Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke have yet to file for divorce, despite the fact that they announced their separation in January, and despite the fact that Amanda went public with West Wilson months later. So, what’s the holdup?
As a body language expert spoke of Amanda’s “emotional rigidity” and West’s “deeply uncomfortable” demeanor on the first installment of the Summer House reunion, during which they were confronted by their castmates, especially her former friend and his former flame, Ciara Miller, 30, about their shocking romance, the status of Amanda, 34, and Kyle, 43, was explained.
According to a May 27 report from Page Six, Amanda and Kyle are in discussions about their situation, including their finances, and Kyle is letting Amanda take the lead so she won’t “look like the villain.”
After Ciara noted at the reunion that Amanda was “legally” married, Amanda confirmed she’d attained counsel, but she suggested Kyle was dragging his feet.
“My attorney has reached out to Kyle, but we haven’t gotten anywhere since then,” she stated.
Reflecting on Amanda and West’s appearance at the reunion, where they were seated beside one another, body language expert Susan Constantine told Page Six that West was “deeply uncomfortable” and experiencing “physiological stress.”
“West did not present as dominant, controlling or strategically manipulative during the exchange. He presented as deeply uncomfortable,” she explained. “Throughout the interaction, West repeatedly displayed physiological stress indicators commonly associated with psychological discomfort and conflict pressure.”
These indicators included licking his lips, locking his ankles, twiddling his thumbs, and “reduced verbal certainty.”
“[It] all pointed toward autonomic nervous system activation,” Susan continued. “These are not ‘lie detector’ moments. They are signals that the body is under stress.”
Although West displayed a “highly avoidant conflict style,” which was evident by his “withdrawing, minimizing escalation, softening language, or emotionally retreating when pressure intensifies,” Amanda moved “directly toward” the conflict.
“Her communication style during the reunion was forceful, emotionally confrontational, and heavily centered on validation of her own perspective,” Susan shared, adding that while West would “physiologically shut down” at times, Amanda approached conflict “head-on.”
“This created what behavioral experts often recognize as a classic pursue-withdraw dynamic,” she continued. “One partner escalates for resolution. The other retreats for self-protection.”
“Unfortunately, these patterns often become self-reinforcing,” she shared. “The withdrawal makes one partner feel ignored, while the escalation makes the other feel psychologically cornered.”
Rather than “calculated dishonesty,” Susan interpreted West’s behavior as an indicator of “conflict paralysis.”
“His body language suggested someone attempting to survive an emotionally high-pressure environment without escalating it further,” she described.
The second installment of the Summer House season 10 reunion airs next Tuesday, June 2, at 8/7c on Bravo.