Lindsay Hubbard from Bravo’s hit show Summer House is finally speaking out after Carl Radke called off their engagement.
In a two-part statement on Instagram, she thanked her fans for their support and for giving her time and space to “heal and grieve” her relationship and friendship with Carl.
“My entire life and future was ripped out from underneath me and I’ve had a hard time making sense of it all - with no answers or closure on why,” she wrote. “I feel humiliated by how it went down, and simultaneously heartbroken that it happened in the first place. My trust has been betrayed, and coming to terms with that has been difficult for me.”
She makes a point to highlight that it wasn’t her choice, saying, “This was not my decision, and I do not agree with quitting a relationship (at this level) without trying everything possible first.”
Just three days before Lindsay’s announcement, PEOPLE reported that Carl had sent a letter to wedding guests confirming the wedding was off.
"We are so incredibly sorry to all of our guests for the confusion and lack of communication. We were left trying to figure out how this all exactly happened before we could even have the opportunity to determine the path forward amongst ourselves," he wrote.
He let guests know that they were more than welcome to either go to Mexico as planned – well, kinda – for a vacation rather than their wedding, or they could cancel their reservations entirely.
Recently I’ve been covering the swath of breakups that have been taking place in the reality TV universe – particularly on Bravo. Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky, Drew Sidora and Ralph Pittman, Cynthia Bailey and Mike Hill, and Eva Marcille and Michael Sterling, just to name a few. And though I’ve written about how much reality TV capitalizes on these milestones as well as others like engagements, weddings - with wedding planning specials and spinoffs - it’s situations like Lindsay and Carl’s split that give us some insight into just how much really takes place behind the scenes.
One of the rumours surrounding the breakup was about Carl having a deal with the hotel.
“Only producers knew this was coming, very few of the guests were informed before the news broke,” Us Weekly reported. “The deadline to cancel their rooms and receive a refund is over, so many guests were left to eat the costs.”
In addition to accommodations, there were likely many deals, discounts and sponsorship arrangements with other vendors. Considering Lindsay’s background in PR and event-planning, we know it’s likely she was negotiating the sh-t out of florists, decorators and the like. One look at her Instagram page and you can tell she’s no stranger to leveraging her name and audience for some freebies. She tags her hairdressers, make up artists and dermatologists in everything. And in a lot of cases, a simple tag or a post is all it takes to get a partnership.
All of this just pads the case for people to tune in. Yes, the fallout between them as a couple is guaranteed to be good TV, especially if Lindsay’s been drinking. But the curiosity about how the situation with the guests will unfold? How Danielle, Lindsay’s former bestie who was pissed that she wasn’t involved in the engagement? How Carl will talk his way out of his hotel deal? I, personally, can’t wait to see it.
It’s no surprise that Lindsay, as a PR professional, issued a carefully-crafted statement about how innocent she is in all of this. But between their complicated history of on-and-off-again dating, coupled with the fact that they have really different views on sobriety, we all knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
I think all of this adds to the points I made in my last piece about these two that Carl must have been really serious about truly not seeing a future with Lindsay. To have faced this much pressure to go through with the wedding and decide, instead, to call it off is really telling. And I know everyone is rallying behind Lindsay but I’m standing ten toes down for Carl – because sometimes, being honest, especially when millions of people are watching, is a lot harder than people make it seem.
