17-04-2025
'Summer House' star Carl Radke opens up about alcohol, drug addiction ahead of 'Cake Eater' memoir release
Carl Radke has certainly had a interesting time in Summer House Season 9 (on Hayu in Canada), after Radke and Lindsay Hubbard called off their engagement, and Hubbard also coming into the house this season pregnant. She has now welcomed her first child with boyfriend Turner Kufe.
Speaking to Yahoo Canada in Toronto, Radke spoke about the experience of not just ending a serious relationship, but having to to watch that play out on Summer House. Additionally, facing fans on social media who want to know more, and are regularly posting their opinions.
"There's an understanding that when you sign up you're opening your life up to stuff," Radke said. "I just never imagined we would even be in a position where people cared that much. ... So it's been a learning lesson over the years."
"Having a lot of people weigh in on something that they didn't even see yet was really challenging, but it's a gift. I feel lucky that we get to tell our stories publicly. Even when we broke up, I didn't think immediately, 'What's this going be like on social media?' All that mattered was we weren't in a great place. ... I'm not going to fake it, I'm not going to be that guy. I don't want to get divorced, I come from a family of divorce. ... So it's hard, but I do believe I made the right decision."
But Radke, who's been particularly open about his sobriety journey on the show, feels like he's actually watching himself this season.
"I actually feel like I'm watching myself, who I really am in a way, and I'm proud of that," Radke said.
Part of that, as Radke highlighted, was sharing with the Summer House cast in Episode 5 that he had been celibate post-breakup with Hubbard. And of course, can't forget about the confusion in last week's episode about when he started messaging Lil Aronoff, with Hubbard confirming from his DMs that they didn't start talking until after the breakup.
"I wasn't trying to play victim, ... I was just admitting something that I was afraid to admit," Radke said. "Because, as a guy especially, in our culture, it's like, you're not sexually active, ... you're not a man, or whatever. ... I just was not mentally in a place where I was comfortable hooking up with someone. ... I'm sober, I don't just have one night stands."
"How the hell am I going to start dating someone last year, from January to June, when on national television I'm still engaged that entire time, until the last episode. ... But admitting that on the show, it's a little bit weird, but I didn't do it to get people to root for me or anything."
While Radke continues to participate in the Summer House TV life, he's also set to open Soft Bar + Café, an alcohol-free bar in Brooklyn, this summer. And Radke credits his costar and friend Kyle Cooke for helping him navigate his business ventures.
"Kyle's been incredibly supportive, not only as a friend, but as an entrepreneur," he said. "I've learned a lot from him. He's a very smart dude. He works really hard, but he put me in conversations and meetings early on with Loverboy [and] I learned a ton."
Looking further into the year, Radke's book "Cake Eater" will be released in December. The name for the book came from Radke's childhood. "Cake eater" is a term used to described as a rich or privileged person.
"Our family, we weren't poor, but we weren't handed everything, blue collar, but I grew up in the rich area. So I was always called a rich kid and I wasn't rich," Radke explained. "We had broken windows in our car, missing hubcaps, we had a car in our backyard parked in the grass. ... So I was always really perplexed by the dynamic of being called a cake eater and not being rich."
"Fast forward to being on Summer House. There's an iconic moment Season 2 where I get a full sheet cake off the face at July 4, which was just a funny moment. ... Fast forward about a year ago, this time I was with Jesse Solomon in the Hamptons playing golf at a charity golf event. ... I go to this dinner, Jesse's there, I look over and it's my favourite quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, former NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers. ... I walk over ... and I'm like, 'Hey, Ben, I'm Carl Radke from Upper St. Clair, Pittsburgh.' Without a beat he goes, 'cake eater.'"
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While Radke thought about sharing his story for some time, it was during a panel with his ex that really kickstarted the idea.
"Lindsay and I were sitting on stage doing a panel and at the end of the panel, they do a Q&A, and the microphone gets passed to the audience, and this woman gets the mic, 'Hey, Carl. I'm a book publisher. You have an amazing story. I want to help you write your book,'" Radke shared. "We end up talking after the show. The bug's in my head now that this is a viable possibility."
"It didn't pan out with that particular individual. ... But after the breakup and kind of reprioritizing my goals with my life, ... a lot of people have seen me on Bravo, but there's a lot more to me that really molded and shaped who I am that led me to the version you saw Season 1, Season 2. A lot of unhealed trauma, a lot of unhealed family dynamics, my drinking and cocaine use, just being really honest about it all. I never really have done that before. So even when I got sober, I only admitted that was an alcohol issue. But anybody who knows me knew that I had a major cocaine problem, Adderall, and then as a result, Xanax and Ambien. So it was important for me just to be really honest, because my main goal ultimately is, I want to help people."
Radke identified that athletes like NBA players Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, and ex-NFL star Darren Waller talking about their mental health inspired him.
"I'm on a, I call it a random show, Summer House, but if one person can watch or listen or hear what I have to say about what I've been through, and they ask for help or get help, that's why I do what I get to do. At least that's ... what I hope to achieve," Radke said.
