“Summer House” star Amanda Batula is ready to step out of Kyle Cooke’s “shadow” and stand on her own.
The reality star says that appearing solo on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast was a big moment for her independence from her husband.
“I have been in Kyle’s shadow sort of by choice. I’ve kind of hid behind him and let him take the lead. But I think it’s time to branch out from that,” she tells Evan Real and Danny Murphy.
“I don’t want to just be seen as, like, Kyle’s girlfriend or Kyle’s wife. So I’m here by myself. I left him at home with the dogs,” she says.
She adds that appearing alone is a good lesson in not leaning on anyone for answers.
“If there’s like an uncomfortable question, I have to respond. I can’t be like, ‘You go first and I’ll follow.’ No, it’s just me, myself, and I today,” she says.
Batula, 32, has been starring on the hit Bravo show since Season 1 as Cooke’s girlfriend before they eventually tied the knot after Season 6 in September 2021.
The Loverboy Creative Director admits that she “hit a low” after BravoCon 2023 in November and has been working on “bouncing back.”
“We’re happy and we’re thriving. And now, we’re ready to work on ourselves. Because before there was no energy to do anything,” she says.
Batula shares the sentiment as her marital struggles with Cooke, 41, play out on the current season of “Summer House.”
On Thursday’s episode, Cooke and Batula got into a heated argument after Cooke stayed out until 4 a.m. on a weeknight amid Batula wanting to settle down in the suburbs and start a family.
However, Batula defends her husband and says that he’s “slowly learning” and “growing,” but it’s “just taking him a bit longer.”
Batula explains that even while watching the episodes and arguments back, they try to leave the “past in the past” and not unearth their older issues.
“I think the biggest thing for us has sort of been, you know, unless there’s something that we really do need to still work through, sort of leaving the past in the past, because you live it and then it airs and you don’t want to keep reliving the same fights, the same arguments.
“As long as it’s been squashed, we kind of just leave it in the past and move forward,” she shares.
