West Wilson Opens Up About Reconnecting With ‘Summer House’ Castmates After Tense Reunion: “I Think It Was Always Going To Be Open Arms For Me”

For better or worse, West Wilson surely made a name for himself on the most recent season of Summer House. After starting Season 8 as everyone’s favorite quirky new guy, he was ultimately hit with backlash for the way he ended things with Ciara Miller. Luckily for Wilson, the heat has finally died down — and while Bravo has not officially confirmed whether he’s returning for Summer House Season 9, he was recently photographed with the rest of the cast (Miller, included) at an event where Kyle Cooke was DJing.

The sports journalist — who sat down for a Zoom interview with DECIDER to promote his new partnership with Captain Morgan Sliced — said reconnecting with his castmates after the tense Season 8 reunion felt “pretty natural.”

“What I learned about reunions is it’s kind of a good way to air things out and then start fresh — just like in real life,” he said. “Once you finally get things off your chest, you feel a lot better and can kind of move forward easier. I’m not really good at holding onto stuff and good at confrontation so I think it was always going to be open arms for me.”

While he was chastised by both Miller and Paige DeSorbo at the reunion, Wilson could always count on co-star Jesse Solomon to be there for him. For those who don’t know, the duo joined Summer House in the same season and quickly struck up a bromance.

“We have the best time together. I’m seeing him today for beer. He’s a goofy guy and we just giggle all the time together,” Wilson said, telling DECIDER that he would “love” to have a spinoff show with Solomon as long as producers didn’t make them “hate each other.”

On the professional front, Wilson has been keeping busy with his full-time job at Complex Networks as well as his Captain Morgan Sliced campaign, which is offering lucky fans a chance to win a trip to one of three places in the U.S. curated by the reality star, who has famously visited all 50 states.

DECIDER got to talk to Wilson about the exciting sweepstakes, his time on Summer House and his iconic bodega content on TikTok. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: Congrats on this new partnership! Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the Captain Morgan Sliced sweepstakes?

WEST WILSON: Yeah, the campaign — we were just talking about this — it’s very niche and feels kind of perfect for me, given it’s a domestic travel sweepstakes, you know? And I hate saying it too many times, but I’ve been to all 50 states, and it’s kind of my favorite fun fact. And so we’re letting people slice stuff off their bucket list. That’s what the drink is called and it’s awesome. And I believe in traveling to different parts of the country that you probably normally wouldn’t go to and so this is super perfect. 

When you told your friends in Summer House this little fun fact about yourself – that you’ve been to all 50 states – did you ever expect that it would lead to a business venture like this?

No. Well, what’s funny about the tidbit on the show was that I think it got its clout because I said it before Jesse told his cancer story. And then I made a joke after being like, “Dude, imagine if I had to tell that after — that I’d been to most of the states and then he had his cancer story.” So no, it was a funny bit, obviously, but I know it. I mean, it’s awesome because people bring it up all the time. So yeah, I’m glad it made the cut.

We saw some of the travel experiences you’ve curated for the winners, like taking a chartered yacht in Florida and seeing the Northern lights in Minnesota. How difficult was it to narrow down your favorite travel experiences? And which do you recommend fans put at the top of their list?

Super hard. We had a full doc with state questions and location questions and I put more thought into that then I probably should have. I think for the top one, the most niche is probably the Northern Lights in Minnesota just because you don’t hear a lot of people saying they’re taking trips to Minnesota. But like for me personally, you know, cowboying it up in the mountains, in the Rockies, is close to home. I went to school in Montana. My dad rodeos. So that probably brings me the most excitement, which is a no brainer.

You’re also a budding TikTok influencer! Did you expect your bodega content to take off like it has?

No. That’s what’s so funny, is all these little things that you don’t expect catch fire and you just lean into them. But no, I think the first one I did, it was like 10 a.m. and I just posted it and people loved it and I think it’s just relatable. Like everyone has gone in tired to their bodega to get a coconut water and a bacon, egg, and cheese and I just have leaned into that a little bit and people love it. People bring that up to me all the time, too, randomly. So it’s the little things that you’d never expect that people like, which is probably good.

I want to talk a little bit about Summer House. Last season, you were everyone’s fan-favorite, although you did face some criticism after the reunion aired for everything that went down with Ciara.

A lot of criticism.

Yes, a lot of criticism! How did you handle that? And how are you doing now?

Good. Even when the show was airing, I learned every day how many people watch this show, which is more than I ever thought, and how many people have opinions about everything. So, yeah, when it happened, obviously, no one’s ever really ready for anything like that. I think it would be a mistake to go through something like that and not try to reflect and take away something and learn from it and grow from it.

