Why Amanda Batula Thinks Craig Conover Is Being a ‘Little Ridiculous’ About Paige Desorbo Breakup (Exclusive)

Summer House’s Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula had mixed reactions when they first learned Paige DeSorbo and Craig Conover were officially over.

“I’d say I was surprised, not shocked,” Amanda, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting a new season of Summer House. “I didn’t react the way the rest of the internet did. But when I did get the text from her, I was like, ‘What happened? Are you OK? Is everything OK?’

On a December 2024 episode of her and Hannah Berner’s “Giggly Squad” podcast, Paige, 32, confirmed her breakup from Craig, 35. She told listeners “no one did anything” and “it wasn’t a bad thing.” Instead, they hope to remain friends as they explore different futures.

After the couple experienced three years of long-distance, Kyle, 42, was hopeful “they might go the distance.”

“I was rooting for them,” he shared with Us. “But ultimately, I think they both kind of kept the relationship pretty close to the chest. I don’t know if there are little red flags on Southern Charm, but I think for the first time ever in the three years that they were dating, she kind of confided in me about some of the challenges they were having. That was a first. I was like, ‘Oh, interesting.’ I always thought it was just rainbows and butterflies.”

When Amanda first got a text from Paige saying she had “top secret information,” the swimwear designer thought “it was maybe going to be an engagement.” She quickly learned it was the opposite.

“I’m sure we will all watch it sort of possibly unfold,” Amanda teased, “but she’ll definitely speak more to it at some point.”

Since the breakup was announced, Craig has chosen to unfollow Paige on Instagram. Us Weekly also confirmed the Sewing Down South founder is back on the dating app, Raya.

Craig’s latest moves after the breakup have left Amanda a bit unimpressed.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous,” she told Us. “I think Craig likes the sympathy from everyone and ultimately, I think what he should have done was clear up the cheating rumors in some regards because she’s really getting a lot of hate and a lot of hate for that.”

While she has been spotted hanging out with guys post-breakup, Paige has made it clear that she is not dating anybody.

From Kyle’s perspective, the internet thinks they are detectives. But in reality, Paige is handling the split the best way she can.

“I listened to her whole podcast and I was like, ‘Wow. She handled that with compassion and grace’ and I think I felt like there were a couple of things that he said that were clearly trying to tilt the scale a little bit, if you catch my drift,” he shared. “So I don’t know.”

Amanda wishes that Craig handled the breakup similar to the way Paige did because of their long history as friends.

“They had such a long relationship with such history together,” she explained. “You don’t want to piss someone off with the Instagram. We’ll see. She’s keeping busy. She has her tour. She’s always filming something or taking photographs or something. She is busy. Her mind is occupied.”

Summer House returns to Bravo Wednesday, February 12, at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will stream the next day on Peacock.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi