After bringing Ciara Miller to tears at the 'Summer House' season 8 reunion, West Wilson shares the current status of their friendship.
West Wilson is bracing for the hate.
Part one of Summer House's season 8 reunion revealed the fate of the sports journo's relationship with co-star Ciara Miller: they are no longer together. After three months of flirtatious filming, and three more months of non-exclusive dating back in the city, things fizzled out for the pair, largely due to West's inability to commit.
"People, they're gonna hate me for it," West reflects with ET, speaking to what all played out on that reunion stage.
During the all-cast sit-down, a visibly shaken Ciara called out West for playing games with her for the better half of a year, including taking her home to Missouri to meet his parents. West's dad unexpectedly posted photos from that trip on Instagram months later, sparking a bit of hope for fans that West and Ciara were still going strong.
"Dude, that's crazy," West shakes his head. "I had a heart attack when I saw that."
"I was like, what is this?" he recalls. "Like, what is this guy doing? And I texted and I was like, 'Please tell me you asked Ciara for permission!' And he was like, 'Yeah, no, we talked. I guess I should have asked you, too,' but Ciara cleared it with him."
"He's kind of turned into this, like, rancher Instagram guy," West continues. "When he has pictures that he's proud of, I think he wants to show them off and, you know, he got he got clearance from Ciara, so he let 'em rip, and he was sitting on them for however many months that was."
At the reunion, West revealed his parents told him he's an "idiot" for messing things up with Ciara, a confession that moved Ciara to tears.
"I feel bad," West said to host Andy Cohen after seeing Ciara get emotional. "It’s not my intention to f**king hurt someone."
Ciara questioned why West didn't take the "out" on their relationship when she gave it to him before filming wrapped. West says he really did want to explore what they had, but just needed more time.
"I think there were a lot of things -- I mean, living in a house with someone is pretty black and white," he explains to ET. "You're with the same people. You're there on the weekends, you're doing XYZ... I think there's a lot of life to be had outside of the house, outside of summer, and I wanted to explore all of the other zillion aspects of life that we didn't get to experience in the summer."
Ciara told West he "got everything you wanted out of me and I got, literally, the bare minimum" at the reunion. She questioned whether West's feelings for her were even genuine, speculating he latched onto her as a buoy in reality TV waters; their relationship equaled an instant storyline and potential love from her followers. West defended their romance, promising it wasn't fake. However, he did have doubts about maintaining a romance while being shot out of a fame cannon and wanting space to adjust to his new normal.
"It was never like, 'These are reasons I would want to be alone...' and s**t like that," he says of the concerns he did surface with Ciara. "It was more just, I objectively have questions about how life works after you're dating someone on the show."
"I think I've always appreciated making decisions kind of on my own," he adds, "and not needing to worry about someone else's feelings and compromising -- and I know it's a very selfish POV to have -- but I'd also be lying if I didn't address things like that."
West admitted on the show that he didn't love losing his personal identity in the relationship, noting he was labeled "newbie guy" and lumped in with Ciara by fan pages for months before the season ever aired. However, Gabby Prescod called him out for using the show as an excuse to avoid commitment, to which Ciara agreed.
"F**k my f**king Instagram," West proclaims. "I think for me just being able to like, be West ... is important to me."
West says he and Ciara currently exist with "minimal communication," which might change if they both return to Summer House for season 9.
"I think that will be answered within the first day or two, if we do share a house again in the summer," he muses. "I don't know a whole lot right now, which also might be the answer you're looking for."
West thinks some distance is "probably for the best" for the time being, but makes it clear there "never was a knockout, drag-out fight between us."
"There was never anything gross, nasty, evil," he rattles off. "I mean, it all felt pretty mutual and respectful the whole time, so I don't think there's any hatred."
Part 2 of the Summer House reunion premieres next Thursday, June 13, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Extended and uncensored versions of the reunion debut on Peacock the day after they air.
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