Kyle Cooke Sets Record Straight on Viral Reunion Photo With Amanda

When a candid snapshot of two exes laughing together hits the internet, the conspiracy theories follow pretty quickly. Kyle Cooke, 43, decided to cut through the noise this week by explaining exactly what went down when he and estranged wife Amanda Batula, 34, were spotted all smiles as they left the In the City reunion on Thursday, June 11.

The context matters here. Both Cooke and Batula had just come out of an intense, multi-part reunion taping for Summer House season 10—one that apparently left everyone emotionally drained enough to need group therapy. Cooke explained in an Instagram Stories video posted Saturday, June 13, that after everyone had laid it all out on camera, the cast decided to grab drinks together and decompress. Think of it as the TV equivalent of processing a particularly brutal conversation with your therapist.

What made the photo so funny, according to Cooke, was the moment itself. As he and Batula were walking toward the elevator and heading out, they were joking about the odds of a photographer catching them together at that exact moment. Then it happened—and that’s when they started laughing even harder. It’s the kind of dark humor that emerges when you’ve just survived a media spotlight meltdown with your ex.

Of course, the timing of that photo landed in a complicated landscape. Cooke and Batula separated after four years of marriage in January. By March, she’d moved on with Summer House costar West Wilson, 31—who’d previously dated her close friend Ciara Miller, 30. The reunion, naturally, became a stage for all that tension to play out, with Cooke, Batula, Wilson, and Miller all facing each other on camera. An upcoming special called“The Aftermath,”set for later this month, will feature Cooke and Wilson’s conversation one-on-one.

Behind the scenes, sources tell Us Weekly that both Cooke and his friend Lindsay Hubbard, 39, had deeper concerns about Batula’s new relationship. When they sat down with Wilson and Batula separately before the follow-up special, they were essentially asking the hard questions: Is this serious? Are you watching out for her? Is this worth it? It’s the kind of protective move that suggests the laughing photo wasn’t a sign of rekindled romance—it was just two people who’ve been through the wringer together, finding a moment of levity in the chaos.