Carl Radke Says He and Kyle Cooke Got 'Back to a Really Good Place,' Return to Loverboy Gives Him ‘Purpose' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Carl Radke and Kyle Cooke.Photo:Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

ForCarl Radke,one of the highlights of filmingSummer House’snew season was repairing his friendship with costarKyle Cooke.

“I love Kyle to death,” Radke tells PEOPLE. Despite their falling out last season, he was anticipating spending time together over the summer while planning his since-canceled wedding to Lindsay Hubbard, since Cooke “had been down that road” with his 2021 marriage to Amanda Batula.

“I was just looking forward to getting back to a really good place with Kyle,” he says. “And we did that.”

The pair have also rekindled their business relationship. Radke, who served as VP of sales for Cooke’s beverage brand Loverboy before resigning in February 2023, rejoined the company to launch anew line of non-alcoholic sparkling teasin December.

“My role with the company is a little different,” he says, explaining that he’s now focused solely on the non-alcoholic products.

Courtesy of Loverboy

Radke, who’s been open about his struggles with alcohol and partying, celebrated three years of sobriety in January. The2020 death of his brother, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues,inspired him to seek help.

“I love what we’re building, and I’m very passionate about it, and I feel like we’re hitting our stride right now with what we’re doing,” he says. “It gives me a lot of purpose and a lot of focus."

“I am very public about not drinking and my journey, but now I’ve got something, even another layer to it,” he adds. “I actually have something I can offer to people.”

Radke says when he stepped down from his full-time job at Loverboy, he was still “cheering” the company on from the sidelines.

“I’ve always found that when you leave a company and you can come back to the company, I think that there’s a lot of positive in that,” he says. “Yes, there was some tension with Kyle, but I felt like [when] I stepped away, it was respectful.”

Cooke is feeling equally positive about his friendship with Radke.

The season 7 cast of ‘Summer House’.Clifton Prescod/Bravo

“We are great,” Cooke tells PEOPLE. “I think any time you go through a challenging time with someone, whether it’s a best friend or your significant other, and it’s someone you care about, someone you love, if you make it out on the other side of that, you’re probably going to end up being stronger.”

Cooke says the long hours working at Loverboy had taken a toll on Radke before his departure last year.

“There was a lot of pressure and weight on everyone else’s shoulders,” he says. “I think that got to Carl. We were missing our personal friendship, and I think that was bugging him, and also him just feeling inauthentic, pushing alcohol as a sober person.”

But now that they’re working together again on the booze-free beverages, Cooke says, “We’ve never been better.”

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“You can just crush these at any point in the day,” he says. “When you’re holding this at a party, no one’s going to be like, ‘Oh, what’s up, loser? Nice Poland Spring.’ No, you look like you’re part of the party. That’s the game. That’s part of the psychology that I’ve learned from Carl. It’s just about having something in your hand that isn’t a topic of conversation.”

source: people.com