Carl Radke: Craig Conover Caused ‘Drama’ for Summer House Cast, Paige

Carl Radke had a front row seat to Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo’s relationship while filming season 9 of Summer House — and it wasn’t all fun and games.

“The first thing I remember of Craig was he was loading our little mini fridge with non-alcoholic beer. And I was like, ‘Awesome, man. It’s great to see you again,’” Carl, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, February 24, while promoting season 9 of the hit Bravo series. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I haven’t been drinking.’ I’m like, ‘Great.’ And in my head, I’m thinking, ‘I have another buddy now. I have another friend I can enjoy non-A beer with.’”

Carl, who has been sober since 2021, confessed that he “didn’t pick up on a ton of stuff” between Craig, 36, and Paige, 32, while filming the show.

However, Carl did notice the “energy” between the now-exes. “You could tell that they were both faced with tough questions about the relationship,” he said.

“I think Paige and Craig were kind of in this, like, ‘OK, been together three years. What are we really doing?’” Carl recalled. “I think it revealed itself, and honestly, I give them a lot of credit for trying their best to work through it. But breaking up in the public eye is never easy.”

Paige and Craig began dating in 2021 after getting close on Winter House. Their relationship played out for three years in front of the cameras as Craig made cameos on Summer House and Paige returned the favor on his series Southern Charm.

Paige announced in December 2024 that she broke up with Craig over Thanksgiving weekend. Prior to their split, they filmed scenes for Summer House season 9 and Southern Charm season 10, both of which are currently airing on Bravo.

Looking back on their last summer as a couple, Carl said Paige had to deal with a lot from her castmates and Craig didn’t make it easier.

“I know enough to know Paige did a lot to support Craig and vice versa,” Carl told Us on Monday, noting, “Paige really has helped him become a better version of himself and become a better man.”

Carl claimed that Paige “certainly protected him in a lot of ways,” which will come out this season.

“There has been a lot of drama between the group and because of Craig’s things that Paige protected,” Carl alleged. “But that caused friction for all of us.”

He explained that viewers see that come to light with Kyle Cooke’s “rage text” that was teased ahead of the new Summer House episode on Wednesday, February 26.

“Paige has been kind of in the middle of some things because of Craig or Hannah [Berner] or whoever else,” Carl said.

A preview of Wednesday’s episode showed Paige and Kyle, 42, getting into a fight over a text Kyle sent seemingly about Craig. However, part of the text has since been leaked and appears to be mostly about Summer House alum Hannah, who is Paige’s “Giggly Squad” podcast cohost.

In the text, Kyle allegedly wrote, “Honestly, beyond discouraged. With Craig, too. This wouldn’t be a topic today if it wasn’t for him and about a dozen lies.” (The alleged text was shared via Reality Blurb on Monday.)

The part about Craig appears to be regarding Kyle and Craig’s feud over alcohol brand investments. In spring 2024, Craig announced that he invested in Spritz Society which is a rival company of Kyle’s Loverboy brand. Kyle publicly slammed Craig over his choice but Kyle claimed to Us in October 2024 that the reality stars are “good” now.

The second part of the text allegedly talked about Hannah, who Kyle previously feuded with when she was part of their Hamptons crew. At the time, Kyle slammed Paige for allegedly taking Hannah’s side.

The Summer House preview, however, hinted that Craig and Kyle’s drama will be what derails Paige’s friendship with Kyle — at least briefly.

“I think they’ve been cool as far as I know, but this whole text thing from the episode I think just has popped back up,” Carl told Us of Kyle and Paige’s current friendship status. “I’m hoping they’re cool and can work through it because of everything that’s happened over the last six months with Paige and him and Craig.”

Outside of Kyle getting into hot water with Paige over Craig, the exes have been publicly trading jabs in recent months. Carl, who had his own public split from costar Lindsay Hubbard in August 2023, revealed that he thinks Craig could’ve handled things better.

“I think in that scenario of him and Paige, the way she kind of announced it, it seemed like that was a kind of clean, obviously difficult situation,” Carl said, referring to Paige’s “Giggly Squad” announcement. “I feel like Craig got an opportunity to be a little more respectful at the beginning towards the situation. And it didn’t end up happening that way.”

After their split made headlines, Paige was accused of cheating on Craig, which he didn’t immediately dispute. Paige has denied that she was unfaithful, and Craig later told Andy Cohen that he wasn’t spreading the rumors.

Paige then alleged that she caught Craig “texting two bitches” during their relationship, which he claimed wasn’t true.

Carl, meanwhile, teased that while he wasn’t there when the Summer House cameras picked up earlier this year — to document Paige and Craig’s split — he “heard about it.”

“I heard it was actually at Lindsay’s apartment or my old apartment. I’m glad that Paige has the girls,” Carl explained to Us. “It’s nice to see everybody rally around Paige. I’ve certainly rallied around her. I care about her. I want her to feel the love and support. It’s a tough situation. I equally feel bad for Craig and her.”

Summer House airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi