Inside Carl Radke's Polarizing "Flower Boy" Proposal to Kyle Cooke & the Merch It Inspired

In Season 8, Episode 7 of Summer House, Carl Radke pulled Kyle Cooke aside during the Hamptons 500 race car themed party to pop a surprising question. The ask? To have Kyle be part of Carl's then-upcoming wedding to Lindsay Hubbard as a flower boy. The moment was so funny and so unexpected, we had to immortalize it on a Shop by Bravo hat and shirt. With a floral design, of course.

While seated in a parked convertible, the two had a conversation no one really saw coming. "Well, man, I've been wanting to talk to you about this," Carl started, adding, "I really wanted you to be a part of our wedding—"

"I'd be honored," Kyle replied immediately. Next, Carl made an offer Bravo fans will probably be quoting for years to come: "I would love for you to be... a flower boy," the entrepreneur asked, adding, "If you're okay with this."

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Carl Radke asking Kyle Cooke to be a flower boy in his wedding.

Photo: Bravo

"We've got Andrea [Denver], Luke [Gulbranson], and you as flower boys," he added quickly, to which Kyle joked of the former Summer House cast members, "Two models and me." Understandably, Kyle wanted a little clarification on the subject.

"So, let me ask you," he began, "You have groomsmen?"

"I do—" Carl said, but Kyle went on. "But I'm not a groomsman?" 

"Your role is going to be the flower boy," explained Carl, to which Kyle responded with a simple "Oh."

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Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard reflect on asking Kyle Cooke to be a flower boy

"Deciding on groomsmen has been a little bit of a process," Carl revealed in an interview during the episode. "I mean, I have a lot of friends," he explained, adding, "It's not a demotion." Due to existing tension with Lindsay and Kyle, Carl felt his then-fiancée would not have wanted Kyle to be a groomsman in the wedding. Offering him a role as flower boy would still give Kyle the opportunity to be included in the ceremony.

"The thought of not having Kyle to be in our wedding, I couldn't wrap my head around that at all," Carl later said during the Summer House After Show. "The thought was, why don't we find three of your friends that are also like, wedding party material to be flower boys. I'm honestly kind of embarrassed about it because like, where we've been and what we've been through as friends... the thought of not having him there, or being a part of it, it's absolute insanity." 

Lindsay shared more context behind the decision during the After Show, noting that the wedding was planned to be held at an adult-only resort where no kids were allowed. Because Kyle and Carl were still "repairing their relationship," they "wanted to figure out a way" to involve the Loverboy CEO in the wedding.

The Summer House cast reacts to Carl Radke and Kyle Cooke's flower boy situation

Summer House fans likely remember Kyle's 2021 wedding with Amanda Batula, where Carl served as a co-best man and the couple's ceremony officiant.

"It wasn't until people asked me about it, they're like, well, he's essentially your best man with your brother, like a co-best man. And he officiated your wedding. And you're gonna like, throw some petals out at his? That's when I was like, 'Oh yeah. That is a pretty big disparity,'" Kyle laughed during the After Show.

Carl Radke officiated Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula's 2021 wedding.

In the same After Show episode, Amanda said that while she supported Carl's flower boy offer publicly, privately she wasn't comfortable with it.

"I tried to just be supportive of it, because the last thing I wanted to do was make Kyle feel worse about it," Amanda admitted, especially because she knew her husband "would have loved, more than anything, to be a bigger part in the wedding."

Fellow cast members Paige DeSorbo and Ciara Miller also weighed in. "With two other guys. He wasn't even one of one. He was one of three," Paige pointed out, to which Ciara emphasized, "Three flower men?"

West Wilson questioned, "What the f-ck is a flower boy? They're supposed to be kids." Jesse Solomon agreed. "Yeah, that's a kick in the nuts." 

"He's a 42-year-old man with a mullet. Why would he be a flower boy?" questioned Gabby Prescod. 

While the wedding was ultimately called off, the concept of adult men as flower boys will live on pretty much forever.

Summer House airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo and streams the next day on Peacock.