Tom Schwartz has thoughts about the Amanda Batula/West Wilson situation over on Summer House, and he is very much hoping the whole thing doesn’t blow up the friend group he actually likes watching hang out.
Schwartz wants the house to survive this
At The Valley season 3 press event on Monday, March 30, Schwartz, 43, said he’s rooting for the Summer House crew to keep it together. He talked up how that cast has real history and actual friendships — the kind where they bicker, hold each other accountable, and still come back stronger. He also made it clear he’s close with all parties here: West Wilson, Ciara Miller, Kyle Cooke, and Amanda Batula.
On the Amanda/West romance chatter specifically, Schwartz’s take was basically: please let this be a nothingburger. In his words, the optimist in him wants to believe it’s been blown out of proportion and maybe isn’t even true.
He also couldn’t help comparing the current drama to 2023’s Scandoval — the Vanderpump Rules meltdown where Tom Sandoval (also 43) cheated on Ariana Madix after nine years together with Ariana’s best friend Rachel Leviss (formerly known as Raquel). That one scorched the earth for months. Rachel later said Schwartz knew about it the whole time, which turned him into collateral damage.
"Listen, I know we love the drama, but also, those are my friends, and there’s always a human cost there, and I don’t want to see them go through what I had to go through."
How we got here
- Early March: DeuxMoi posts that Amanda Batula, 34, and West Wilson, 31, are dating.
- Context that matters: Amanda publicly announced in January that she and Kyle Cooke were separating after four years of marriage.
- Complication: Amanda’s best friend, Ciara Miller, dated West in 2023, which is where the friction allegedly starts.
- Monday, March 30: Schwartz weighs in at The Valley season 3 press event, hoping the Summer House friendships don’t implode and suggesting the chatter might be overblown.
- Tuesday, March 31: Amanda and West confirm their formerly platonic thing has turned into a romance.
Amanda and West finally say it out loud
On March 31, Amanda and West posted a joint statement on Instagram addressing the online speculation. Short version: this is new, they weren’t trying to hide it, and they wanted a little breathing room because the relationship dynamics are complicated and reality TV scrutiny is relentless. They said their connection came out of a long, genuine friendship, their feelings evolved, and that’s why they approached everything cautiously. They also acknowledged that this affects more people than just the two of them and stressed they never set out to hurt anyone. The ask from them now is pretty simple: a bit of understanding while they figure it out.
Fallout and where things stand
As of now, Ciara hasn’t said anything publicly about Amanda and West becoming a couple. Behind the scenes, sources say she feels heartbroken and betrayed by both of them. Another insider says Ciara cut off contact with Amanda and West after finding out — furious at West, but even more hurt by Amanda. The word 'disappointed' apparently doesn’t cover it; for Ciara, this goes way beyond breaking 'girl code.'
Bravo has been asked for comment.
My read: this is messy, and it’s not hard to see why fans are spun up, but it’s also not Scandoval-level nuclear — at least not yet. If the Summer House friendships are as sturdy as Schwartz says, now would be a great time to prove it.