Putting it all out there. Austen Kroll shared how he really feels about Summer House star Ciara Miller revealing that they hooked up after the summer — and filming on the Bravo show — ended.
“It’s kind of one of those things where — the more you try to keep something buried, the worse it is,” the Southern Charm star, 34, told Us Weekly exclusively at the NBCUniversal Upfront event on Monday, May 16. “It wasn’t some super secret [thing]. This is what makes me laugh [about the situation] — just because it wasn’t on camera, doesn’t mean it was like, some super secret thing.”
Austen continued: “It’s just because I’ve been on camera, I feel, like, for a full year. So, if it doesn’t happen on camera, then [people assume] it’s a super secret thing. It just is what it is.”
The “Pillows and Beer” podcast cohost played a major role in the drama on season 6 of Summer House after he made out with Lindsay Hubbard and Ciara, 26, during the same weekend. The nurse — who previously had a fling with Austen during the first season of Winter House — was criticized for directing much of her anger at Lindsay, 35, rather than the Trop Hop Beers founder. After the two women got into a screaming match on camera, costar Paige DeSorbo attempted to point out that “all of this [drama] is because of Austen,” and they shouldn’t be fighting with one another.
News that Ciara and Austen had continued seeing each other broke when the trailer for part 2 of Summer House‘s season 6 reunion was released on May 4. In the clip, she was once again questioned about why she wasn’t angry with brewer, which she attempted to explain. “He did get an earful off of camera,” the Vermont native said.
“Is that when you guys hooked up?” Lindsay fired back.
The revelation that the model continued to see Austen, despite all of the drama, left both the cast and host Andy Cohen in shock. “I’m super surprised to hear you hooked up with him after all that,” the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen host told Ciara.
While the Kings Calling Brewing Co. brewmaster told Us that he thinks Ciara is “a wonderful girl,” he teased that fans will see him get an “earful” from his Winter House costar on the show’s upcoming second season. “We just filmed … And she and I certainly get a chance to talk, and you’re just going to have to watch and see how that all unfolds.”
Ciara also seems ready to move on from her reality TV love triangle. “I think that he was in such a different headspace in the summer [and] that played into some of his actions. Not that they are excuses, but sometimes you really have to be in a headspace to be filming and come to our parties and be in our house,” she told Us in January explaining that she noticed a big difference in Austen’s demeanor when they filmed Summer House.
She continued: “There was a little bit of pressure [on him at the time], and he has a people pleasing tendency. He wants to make people happy.”
Part 2 of the Summer House season 6 reunion airs on Bravo Monday, May 12, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Diana Cooper
