Scandoval dominated pop culture in the first half of 2023, but for the well-versed in the Bravoverse, another couple’s demise capped a big year for the cable network. Last September, Summer House star Carl Radke called off his engagement to fellow castmate Lindsay Hubbard two months before their wedding, and it sent shockwaves into the fandom, sparking rumors, theories, and judgments on what caused the split. And on top of it all, the breakup happened while cameras were rolling. Much of the pair’s relationship — from friends to best friends to friends with benefits to friends again to boyfriend/girlfriend to then engaged — has played out on the Bravo show, which shows the shenanigans and drama of young, professional East Coasters sharing a house for the summer. Now, with Summer House Season 8 premiering Thursday, we’ll finally get to see the events that led to their demise.
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That includes Hubbard, who recently told me that she will be watching this upcoming season albeit probably with girlfriends holding her hand. The idea of reliving her very public breakup on television had me wondering whether her feelings toward sharing her life for the public’s entertainment have changed, but she’s adamant that she sees it as an opportunity to reflect and learn about herself. And months out from the most difficult time of her life, she maintains that she’s doing well and already making moves. She’s got a new investment property dubbed “Hubb House” that’s now available to rent in Nashville — the same day, not so coincidentally, as the new season premieres.
Ahead, Hubbard discusses how she healed since the end of her engagement, whether her relationship with reality TV has changed, and what she wishes fans knew about the breakup and the aftermath.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Refinery29: How are you personally doing?
Lindsay Hubbard: I'm doing great. The last five months have been quite the roller coaster as I'm sure you could imagine. The first month was absolutely brutal, a lot of emotions, a lot of confusion, a lot of questions that I had that never got answered and just trying to sort through my feelings and emotions. That lasted a couple of months, and then I decided to throw myself into some trips and surround myself with people who have been in my life for a long time and are a huge support system. I carried through with my bachelorette party. Those girls in the Bahamas rallied around me like I've never experienced. I recently bought an investment rental property in Nashville that should be up and running right around the time of the Summer House Season 8 premiere so I'm excited to get that going.
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Beyond the obvious — the end of your engagement — what has been sort of the most difficult thing to navigate and what has helped you heal?
The difficult thing to navigate is always, for me and probably for most people, the uncertainty of the future. I had a very certain future and then all of a sudden it became very uncertain. The unknown is definitely scary. The thing that has always grounded me is my friends and my family, they've helped me do a lot of healing. I go to therapy every single week, and I've been in therapy for eight years. But also what’s helped is just really knowing who I am and knowing that I will always land on my feet and also trusting in the universe. The universe has its interesting way of stepping in when it needs to, and if you can trust that there's a higher plan, it definitely helps with the healing process.
Have you spoken with Carl since the end of your engagement? I know you saw him at BravoCon.
There hasn't been any sort of interaction.
Is there anyone from the Summer House cast who has really stepped up to support you or anyone who you feel maybe is a little you're a little disappointed hasn't as much.
Gabby [Prescod] has been incredible, she is so highly emotionally intelligent. I love sitting down with Gabby and just putting our detective hats on and really getting deep and figuring out why things happen the way that they do. Danielle [Olivera] was incredible right after the breakup and continues to be there for me. The other girls all reached out and showed their support and just love. It's hard, right, you have two people on the same show who have different relationships with everyone and it puts everyone in an awkward position, but everyone's just been incredible. Really truly, there's no disappointment with anyone.
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Fans had a strong reaction to the news with theories or judgment either way. I would love to know what your reaction was to their reaction both initially and now five months later looking back on it.
The news of the breakup went so public so quick. I'm pretty sure the whole world found out within 30 minutes of it actually happening. So that was a shock and surprise to me, but I think the fans were just as blindsided as I was. No one saw this coming as far as fans, me, friends, family, anyone even close to us. No one really saw this coming.
Is there anything that you wish people on the outside looking in really understood about your relationship or the aftermath of it all?
