‘Summer House’ Star Amanda Batula Says Husband Kyle Cooke’s “Mullet And Late Hours Out” Are Signs Of A “Midlife Crisis” [EXCLUSIVE]

Summer should be fun — but Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke are having a hard time getting on the same page in Summer House Season 8. The most recent episode of the hit Bravo reality series finds the married couple bickering about Cooke’s habit of coming home from the bar at 4 a.m., as well as their potential future in New Jersey.

Even after Batula expresses her frustrations about Cooke’s late-night outings at the start of the weekend, the Loverboy founder proceeds to stay out until 4 a.m. again. While chatting with DECIDER, Batula said there’s a “time and a place to be out” that late and that she doesn’t think her husband “can tell the difference.”

“I think he’s just maybe having a little bit of a midlife crisis between the mullet and the late hours out,” she joked, adding that he can take the “night shift” when they decide to have children. “You stay up now, you stay up when we have a kid, too.”

Batula and Cooke, who sought help from a relationship counselor in the most recent episode, have been airing their relationship on TV for eight years now — and with that comes the “toxicity” of public opinion, which Batula said she has “finally” learned to “ignore.”

“I always say if it was up to me, I’d keep my entire relationship private,” she revealed. “But that’s not great TV. So we have Kyle to thank for how transparent and honest we are — which is very difficult.”

Ahead of tonight’s new episode, Batula opened up to Decider about all things Summer House, from how her co-star Paige DeSorbo helped her become “more confident,” to which Real Housewives of New Jersey star she would want as a neighbor if she ever moved back to the suburbs. Read the full interview below.

DECIDER: Before we get into the drama, I just want to say I love your friendship with Paige. She was ready to go to bat over the flower boy situation and she didn’t hesitate when she told Kyle to stop being a dick in tonight’s episode. What is your favorite thing about your friendship?

AMANDA BATULA: I think that Paige, especially over the years, has unintentionally helped me be a lot more confident in myself. Just kind of seeing her be such a badass and a boss and tell people how it is – like, [she’ll] even tell me sometimes that I should be upset – is one of the greatest things about her and our friendship. Sometimes you need someone in your corner that’s going to tell you, like, “That was messed up. Like, don’t let that slide.”

You and Kyle are really going through it this season. After that awkward conversation at dinner, Paige broke the fourth wall by asking if you have ever called him out for saying certain things on national television. Have you? And how do you deal with the public opinion that comes with airing your life on TV? 

Yes. I’ve absolutely told him, “What the hell were you thinking?” I think that’s been a basis of a lot of our arguments. Like, you know, I’m more upset at the fact that he would do that to me while we’re filming versus why he said it at all. Kyle is just way too honest and doesn’t know how to bite his tongue, as I think we’ve all seen. So it’s just something that we’re dealing with, but it’s not great and I’m not happy about it. 

I always say if it was up to me, I’d keep my entire relationship private. But that’s not great TV. So we have Kyle to thank for how transparent and honest we are – which is very difficult. 

The fandom – there’s a lot of supporters out there, but the haters are a lot louder. People like to remind us of our faults all the time, like, every day. I always see a comment about people taking bets on how long our relationship is going to last. “I give them one year,” like, “I’m surprised they even got married.” There’s just a lot of toxicity out there. OK, so our relationship is not perfect. It’s not the healthiest. We know that. But having so much negativity piled on top of it is not helpful and reading it all the time starts to make you question yourself a little bit. But I’m at a point finally where I think I’m able to ignore the noise and just power through and know that I’m happy where I am. It doesn’t matter what other people think. 

You guys have also been talking about moving to New Jersey. If that ever comes to fruition, which New Jersey Housewife would you want to be neighbors with?

Oh my gosh. I don’t think I could afford to live in their towns. I’d live maybe in their shed in the backyard or if they have a pool house I’m happy to rent that out. I kind of would possibly want to be neighbors with Marge [Josephs] just because her house looks insanely beautiful on the inside. I think I would just want to go over there and take pictures in whatever outfits I had for press because there’s so much interesting stuff happening. And she’s always been really supportive of me and Kyle, so I feel like she’d be a fun one. We’re just not going anywhere near the pool.

Are there any updates on whether you guys will be making the big move?

Yeah, no updates. It’s definitely on the back burner. I think it’s something that we need to be on the same page for when we are pregnant. I don’t think that we would ever move before I get pregnant or we have a child. So we’ll be in the city for the time being and then once that baby comes in whatever way we’ll have to have a more serious discussion. Or I’m moving in with my parents.

As a fellow Jersey girl, we are waiting to welcome you back.

I know, I’m ready to come back. This is just like going to college. Moving to New York is like going to college. I did for for 10 years. I’m still coming back home.

We’re seeing a lot of heavy stuff between you guys this season. Can you tell us some happy or sweet moments you wish had made it to air? 

My memory is so bad. I’m watching the show back and being like, “Oh my God, I did that?” There were definitely moments. I just don’t remember any of them. I swear they exist. But you can also ask me about the worst moments and I wouldn’t remember those either. That’s why I have to take notes because I’m very forgetful. I have to be reminded of a lot of things. 

A lot of the tension this weekend in particular stems from Kyle going out until 4 a.m. – and then he does it again, even after you expressed your frustration to him. Has he gotten any better about coming home a little earlier since then? 

I want to say no – maybe not 4 a.m. nights but he still goes out late. I just want to meet in the middle somewhere. We were just at a wedding and he was out until 4 a.m. two of the nights, which in that situation is understandable. I think that there’s a time and a place to be out till 4 a.m. and I don’t think he can tell the difference. 

He’s always meeting a new friend. People are always going somewhere else. He’s always excited. He just loves to socialize. And I’m like, “You have a wife at home and it’s Thursday, or it’s Tuesday, or it’s Wednesday.” But yeah, I think he’s just maybe having a little bit of a midlife crisis between the mullet and the late hours out. 

I like that you don’t feel like you always have to be with him, though. You’ll stay home and as a homebody myself, it’s obvious that you do trust him.

Yeah, there’s enough trust there to let him go out. But I do start to worry if I can’t get a hold of him and 2 a.m. goes by, 3 a.m. goes by, 4 a.m. goes by. Because in my mind he’s in a ditch somewhere. That’s where my head goes to. It’s like the anxiety of where is he? What is happening? 

But I do trust him when he is out. It’s just like, at what point are you going to come home? Like when we have a kid, are you still going to be out until 4 a.m.? Someone said that he can take the night shift with the baby if he’s OK staying up that late. So that’s gonna be the compromise. You stay up now, you stay up when we have a kid, too.

What else can you tease about the rest of the season? 

Oh my gosh. We have two really amazing parties coming up – like really great theme parties – that I think are going to look so amazing and epic but Ciara [Miller’s] costumes are just – they top the race car [party] one.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Summer House airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes begin streaming the next day on Peacock.