Kyle Stands By Amanda as Summer House Drama Reaches New Heights

When a marriage implodes in front of millions of viewers, the natural instinct is to pick a side. But Kyle Cooke isn’t playing that game—and he’s willing to defend his choice, no matter how messy it looks.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Tuesday, May 19, the Summer House star opened up about his continued support for estranged wife Amanda Batula, 34, as she navigates the fallout from her relationship with costar West Wilson, 31. Kyle, 43, separated from Amanda in January after a decade together, including four years of marriage. Yet despite the split—and despite Amanda’s controversial new romance with West, who previously dated her best friend Ciara Miller—Kyle made it clear that walking away entirely isn’t in his playbook.

“I know people are like,‘Why are you sticking up for her? Why are you defending her?’I’m not. I’m just trying to be there for her,”Kyle said.“No matter what, I still care for her. There’s still a lot of love. I spent literally 10 years [with her]. I’m not excusing her behavior.”Even when relationships fracture beyond repair, he added, love doesn’t simply vanish.“Even when the writing was on the wall, there’s still love.”

The timing of Kyle’s support is worth noting. Just a day earlier, he and Amanda appeared together at the New York City premiere of the Summer House spinoff In the City on Monday, May 18. The photo sparked immediate backlash from fans who questioned whether the pair was genuinely separated or playing up the drama for cameras. Rather than retreat, Kyle doubled down, posting a video to his Instagram Stories early Tuesday to shut down the noise.“I was just happy that she showed up. She almost didn’t come to a show that she participated in,”he explained, calling out the criticism as petty.“But don’t call my life, my relationship, my marriage, and my implosion of a marriage, fake.”His message was blunt:“With all due respect, we’re all adults here and we all showed up to a premiere party… Grow the f*** up.”

His costar Lindsay Hubbard, 39, who appeared alongside him on Watch What Happens Live, offered her own take on Kyle’s devotion. She referenced the tense Summer House season 10 reunion that filmed last month—where the cast challenged Amanda and West about their relationship—and revealed how moved she’d been by Kyle’s unwavering care for his ex.“This is why I cried so much. I started realizing how much Kyle, even at this reunion… Kyle loves this girl so f***ing much. He loves her. It was so evident,”Lindsay said.

What’s emerging here isn’t a tale of two people who can’t coexist; it’s a portrait of someone choosing compassion over convenience. Amanda’s romance with West may be messy, controversial, and hated by the Summer House faithful, but Kyle’s refusal to weaponize that against her sends a different message: maturity sometimes means being kind to people even when the world expects you to be cruel.