West Wilson had a near-perfect record in his rookie season of Summer House. He was immediately embraced by veteran castmates, made out at the first campfire with nurse-model Ciara Miller, and found a bromance with his fellow newbie Jesse Solomon. While much of the season focused on the toxic relationship and broken engagement of Lindsay Hubbard and Carl Radke, West’s scenes showed him supporting Jesse through a cancer scare and schmoozing like an expert at the Mad Max–themed party he threw. He started the season unemployed and ended it with his dream job at Complex. He and Ciara capped their storyline with plans to spend the fall together watching football. The accolades didn’t end onscreen, either. Andy Cohen, notoriously hard to please, called West “lovable and fun,†and Vulture’s resident Bravo scholar, Brian Moylan, called West “the best new addition to the house since Paige.â€
Then came part one of the reunion. West and Ciara shared that they were spending every night together through the fall, visiting West’s family together, and “basically dating†until West broke it off with Ciara in December for “show-related reasons.†West admitted to lying to Paige about not sleeping with anyone else over the summer. Paige accused him of losing interest in Ciara “once the DMs started flooding and the cameras went down.†Jesse tried to stand up for his boy, but Ciara swiftly shut him down. Over the course of the reunion, West went from the cast’s favorite comic relief to an emotional traitor. He was physically wincing as he received the ire from his female castmates. “You never want to see someone who you care about get their feelings hurt,†he says. “But it’s not how I thought it played out in real life at all.â€
After the finale, it felt like you managed to get out of the season drama free. Part one of the reunion draws a pretty stark contrast.
I actually haven’t watched it, but I was there so I know it’s probably not my shiniest moment.
Paige warned you not to break Ciara’s heart. What happened?
Our breakup felt more mutual in real time than it turned out to be on reunion day. Ciara’s reaction was a lot different than I had interpreted. When we stopped talking, it felt like a mature conversation. We agreed on a lot of things, and it was emotional but it didn’t feel like she had that much animosity toward me. You never want to see someone who you care about get their feelings hurt, but that’s not how I thought it played out in real life at all.
You both acknowledged that the breakup happened for show-related reasons. Can you explain that?
I didn’t word things correctly. I was trying not to break the fourth wall too hard. Dating on the show is not the most fun experience given that we coexist with these relationships in real life.
It seemed pretty fun during the season.
It was great, but also we weren’t even hooking up. It was a very juvenile crush on the show.
How long before the reunion did you last speak to Ciara?
Five or six months. The weirdest thing with this playing out now is it was all last year. You see how things felt for other people when we’re already super-far removed. The backlash you get — I’ll probably have to turn my phone off tonight. It’s crazy.
At one point, Ciara said to you, “You got everything you wanted out of me, and I got the bare minimum.†How was that to hear?
That’s hurtful, but we were always on the same page during filming. It didn’t end when she wanted. She wanted more.
Jesse came to your defense at the reunion, but Ciara, Paige, and Amanda shut that down pretty quickly.
I appreciate Jesse trying. I think he was just trying to say, “You guys had a fun summer, and people break up.†And that’s not really what anyone wanted to hear. I also was clearly not saying the correct thing, so he probably was like, I gotta step in for this fucking idiot friend I have.
Has anyone else from the cast come to your defense off camera?
Not really. I tried to bring this up in the reunion: I texted Paige right after Ciara and I ended, and she was like, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s just timing, not a big deal.†Everyone’s emotions and thoughts about the whole thing funneled into the reunion, but no one hates me. I still have good relationships with everyone.
You said you were afraid of starting the season looking like Ciara’s puppet, and all the press you were getting was like, “Ciara and new guy.†Can you expand on what that felt like in real time?
I thought it was going to look like I used this girl to be on the show. “Ciara’s toy†is what I was seeing online, and it’s probably an immature ego thing, but I was like, Oh, am I just going to be some guy who came on a show under the umbrella of another person? That’s not fair to her at all, but that was another thing where I was like, Do I need to be my own person?
Well, she and everyone coming to her defense at the reunion have been on the show for several seasons. This was your first. Do you think that played a part in how you felt you were being perceived?
It did play out a lot differently than I thought it was going to. It just happened so fast. Another thing I’m learning is that for any perception one person has, someone else has the opposite. I got scared and chose to go through all of it solo.
