17
Credit: Ivan Apfel/Bravo, Zach Hilty/BFA.com
Kyle Cooke admitted that he was in disbelief when he learned it Amanda Batula and West Wilson were dating during an interview on Wednesday.
As he also shadowed his estranged wife as “reckless”, it denied cheating and dished on its regrets, the 43-year-old Cottage star teased his upcoming one-on-one with West, 31, charged dating rumors connects him with Sally Carson31 and Meghan King41, talked about his and Amanda’s marriage problems, divorce and more.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel right until I see them together,” Kyle admitted PEOPLE on June 10. “I considered West a really good friend and it’s just not something I can fathom doing to someone close to me. We’re a tight-knit family, it’s like him hitting his sister.”
“I’ll never really understand what the motives were,” he added.
Explaining that he was “unaware” of the rumors at first, he eventually saw that Amanda had been staying at West’s apartment by checking her location.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Kyle recalled.
Then, after reaching out to Ciara Miller30 who wanted to meet, Kyle knew something was going on.
“Ciara is a homebody. She wants to drag herself to my apartment to hang out? I had a sinking feeling in my stomach,” he recalled.
He also suspected something was up after Amanda flew to Los Angeles for work.
“I look at her location and she’s at an Irish dive bar in South LA. I’m like, ‘That doesn’t sound like a place Amanda would normally go. She’s with West. There’s no other explanation,'” Kyle said.
When they could no longer hide their romance, Amanda came to Ciara first.
“Ciara called me straight away and I finally heard from Amanda nine hours later,” Kyle revealed. “Even though I already had so many pieces in the puzzle, I was still in disbelief that she would be so reckless and thoughtless and irresponsible, and Amanda is usually none of those things.”
To clarify that Amanda moved out in early November, Kyle shared that he believed they created space to work on their marriage.
“The idea was that we’d go to couples therapy and we’d go on a date every single week. Well, none of that happened. We didn’t really put any effort or work into the marriage,” he noted.
Additionally, Amanda “bailed” to attend a New Year’s event with him after an argument over one brand agreement.
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 breaking up.’ I sent it to my mom and my mom said, ‘It kind of seems like you’re closing the door and not even leaving it open,'” Kyle shared.
Looking back on 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 in a loud, boisterous club. I am a very personable, outgoing, flirty guy. I want to own it. Too flirtatious for a married man, yes. I acted by staying out late, it wasn’t a physical affair.”
As they move forward without each other, Kyle said he’s “trying to somehow 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 weren’t good times,” he admitted, adding that he felt “betrayed” by Amanda’s behavior at the reunion since he was “expecting to learn more.”
As Kyle explained, Amanda’s attitude was “more defensive than remorseful.”
As for his one-on-one with West, which will be broadcast Cottage: The Aftermath Next week, Kyle revealed that he finally got West to “own up to some stuff.”
“I was disheartened that he didn’t come prepared to be 100% honest about everything. He still lied about his girlfriend (Meija Moreno) and the reality of his exclusive nature of that relationship, which blew my mind,” he shared. “It was one of those conversations where I thought, ‘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 that Amanda was going to have this big PR moment. I think he realized that last summer. I think that’s part of the reason he pulls up his chair 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 is going to love her, and therefore the Internet is going to love me.'”
Kyle would have rather seen Amanda “be single and work on herself and go to therapy.”
According to Kyle, it was one of his “biggest problems over the past few years” in their marriage.
“It’s about mental health and depression, so 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 West immediately filled a void,” he reasoned.
Enjoying the boost in Loverboy sales, which he described as “so encouraging”, Kyle said he is also enjoying his “single era”, clarifying that Salley and Meghan were “just friends” and noting that he is not looking for anything serious.
“I travel a lot, so I’m not even really able to date in New York. I’m having fun. I 100% want to be single this summer because I look at my calendar and I’m like, ‘Yeah, there’s no way I’m even going to date locally,'” he explained.
Still, Kyle said he was “glad to get another chance to find love and happiness.”
Regarding his divorce, Kyle said he hopes to get a “walkaway” divorce “instead of a marriage,” and he confirmed that Amanda made the first move with an email from her lawyer in mid-March that he was suspicious of.
“(For) someone who doesn’t take much initiative,” Kyle mused, “that was kind of weird. I’m like, ‘Wait, is there an ulterior motive as to why she’s suddenly speeding up the divorce?’
Kyle then said that he would be on Season 11 “if they come knocking,” even if it means he has to film with Amanda and West.
“Hopefully we can still coexist peacefully,” he said. “I feel like life is too short. Have I forgiven (West)? No. I’m just not the type to want to cut someone out of my life, especially if they played a big part in it.”
Kyle also admits that Amanda still has some of her belongings in her home that he would like her to retrieve.
“I’m trying to be as patient as possible, but I think my patience has run out. I think she has a boyfriend who can come over and probably help pack a car,” he said. “I don’t want to be there.”
Despite his range of emotions, Kyle admits that he and Amanda still communicate regularly, and he even talked to her on the way to his interview about the two rescue dogs they share, Reese and Ryder.
Cottage: The Aftermath aired on Tuesday 16 June at 8/7c on Bravo.
Leave a Reply