The 'Summer House' star spoke to ET at BravoCon just months after he called off his engagement to Hubbard.
Carl Radke is offering his side of the story as to why he called off his engagement to Lindsay Hubbard, and apparently the writing was on the wall, so to speak.
Speaking to ET's Brice Sander on Friday at BravoCon in Las Vegas, the Summer House star prefaced his explanation by saying he doesn't take the sanctity of an engagement or a marriage lightly whatsoever. In calling off the engagement -- as ET exclusively reported in August -- Carl said the heartbreaking decision was a byproduct of analyzing a relationship that, to him, had serious foundational issues he just couldn't look past.
"I wanted to get married and have a family, but I think when you are getting to a point in your relationship where... we've been in couples therapy since November of 2022 every week for foundational things that we needed to work on," Carl tells ET. "We've really been committed to try and work through things and get on the same page, but a wedding, having a family -- that is a serious, serious thing. And I think -- given where the summer was and how our relationship had been going -- people will see that I had to really dig deep inside and have a very difficult and emotional conversation with her that I felt that I had to do because I really believe our relationship wasn't in that position where it needed to be."
Nevertheless, a source told ET in September that Lindsay was "blindsided" and "completely devastated" by the breakup, and that she was leaning on her female co-stars to get her through the split.
Carl said there was some apprehension about attending the third annual event that brings the Bravo universe, because he knows he'll have to face the music.
"I'm not gonna lie, it's been incredibly difficult," he admits. "[I] was really nervous before, even talking right now because it's been a very painful, difficult time."
He added, "Given everything that's been going on, I felt like it was important to come here, hold my head high, try to process and move forward with respect. I know it's not gonna be easy, but I do believe if people watch the upcoming season it will make a lot more sense and add a lot more to what ultimately came at the end."
Lindsay and Carl have been part of Bravo's reality series since its debut in 2017, and were initially just friends. However, they made the decision to take their relationship to the next level in October 2021, officially confirming their romance to the world in January 2022. In June 2022, the couple confirmed to ET that they were moving in with each other and were "excited" to take that next step.
Fast forward to this weekend, Carl anticipates there will be some awkwardness given he'll have to, at some point, be in the same room with Lindsay. That awkwardness stems from the fact that, yes, there's so much history between them, but also the fact that the breakup wasn't that long ago. On top of that, what would have been their wedding date is just around the corner.
"I'm sure it's gonna be very cold, if not, standoffish, and that's fine," he says. "I'm hopeful that it's more positive."
As for how he'll distract himself on the day they were supposed to get married later this month, Carl's got some ideas.
"I'm gonna take some time and go away, like go golf, turn my phone off," he says. "I love getting outside and just playing sports or being active. So, I think something like that would be good for me. I haven't really fully thought it through. I wanna get through today and get through this weekend and kinda assess."
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