih. They tied the knot in June 2020 and have since welcomed two kids: Goldie, 4, and Rockford, 2.
“I actually went up to Manhattan Beach on the Fourth of July in 2019 — four months after I moved back home — and I met my husband,” Lauren recalled. “I’ve been on a journey with him and his football career. We’ve actually lived in four different states [Arizona, Tennessee, Florida and Virginia] since we’ve been together.”
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Even though they’re living flourishing lives as moms, both Ashley and Lauren are open for a return to reality TV.
“We say never say never,” Lauren said. Ashley added, “We would have to do it together.”
Lauren added, “I would have to have my family. The best part about Summer House was filming with my sister.”
