A haunting moment. Carl Radke compared his heartbreaking fallout with late brother Curtis Radke to his season 7 Summer House drama with Kyle Cooke.
“Season 1 of Summer House … I was drinking and partying. I was all over the place,” Carl, 38, recalled during part 2 of the season 7 Summer House reunion, which aired on Monday, June 5. “I used to show up to interviews drunk, like, in the studio during the week.”
The former Loverboy vice president of sales remembered one confessional in which he candidly discussed his siblings’ ups and downs with drugs. (Curtis died in August 2020 after a lifelong battle with mental illness and addiction, which was captured on camera during season 5 of the Bravo series.)
“In the chair, I spoke about my brother’s heroin addiction. It wasn’t my place. He watched the show, like, ‘All excited to see my brother on TV,’ and [in reality] he watches the show and it’s me railing into him about his addiction,” Carl told his castmates. “It really was damaging and really hurt our relationship.”
The Pennsylvania native confessed: “I harbored a lot of anger toward him because I couldn’t come to grips that I also had issues and I was blaming him. But I was the one on TV, like, trying to glorify being this party boy. And it f—ked me up.”
Carl further explained that he and Curtis “didn’t talk” after the incident and that silence between them continued until his passing. “I never got the chance to say anything,” he added while holding back tears.
The businessman, who has been sober since January 2021, then turned his attention to longtime BFF Kyle, 40, whom he was at odds with while filming season 7 in summer 2022. During the season, fans watched as the Loverboy CEO drunkenly told his housemates that Carl once showed up to work “coked out” and proceeded to air his frustrations over their work relationship.
The twosome have since started to make amends — and Carl no longer works for Loverboy — but he was still upset by Kyle’s season 7 vent session.
“I showed up to work coked up and forgot my laptop. I wish I had the opportunity to say that and not you,” Carl said during Monday’s episode. “But I am incredibly ashamed and embarrassed about my past. For my addiction to be brought up so publicly, it really hurt when you said that.”
Kyle quickly apologized again for his actions, saying, “I felt like the dirtiest guy in the world. I am so ashamed, and I am so embarrassed, and I just knew that it was going to be a knife to the heart.”
The Trinity College alum added: “This guy is my best friend and I can’t grasp what he’s had to go through and for me to just rip that Band-Aid off a year later — I’ve never felt more ashamed and more sorry.”
An emotional Kyle wiped away tears before commending his friend for how far he’s come since they met in 2016. “To be honest, it was one of those moments where I just realized what you’ve gone through and how much you’ve done to change course and become not even a better man, you’re a new man,” he said.
Elsewhere in the episode, Kyle confessed that his harsh comments about Carl’s past addiction felt like a “role reversal” for the salesman, who had once attacked his brother’s character on TV.
“With Kyle, who’s my f—king brother and my friend, I’m not going to harbor that anger and hate,” Carl concluded before hugging his pal. “Like I said, this guy’s done a lot for me. We’ve been through so much together. Dude, I appreciate you man. I love you, man. that’ll never change.” Kyle agreed, “I love you too.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