As with any relationship on a reality show, you're gonna see more insides to the dynamics of that relationship, but I've always been a very strong-minded, strong-willed, hard-working girl. I was raised in a way to take care of myself, be financially independent. It's like as the saying goes, if you teach a girl how to fish, she'll eat for the rest of her life, and I think I'm a big planner in that regard, so that's maybe something that plays a big role in how everything went down that you'll eventually see as the season airs.
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You shoot your lives in front of cameras and then months, or sometimes even years later, we the audience tune in. Because of that process, you have to relive the good, the bad, and everything in between. What is that experience actually like? I feel like it would be so difficult being able to move on or fully heal. Even if you've done all this work on yourself since the breakup, how do you keep yourself from going back there?
It's definitely difficult when there are tough situations that you have to rewatch, relive, get re-traumatized in that process. This is probably gonna be the hardest season for me to go back and rewatch and relive just because of the nature of how things ended. But at the same time, it was a super fun summer, and it was one of the most fun summers that we've had in a couple of years so I am looking forward to that.
But in general, we have the opportunity, which not a lot of people have, to rewatch our actions, our conflicts, our interactions with friends and in relationships and then reflect on ourselves and see things that we might need or want to change. Is it easy? No, not all the time. It's definitely difficult to really look at yourself and realize that change needs to be made, but that's growth and I've tried to do that season after season, to look at it as an opportunity as opposed to a challenge. As my therapist says, she said this is a great opportunity for you to process everything one more time and then be done with it.
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It's interesting to think about it as a luxury, to be able to literally rewatch your traumatic experiences on a television screen.
Now I don't think everyone on reality TV looks at it that way, but for me, I'm always trying to evolve and grow and find the positive, even in the most awful of situations. Otherwise, what are we doing?
Scandoval happened last year and how it broke the internet and news and just dominated pop culture was beyond anything anyone could have imagined. You also went through a very public breakup. Was that something that was on your mind?
I don't think that I expected that amount of the internet and social media and fans up in arms and confused. What happened with Scandoval was gross, but what happened with me, just the way it all went down, was just messed up. So there's no direct comparison at all. I obviously love Ariana [Madix] and appreciate her support considering she had gone through a similar very public situation as me and was able to just give me a hug. Even without words that support means a lot.
You've been incredibly open about your life and relationships on TV. Does this experience make you rethink your relationship with reality TV in any way? How much is worth bearing in front of cameras and how much isn't?
No, I've always been an open book. I've always been very true to myself, the good, the bad, the ugly. I am okay living in a world where I am not perfect because I think that's what makes me me. I've always been this way even before Summer House. What makes it all worth it is when I have a platform to be able to share my imperfections or the tough things that happen to me, and life, or the circuitous journey and the tougher paths that I'm on, and fans and followers are able to relate to that and they don't feel as alone.
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It’s been suggested that there were signs the relationship was in trouble, but you've been adamant that you were blindsided. In a way, are you looking forward to the season as being vindication for that feeling?
Sure? I mean yes, I am looking forward to seeing it all play out as the fans are as well. But at the same time my mentality is that when you are deep into a relationship, engaged, about to walk down the aisle in two months, there is nothing and was nothing that warranted that kind of response as to calling off an engagement or breaking up. It wasn't like we were fighting all summer. It wasn't like he had said anything to hint to me throughout the summer. I don't know what his conversations were with other people. He doesn't know what mine were with other people. So sure, am I looking forward to maybe understanding more? Yeah, but I also got all the answers I needed when everything ended.
As the season unfolds, is there one thing that you hope fans keep in mind as they're watching?
No matter what, we're human right? Like yes, we are on your TV screens to entertain you and hopefully we do a good job of that. But at the end of the day, I'm human. Carl's human. We're all human and we're not just characters on a show. I think people have a pretty good understanding of that. But for the people who don't, that might be a good reminder.
Summer House airs Thursdays on Bravo.