Paige and Amanda shut you down at the reunion when you tried to explain why you felt you couldn’t commit to Ciara. Is there anything you didn’t get to say?
There are 9 million things I wish I said that I didn’t. Frankly, I did a horrible job explaining. I was nervous, and if I could do it again, I would try to respond to other people less. I don’t think I ever actually sat there and told the story from my perspective. But at the same time, I am the reason it played out that way and I hurt someone else’s feelings. I don’t want to bash someone or fight to the death to get my side of the story out for someone whose feelings I hurt.
Hopefully, in the long run, just taking it will play out better than if I tried to state why things happened the way they did. It’s going to look real bad in real time, but I just am not the type to sit up there and shit on a relationship that I actually cared about when it was going on.
Is there anything you want to say now that you didn’t get to say at the reunion?
No, I’m just trying to move on from it, honestly. People said what they needed to say, and I’ll deal with it now. I do think one good thing came from this experience. In the past, when relationships ended, you moved on and only worried about how you’re handling it. This experience opened the door to me to see the effects of these relationships on other people. Things may be more serious than I perceive them, and the ramifications of that are clearly a big deal.
When you guys were on the horseback-riding date, you talked about how relationships felt like handcuffs to you. Do you think after going through this, your perspective on that has changed at all?
It certainly hasn’t changed my perspective on relationships. Ciara and I never got to that point. So it’s not like my whole POV on boyfriends and girlfriends really changed.
But you took her to a wedding, she met your family, you were hanging out every night …
I don’t put as much weight into those things as she does, and that was a mistake on my part.
It didn’t feel like a big deal taking her to meet your family and taking her to a wedding?
I mean, I’ve taken a lot of girls to weddings. Not to say it didn’t matter — I am the minority that thinks it can be fun and casual to do those things. This was a lesson: You can’t just be casual about shit like that when an entire other person is on the other side of it.
What do you think it would take for you to be like, This is the real deal, with Ciara or in general?
Great question. I mean, what everyone says to me is like, “Oh, you’ll know.†We’ll see, I guess. I hope that’s what it is, where it just shows up out of nowhere and you’re like, this is the one for me. This experience will help me be more intentional about separating things that are important and casual.
There’s a scene in the finale where you and Ciara are in bed and you talk about saying “I love you†and calling her “baby.†She says, “Nothing’s a big deal to you.†Do you feel like that’s accurate?
My whole outlook on life has been good for me up until this point. I’ve been happy. I’ve had good relationships. Not taking everything too seriously has been a benefit for me. But there are points where you can’t be that way. My football coach in college always said your biggest strength is also your biggest weakness. I’ve had to think about that a lot recently, and maybe being casual and seeing everything as fun and playful and not a big deal has been great; it’s kept life light and fun. But when you get in situations where it negatively affects someone else, you should pivot.
Guys in New York have a reputation for always looking for the next best thing. Do you think that was a factor too?
I certainly in the past have been that guy, for sure. I’m obviously not going to find anyone — as everyone tells me every single day — prettier than Ciara, and I know that. But no, not in this instance. We gave it a try; I wasn’t there yet. When it comes down to it, it was two people who didn’t work out, which is okay. I was just in my head about so many things and kind of a bitch about it, honestly.
Well, it’s a new summer.
Dude. We’ll see.
Are you going to head back to the Hamptons for another season?
I still don’t know.
They didn’t tell you yet? It’s June!
No, everything’s pretty last-minute. I’d go back. We’ll see. Ask me that question a week from now.
Do you think there’s any chance of you and Ciara rekindling in the future?
I would never say “no†to that. There’s always a chance. But we’re on our own paths right now. It’s for the best, and I hope we can be friends at some point.
I just bent over in pain on her behalf.
We haven’t talked in six, seven months. I should not lead people on if I’m not 100 percent. I need to be 140 percent sure now because I obviously am not going to do that again. I think the answer should be “no,†if I’ve learned anything.
The show has been therapy in a way. It’s hard truths, and you have to learn about yourself and see how things play out when you normally can just keep moving. I already have gotten pretty shitty feedback, and it’s only going to get worse. I have no choice but to reflect and realize that not everything is casual, I guess. We live and learn. I’m dreading the next week, if anyone’s wondering.