Credit: Ivan Apfel/Bravo, Zach Hilty/BFA.com
Kyle Cooke admitted he was in disbelief when he learned Amanda Batula and West Wilson were dating during an interview on Wednesday.
As he also shaded his estranged wife as “reckless,” denied having cheated, and dished on his regrets, the 43-year-old Summer House star teased his upcoming one-on-one with West, 31, addressed dating rumors linking him to Salley Carson, 31, and Meghan King, 41, spoke of his and Amanda’s marriage issues, divorce, and more.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel real until I see them together,” Kyle admitted to PEOPLE on June 10. “I considered West a really good friend, and this is just not something I can fathom doing to anybody that’s close to me. We’re a close-knit family, it’s like he’s banging his sister.”
“I’ll never really understand what the motives were,” he added.
Explaining that he was “oblivious” to rumors at first, he eventually saw that Amanda had stayed the night at West’s apartment by checking her location.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Kyle recalled.
Then, after reaching out to Ciara Miller, 30, who wanted to meet, Kyle knew something was going on.
“Ciara is a homebody. She wants to drag herself to my apartment to have a huddle? I had a sinking feeling in my stomach,” he recalled.
He also suspected something was going on after Amanda flew to Los Angeles for work.
“I’m looking at her location and she’s at an Irish dive bar in Southern L.A. I’m like, ‘That does not sound like a spot that Amanda would normally go to. She’s with West. There’s no other explanation,'” Kyle said.
Once they could no longer hide their romance, Amanda came clean to Ciara first.
“Ciara immediately called me, and I finally heard from Amanda nine hours later,” Kyle revealed. “Even though I already had so many pieces of the puzzle, I was still in disbelief that she’d be so reckless and thoughtless and irresponsible, and Amanda is not usually any of those things.”
Clarifying that Amanda moved out at the beginning of November, Kyle shared that he believed they were creating space to work on their marriage.
“The idea was we go to couples therapy and we go on a date every single week. Well, none of that happened. We weren’t really putting in any more effort or work into the marriage,” he noted.
In addition, Amanda “bailed” on attending a New Year’s Eve event with him after an argument about a brand deal.
Weeks later, their separation was announced.
“She took the first stab at a statement and I read it and I’m like, ‘Oh, we’re splitting up.’ I sent it to my mom and my mom’s like, ‘This kind of looks like you guys are closing the door and not even leaving it open,'” Kyle shared.
Looking back at their marriage, Kyle denied cheating on Amanda.
“I never stepped out physically in my marriage,” he insisted. “Am I guilty of inappropriate behavior? Absolutely. But I’m talking about leaning in to talk to someone at a loud, noisy club. I’m a very personable, extroverted, flirty guy. I’ll own that. Too flirty for a married man, yes. I acted out by staying out too late, it was not a physical affair.”
As they move forward without each other, Kyle said he’s “trying to somehow, some way have an amicable split.”
“There’s still a lot of love there, still a lot of regrets. I think the part that hurts is when she talks about our marriage and our relationship like there were no good times,” he admitted, adding that he felt “betrayed” by Amanda’s behavior at the reunion since he “expected to learn more.”
As Kyle explained, Amanda’s attitude was “more defensive than remorseful.”
Regarding his one-on-one with West, which will air on Summer House: The Aftermath next week, Kyle revealed he finally got West to “own up to some things.”
“I was discouraged that he didn’t come prepared to be 100% honest about everything. He was still lying about his girlfriend [Meija Moreno] and the reality of his exclusive nature of that relationship, which boggled my mind,” he shared. “It was one of those conversations that I was like, ‘I don’t know what we just talked about for two and a half hours.’ I’m not saying we talked in circles, but maybe I was too easy on him.”
As for why West pursued Amanda in the first place, Kyle suspected publicity was on his mind.
“I think he realized Amanda’s going to have this big PR moment. I think he realized it last summer. I think that’s part of the reason why he’s pulling his chair up next to Amanda,” he explained. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to be the white knight here and stand up for Amanda because, well, the internet’s going to love her and therefore the internet’s going to love me.'”
Kyle would’ve rather seen Amanda “being single and working on herself and going to therapy.”
According to Kyle, that was one of his “biggest issues over the last couple of years” in their marriage.
“There’s talking about mental health and depression, then there’s like doing something about it. I think she was probably lonely for a long time because I was lonely for a long time, and I think that West immediately filled a void,” he reasoned.
As he enjoys the boost in Loverboy sales, which he described as “so encouraging,” Kyle said he’s also having fun with his “single era” as he clarified that Salley and Meghan were “just friends” and noted that he’s not looking for anything serious.
“I’m traveling a lot, so I’m not even really in a position to date in New York. I’m having fun. I will 100% be single this summer because I’m looking at my calendar and I’m like, ‘Yeah, there’s no chance for me to even date locally,'” he explained.
Still, Kyle said he was “looking forward to having another shot at finding love and happiness.”
As for his divorce, Kyle said he hopes to have a “walkaway” divorce “in lieu of a prenup,” and he confirmed Amanda made the first move with an email from her attorney in mid-March, which he was suspicious about.
“[For] someone who doesn’t take a lot of initiative,” Kyle thought, “it was kind of weird. I’m like, ‘Wait, is there some ulterior motive in terms of why she’s all of a sudden expediting the divorce?'”
Kyle then said he’d be on board with season 11 “if they come knocking,” even if that means filming with Amanda and West.
“Hopefully we can still coexist peacefully,” he stated. “I feel like life’s too short. Have I forgiven [West]? No. I’m just not the kind of guy that wants to close someone out of my life, particularly if they played a big part in it.”
Kyle also admits that Amanda still has some of her belongings in his home, which he would like her to pick up.
“I’m trying to be as patient as can be, but I think my patience has run out. I think she has a boyfriend that can come over and probably help pack up a car,” he stated. “I will not be there.”
Despite his range of emotions, Kyle admits he and Amanda still communicate regularly, and he even spoke to her on the way to his interview regarding the two rescue dogs they share, Reese and Ryder.
Summer House: The Aftermath airs Tuesday, June 16, at 8/7c on Bravo.