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Amanda Batula Reveals When the “Biggest Change” in Her Relationship with Kyle Cooke Happened
The Summer House couple has also made a major financial decision since their wedding featured in the Season 6 finale.
After six seasons of Summer House, a three-year engagement, and a few rescheduled wedding dates amid a global pandemic, Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula finally said "I do" in the Summer House Season 6 finale, which aired on May 2. The wedding officially took place on September 25, 2021 in the backyard of Amanda's parents' house in her hometown of Hillsborough, New Jersey.
Even though getting to the altar was certainly stressful for Kyle and Amanda, the transition to married life has been seamless for the couple, as they explained during a joint exclusive interview with Bravo Insider earlier this season. "I think the biggest change in our relationship was when we moved in together. I think that was what took the most adjusting," Amanda noted. "So marriage, it's an exciting time where now we're really able to build our future together and start it from here. You know, this is our life together now. We're one unit."
Part of forming that partnership has meant figuring out the couple's financial future, which was a point of contention for Amanda and Kyle toward the end of this season of Summer House as they discussed whether or not to get a prenup before they wed. But after everything the couple had gone through in their relationship, including some last-minute wedding planning chaos, by the time their big day rolled around, signing a prenup didn't seem as urgent, as Kyle explained in an interview during the Summer House Season 6 finale. "All of a sudden, like, our list of priorities and our to-do list kind of got reduced down to the bare essentials, and guess what? A prenup was no longer in the mix," he said. "I'm not saying we won't come back to it, but now is not the time."
Amanda told Bravo Insider that she and Kyle had made at least one decision in all their talks about money. "We recently opened up a joint bank account, which is so much fun," she revealed, laughing. Kyle added, "Big steps here."
Something Kyle and Amanda easily agreed upon when it came to their wedding was having their friend and Summer House–mate Carl Radke officiate. "I'll speak on behalf of Kyle here a little bit, but when we first got engaged, when we were talking about [the] wedding party, Carl was obviously going to be a groomsman. He's been one of Kyle's best friends for so long, it was a shoo-in," Amanda explained. "But we never really thought about his relationship with me as well and how close I've been to him and how big of a role he's played in our relationship and as a friend of mine. And it was kind of sitting right in front of us. But because he already had the title of co-best man, we didn't really think to have him officiate. And it kind of just dawned on us one day that there's no better person who has been a part of our relationship, the ups and downs, has been a friend to both of us together and individually, that we've been a part of his life. And we couldn't have imagined anyone else. He was the perfect person to join us."
Few people are as ingrained in Amanda and Kyle's life, after all, since Carl also works with the couple on Loverboy. "Not only has he been a friend to both of us, but we work together with him. We talk to him every single day. We see his face, you know, constantly on Zooms. We're doing events," Amanda noted. "He's just so intertwined in our life. If we didn't ask him and we thought about it later, we would have been very remorseful."
After becoming ordained online four weeks prior, as he explained during the wedding ceremony in the Summer House Season 6 finale, Carl struck a perfect balance between being professional and personable as an officiant. "He took it so seriously," Kyle told Bravo Insider. "I mean, he was at every little step of the way. He just made it feel all the more special, just because he really took it as an honor."
With everything Kyle and Amanda have been through, it's hard for them to put into words just how meaningful it was to finally make it to the altar. "It felt surreal," Amanda said. "It was a long time coming. We've been through a lot together and relived a lot of those hard times and good times. So to have it actually happen and to have it happen in my parents' backyard, somewhere I'm obviously familiar with, Kyle is really familiar with."
Kyle said he completely agreed with Amanda's assessment of the day, noting the "magnitude" of the moment. "The word I was literally going to say is 'surreal' as well, because I was just, you know… I woke up. It was a beautiful day. I was writing my vows, immediately started crying," Kyle recalled of their wedding day. "And then by the time I got to the house to get ready, I was just in kind of awe, you know? It was just all happening."
In the days, weeks, and months since that joy-filled day, Amanda said that feeling of utter contentment hasn't left her. "I keep looking back at pictures from it, and I just remember how happy I was on that day and how relaxed I felt. Just soaking in every single moment, and just looking at the people around me and what was happening and that it was pure bliss," she shared. "I'm so grateful that when I look back at those photos, I feel that same feeling all over again — just happiness."
Watch new episodes of Summer House Mondays at 9/8c and streaming on Peacock. Plus, catch up with the Bravo app.
Get your first look at the Summer House Season 6 reunion kicking off on Monday, May 9 at 9/8c, below.