But amidst all the negative feedback I got, you always have like a percentage of people who are like, “Don’t worry, the Bravo audience is like this and it’ll go away super quick.”And it actually, I don’t know, I feel like I woke up a week later and it just stopped. So, yeah, it was just a bottleneck on fire for a little bit and everything’s cool now.

You’re definitely not getting Sandovaled.

No, but I think even being compared to him is so insane. It’s nuts.

I know you can’t really talk about Season 9, but it’s no secret that you’ve been out and about with your Summer House castmates. I know there was one recent photo of everyone at an event where Kyle was DJing. What can you tell us about what it was like reconnecting with them after that heated reunion?

Pretty natural. I feel what I learned about reunions is it’s, kind of, a good way to air things out and then start fresh — just like in real life. Once you finally get things off your chest, you feel a lot better and can kind of move forward easier. I’m not really good at holding onto stuff and good at confrontation so I think it was always going to be open arms for me.

If Kyle Cooke asked you to give him a DJ name on the spot like I am, what would it be and why?

Wow. Great question. OK, I’m going to backtrack. Do you remember the Banana Mon? I think DJ Mon. Pay homage to the banana, who was Kyle’s best friend for one weekend. Super funny. Because Loverboy? We already know that. DJ Kyle? We already have heard his name 100 times. I think you got a lean into something cute. Or maybe a Loverboy flavor. Like, could he be DJ Cosmo or something? I don’t know. Something like that.

We all know the super exciting news that Lindsay is pregnant. What was your reaction to finding that out?

I try not to buy into rumors until I hear them from the source and I don’t want to be nosy and text her and pry, you know? So, I tried not to buy into the pregnancy hype until I heard it from her. And then when I finally did, I was a little surprised. Because I’d heard rumors, but when you hear it in real time, it’s always, like, holy shit. But, I mean, she’s happy. I would never knock anything that keeps people from following their dreams. I know she’s wanted to be a mom for a really long time and so getting to see her live that out will be super cool for everyone, I hope.

Have you met her boyfriend?

I haven’t. I think maybe Gabby [Prescod] has? But I don’t think anyone else has.

It seems like he’s staying on the down low, which is probably good.

I think it’s great, but we’ll see if he can manage that for a long time. I don’t know.

Well, I feel like Bravo needs to give you and Jesse Solomon your own spinoff show. Would that be something you’d be open to doing in the future if the opportunity came knocking?

Yeah, as long as they didn’t make us hate each other. I would love to do that. But yeah, we have the best time together. I’m seeing him today for beer. He’s a goofy guy and we just giggle all the time together. Yeah, it would be fun. I wonder where the drama would come, though. Maybe we have to get into business together or something to stir the pot, but we have each other’s backs for the most part right now.

I think it would be a lot of fun even without drama. I feel like you guys would just be fun to watch.

Can we get a show without drama? Let’s do that! I am all for that.

We all saw you land your current job on the last season of Summer House. How are things going there?

Fantastic, actually. I have a new show coming out with Complex, which we’re really excited about. And actually, this partnership is going to tie into work a little bit, which is really cool. So, we got a lot of things moving. But yeah, I mean, I am super busy, but having been laid off a year-and-a-half ago now, I know how uncomfortable I feel when I don’t have a job I’m passionate about and so to be able to get back into that and then have full support and everything and do things that I love to do, just fulfills me and I love doing that. So, it’s honestly awesome. But keep an eye out for the show. It’s going to be sick.

You’re Bravo’s resident sports guy. Have you been watching the Olympics? What’s your favorite sport to watch and why?

If I told you women’s sand volleyball, would that be OK? I actually have always loved watching volleyball. I think volleyball is a very, very entertaining sport to watch. I’ve just gravitated towards it forever. But, obviously, sand volleyball, it’s beautiful women so that adds.

But I think most culturally relevant is probably basketball just because we all know most of the faces on that team. And any gymnastics event on the beam blows my mind. I don’t know how a human being can do that. So it’s all pretty awesome. 

What’s next for West Wilson? I know you said you have a show coming out. Do you have any other exciting projects coming up that you can tease?

I’m hoping I get to take a week-long nap when summer’s over, which would be great. But, no, that show’s huge. This partnership is fun. I’m excited to see who gets chosen for this … Hopefully, we get a lot more names in and find some fun faces. But when fall creeps around the corner, I just get so excited for cold weather and football. It’s my love.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Fans 25+ have through Monday, Aug. 5 to sign up for the “Sliced is Better” sweepstakes here.