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Even though filming had wrapped for In the City, the spinoff show of Summer House, filming has resumed amid Amanda Batula and West Wilson revealing their controversial relationship.
Since West and Amanda confirmed they were an item, there has been a ton of drama surrounding them, so it’s not surprising Bravo wanted to capture some footage in real time.
“In the City, which launches in a couple weeks, you’ll see in the first episode we have a new scene that we shot with a couple of the cast members,” Bravo chairman Frances Berwick told The Ankler on April 29. “So, we did pick up [cameras] there but we just didn’t feel like that was the right thing to do on Summer House.”
“It does come back to the emotional well-being of the cast members, and we didn’t think that was right,” Frances continued. “We did take a beat before we covered that. And that was obviously in the reunion last week; as everyone now knows, we taped the reunion last week.”
In the City, which is set to premiere on May 19, follows some of the stars of Summer House (and some newbies) as they navigate their day-to-day lives in Manhattan, rather than just documenting their weekends in the Hamptons, as in Summer House.
On March 31, Amanda and West released a joint statement to tell the world they were a couple.
“We’ve seen the growing online speculation, so while this is still very new, we wanted to provide some clarity,” they said. “It was never our intention to purposefully hide anything. Given the complicated dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it.”
“We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing that either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, long-standing friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care,” they continued.
Amanda and West explained they kept their relationship under wraps as their “feelings evolved,” as they wanted to “take time to understand exactly what [they] were feeling.”
“We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless,” they added. “We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.”
While their big reveal has fractured relationships within their group, Amanda’s ex, Kyle Cooke, made it clear he’s still following everyone on social media.
“Yes, I still follow and am tagging everyone,” Kyle shared in an Instagram post alongside a photo of their friend group. “That’s just my style – to each their own – so please don’t come at me in the comments.”