Nick Viall plans to use Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s Summer House scandal to teach his daughters a lesson.
“I have a 2-year-old daughter. And I have twin girls on the way,” Nick, 45, wrote in a Substack essay published on Wednesday, June 3. “Which means watching the Ciara, West, and Amanda saga unfold hits differently than it might for someone just here for the drama. Less analysis, more, ‘I’m going to hear some version of this repeated back to me one day.’”
Nick and his wife Natalie Joy share daughter River Rose, 2, and have twin girls on the way, which the Age of Attraction cohost said colored the way he judged West and Amanda for dating so soon after the end of their previous, separate relationships. (Amanda announced her separation from estranged husband Kyle Cooke in January, while West dated Summer House costar and Amanda’s former BFF Ciara Miller in the past.)
“What would I actually want my daughters to understand when they inevitably recognize themselves in a story like this?” he asked. “Because they will. At some point, each of them will meet someone who doesn’t choose them the way they deserve to be chosen. They’ll find themselves more invested than the person they’re seeing, whether that’s actually true or just how it feels, stuck in something that feels real but never quite gets named.”
Nick broke down the dynamics between the main Summer House players, questioning whether Ciara, 30, got involved in a “situationship” that was bound to be hurtful.
“Ciara, from what we’ve seen, is someone who shows up. She values connection, wants friendship as a foundation, and is willing to invest in something real without waiting for guarantees. None of that is naïve. It’s what being a good partner looks like,” he wrote. “But being a great partner doesn’t protect you from being in the wrong dynamic. When you combine genuine empathy with inconsistency on the other side, you don’t get balance. You get ambiguity. And ambiguity is where people stay longer than they should.”
The Bachelor Nation alum argued that West, 31, “isn’t really the point of this story,” though his “pattern of behavior” is “worth discussing.”
“A grown man is allowed to be confused about his feelings. That’s human. What matters is the pattern, and the pattern here is hard to ignore,” Nick wrote. “This dynamic never shifted. Ciara was always the one waiting, always the one with more on the line. West was always in control of the outcome, and yet somehow the framing was that he was the uncertain one. ‘I don’t even know if she wants to be friends with me.’ That’s a way of holding power while appearing not to.”
Nick suggested that “even when West said the right words, his behavior told a different story.”
“The words started meaning less than what was actually happening between them. That gap, between what someone says and how they actually show up, is where hope lives. And when hope keeps getting fed like that, a little at a time, it’s really hard to walk away from,” he pointed out. “So instead of closing the door clearly [with Ciara], he said what soothed her, what kept it open, what protected his access without requiring him to choose. And at a certain point, especially as a grown man, that’s a choice.”
He acknowledged that there may be moments in his daughters’ lives when “they relate more to Amanda” than Ciara, though he hoped to use “eighteen years to try to instill values and self-respect.”
“If one of my daughters ever found herself in Amanda’s position, maybe making choices that don’t align with the standards we tried to instill, I’d want to lead with curiosity before judgment. Because people don’t make those choices in a vacuum,” he added.
The reality star further explained, “Sometimes [that feeling] comes from wanting to feel seen again. Or from not really knowing yet what you need, but knowing exactly what you don’t want to feel anymore. Or from wanting to grab back some control over something that feels like it’s slipping away.”
In the end, Nick acknowledged that he cannot teach his daughters “how to avoid people like West.”
“What I want them to learn is how to recognize the moment they’ve crossed from mutual exploration into one-sided investment, how to hold onto their own standards even when their feelings are involved, and to understand that consistency isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you require,” he argued. “Most of all, you will never regret walking away from someone who couldn’t choose you consistently, even if they were almost great, even if they turn out to be great for someone else someday.”
On March 31, Amanda, 34, and West confirmed they were pursuing a “connection” despite previously denying they shared a romantic chemistry.
“We’ve seen the growing online speculation, so while this is still very new, we wanted to provide some clarity,” Amanda and West said in a joint statement “It was never our intention to purposely hide anything. Given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it.”
They went on, “We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, longstanding friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care.”
“As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling,” they continued. “We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless. We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.”
The two were confronted about the timeline of their relationship and the impact on their friend group during the first two parts of the Summer House season 10 reunion. In one highly emotional moment from part two, Amanda admitted she had complex feelings about dating West at first.
“We’ve talked about [our dynamic] privately. What this would look like and what this meant, which is the only reason I feel like I’m sitting here next to him now,” she said. “I wanted to get to a point selflessly, where maybe I felt I understood what was going on, because I was going to have to be honest with Ciara no matter what. I felt embarrassed to have to say, ‘I have feelings and have kissed West and he’s seeing someone else.’”
When costar Mia Calabrese chimed in that the newfound relationship was indeed “embarrassing,” Amanda walked off stage. (Reunion host Andy Cohen later confirmed that Amanda was off stage for close to 20 minutes to gather her composure.)
Summer House airs the third and final part of the season 10 reunion on Bravo Tuesday, June 9, at 8 p.m. ET.
