Part 1 of the Summer House reunion recently aired, and everyone is discussing the fallout between Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard. However, newbie West Wilson also has a reason to be in the hot seat as his romance with Ciara Miller went south, and most cast members took her side.

Fans will recall that West and Ciara became pretty close during the season, and he even took her to meet his family. However, he called things off in December for “show-related reasons.” Some of the cast have accused him of losing interest in her due to the fame from the announcements surrounding the show.

Now, he’s talking to Vulture about the reunion as well as the season overall. He starts by saying he knows he won’t come off clean during the reunion.

According to West, “I actually haven’t watched it, but I was there, so I know it’s probably not my shiniest moment.”

Regarding his breakup with Ciara, he feels that it felt like a mutual decision when it happened. However, this is not how the interaction went at the reunion.  He says, “Our breakup felt more mutual in real-time than it turned out to be on reunion day. Ciara’s reaction was a lot different than I had interpreted. When we stopped talking, it felt like a mature conversation. “

He goes on to say that she seemed to agree with him when they actually broke up, so it was a bit surprising to see how much animosity she had towards him. 

West then clarifies what he meant when he blamed the breakup on “show-related reasons.”

“I didn’t word things correctly. I was trying not to break the fourth wall too hard. Dating on the show is not the most fun experience given that we coexist with these relationships in real life.”

West continues, “It was great, but also we weren’t even hooking up. It was a very juvenile crush on the show.”

When asked when he last talked to Ciara, West said, “Five or six months. The weirdest thing with this playing out now is it was all last year. You see how things felt for other people when we’re already super-far removed. The backlash you get — I’ll probably have to turn my phone off tonight. It’s crazy.”

He also disagrees with Ciara’s claim that he got everything he wanted out of her and says, “That’s hurtful, but we were always on the same page during filming. It didn’t end when she wanted. She wanted more.”

Regarding who besides Jesse Solomon supported him, he said, “I appreciate Jesse trying. I think he was just trying to say, “Not really. I tried to bring this up in the reunion: I texted Paige right after Ciara and I ended, and she was like, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s just timing, not a big deal.” Everyone’s emotions and thoughts about the whole thing funneled into the reunion, but no one hates me. I still have good relationships with everyone.”

West then opens up about wanting to be his own person and not “Ciara’s toy.” He says, “I thought it was going to look like I used this girl to be on the show. “Ciara’s toy” is what I was seeing online, and it’s probably an immature ego thing, but I was like, Oh, am I just going to be some guy who came on a show under the umbrella of another person? That’s not fair to her at all, but that was another thing where I was like, Do I need to be my own person?”

He continues to say that he feels Ciara got the support she got at the reunion because she has stronger ties with the cast. Of course, Jesse Solomon tried to defend him, but some of the ladies didn’t take too kindly to the support. He also expresses that he wishes he would have responded to other people less and focused on telling his side of the story. 

Regarding how it looked like things with her were more serious than they were, West said, “I don’t put as much weight into those things as she does, and that was a mistake on my part.”

He continues, “I mean, I’ve taken a lot of girls to weddings. Not to say it didn’t matter — I am in the minority that thinks it can be fun and casual to do those things. This was a lesson: You can’t just be casual about shit like that when an entire other person is on the other side of it.”

When asked if he and Ciara could repair things, he said, “I would never say “no” to that. There’s always a chance. But we’re on our own paths right now. It’s for the best, and I hope we can be friends at some point.”

In the end, West also admitted that he was unsure if he’ll be returning for a second season of Summer House. Fans can catch part 1 of the reunion on Peacock.