Kenny Martin and Whitney Fransway aren’t sure that Amanda Batula’s boyfriend, West Wilson, joining season 2 of In the City would be the best idea.
“We talked about this post-reunion, Amanda and I for a hot second,” Kenny exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, July 14. “It sounds like it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but I don’t know.”
Kenny, who is very close with Amanda’s estranged husband, Kyle Cooke, admitted to Us that West, 31, isn’t really part of their New York City crew.
West, however, was close with Kyle, 43, when he was part of the Summer House cast before his and Amanda’s relationship sent shockwaves into the Bravoverse. (Us previously confirmed that West and Amanda, 34, are not returning to season 11 of Summer House after their controversial romance resulted in a massive fallout with the majority of the cast.)
“I just don’t know where West fits into the equation,” Kenny explained. “Like, obviously, Amanda is friends with people in the mix, but I think it would be an adjustment for West to go from doing theme parties to real life.”
Whitney — who became friends with the In the City cast after moving to the Big Apple to continue her relationship with Kenny — noted that the dynamic in their group could be compromised with West comes in amid all the turmoil.
“I think everyone would be really protective of Amanda,” Whitney, 35, told Us on Tuesday during the joint interview. “I feel like even us, like, being newer friends in her life. I feel like how could you not?”
Whitney pointed out that West’s “track record” would most likely cause tension among the cast.
West previously confessed during the Summer House season 10 reunion earlier this spring that he was seeing a woman named Meija Moreno when he was already dating Amanda behind closed doors in March. (He initially denied they were boyfriend-girlfriend, but later confirmed that Meija thought they were exclusive.)
Us also revealed in April that West was hooking up with ex-girlfriend Ciara Miller “three to four weeks” before he went public with Amanda.
“I feel like it’d be interesting for him to step into our show because I think that people would have a lot to say,” Whitney added on Tuesday.
Kenny, who has known Amanda for years amid her relationship with Kyle, noted that thinking about West coming in made him realize “how different” Summer House is from its spinoff In the City.
“[We have] a lot of the same cast, but it’s a very different show in terms of, like, how the interactions are and the subject matter and stuff,” Kenny told Us.
Whitney was in complete agreement, revealing, “We have a lot of fun together as a cast, but like there’s a lot of real moments of this chapter in your 30s, 40s of what you’re navigating in your life.”
The former Bachelor contestant explained that West would “have to open up and bring that depth, which we haven’t seen on Summer House” to fully fit into their squad.
While Amanda has received backlash for dating West just two months after she and Kyle announced their split in January — and not telling her one-time BFF Ciara, 30, before going public — Whitney said some of their friends are still protective of her.
“I think it’s kind of flipping. I think that she’s made some poor decisions, and she didn’t quite own them the way that you know people wanted to see her do that,” Whitney said. “But she is a human at the end of the day, and she’s gotten so much hate.”
She told Us, “I feel like you want to protect somebody from continuing to make that decision,” but admitted that Amanda needs to “kind of figure it out for herself.”
Kenny was aligned with his girlfriend’s feelings about Amanda, adding, “Amanda made decisions and a lot of those decisions I think we both agree we’re not good decisions.”
That being said, Kenny shared that he’s known Amanda and Kyle “for a long time” so he’s “not in the camp of like, ‘She’s a bad person.’”
He admitted, “She made bad decisions. She kind of continues to make questionable decisions, in my opinion, so maybe we can watch all that play out in season 2.”
In the City’s two-part reunion begins on Bravo Tuesday, July 21, at 8 p.m. ET. with an uncensored version available to stream next day on Peacock.
