Ciara Miller is finally ready to talk.
In the weeks since her former close friend Amanda Batula and former flame West Wilson announced they were in some sort of relationship, Ciara hasn’t directly addressed the scandal that’s rocked the Summer House world, instead making winking reference to it on red carpets and on her socials. All that changed today with the publication of a new interview and photoshoot with Glamour magazine where Ciara talks about it all.
“It’s one thing to experience hurt behind closed doors,” Ciara stated. “To experience it so publicly is like another layer, and then to have to see what you thought was your life still play out in Season 10. It’s a major mindf***.”
Here are five things we learned from the new interview.
She and West Were in a Good Place Before
Ciara turned 30 at the end of last year and had a birthday dinner with family and friends, including one-time love and current costar West.
“I invited him and he came,” she said. “I felt like we were trying to move in a more positive direction since we hadn’t spoken to each other in two years. I felt like we were actually starting to be friends again.”
As part of rebuilding their friendship, Ciara shared she set some ground rules that he ignored.
“One of those [boundaries] was no more sleeping with people on Bravo,” she said. “Obviously, now that’s out the window. At the end of the day, we were genuine friends, which I think was what made it so hurtful when everything kind of went south [following our breakup], and why I needed to take time after.”
She’s the Most Hurt by Amanda
When first filming Summer House back in 2020, Ciara shared that she was easily drawn to Amanda, whom she described in the interview as feeling “like a very calm spirit initially. She was someone that I always felt comfortable talking to. She always felt like a nonjudgmental figure to go to.”
On the show and off, Ciara said she considered Amanda to be in her inner circle. As seen in the current season of ‘Summer House,’ she’s stood by Amanda’s side as her marriage to now-estranged-husband Kyle Cooke disintegrated.
“I’ve fought with your own husband to advocate for you,” Ciara said. “I have championed you. I have tried to be there in different ways for you and help you and get you to see your value in yourself. And so to be disregarded in such a disrespectful way is…. Honestly, it’s…. I’m at a loss for words sometimes.”
She’s Ready for the Reunion
According to US Weekly, Ciara will be joining her ‘Summer House’ castmates to film the Season 10 Reunion very soon. When interviewed by Hunter earlier this month, Ciara shared she’s prepared to film and even knows what she wants to talk about. One of those topics is the late conversation she had with Amanda, which she described as, “Minimal is all I’ll say. Because that’s something I will talk about at the Reunion.”
In addition to what she’s going to say, Ciara’s also been thinking about what she’s going to wear and what that choice will communicate to the audience.
“People talk about a revenge dress,” she said. “Even at the Reunion two years ago, I really wasn’t preparing anything to be a revenge dress. I was genuinely just like, ‘Oh, what do I want to wear?’ and I was working with my stylist at the time and we came up with something together. Now going into this Reunion, I have a different mindset. But I still don’t really think about a revenge look. I just think about what’s a proper representation of who I am right now.”
She Was Happy to Turn the Spotlight on Good Causes
Following Amanda and West’s announcement, Ciara’s social media following increased and she decided to put all that attention to good use, focusing her posts on causes including the Trans Day of Visibility and Girl Scouts Troop 6000, which serves families living in temporary housing in the New York City shelter system. Members of the troop created an Instagram Reel to thank the former scout for her support.
“I know I had a couple more hundred thousand eyes on my stories and on my profile, and I wasn’t quite ready to say anything,” Ciara said in the interview. “I posted what I felt needed to be acknowledged, and that was trans visibility, protecting the dolls, and then the Girl Scouts.
“I was a Girl Scout from kindergarten to a senior in high school,” she continued. “I earned my Bronze and Silver awards. My first community was my Girl Scout troop. A lot of TV is just so gluttonous. I think you have to give back in some way. I just wanted to shed light on something that needs a little bit of light.”
She’s Been Living Her Best Life
Scandal aside, things have been going well for Ciara as she’s lined up an array of endorsement deals and launched a new career as a red carpet reporter for events including the Academy Awards. She’s felt settled personally as well.
“I’m so happy being single,” she said. “Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone being in my apartment. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be single.”
Because the Amanda and West story broke less than two weeks after Taylor Frankie Paul’s unaired season of The Bachelorette was cancelled, the Internet began calling for Ciara to be cast on the show, an idea to which she said, “F**k no. I’m way too private.”
‘Summer House’ airs Tuesdays on Bravo and streams Wednesdays on Peacock.
(Photos: Instagram)
