Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard’s split surprised many fans — but season 8 of Summer House continues to prove that a breakup was inevitable.
Us Weekly confirmed in August 2023 that Carl, 39, called off his and Lindsay’s engagement one year after his proposal. Lindsay, 37, later told Us she was “completely blindsided” by the split, claiming Carl “blew up my entire life” when he ended their romance.
“It was absolutely humiliating,” she exclusively revealed in November 2023, noting Carl pulled the plug after filming had ended. Lindsay alleged that Carl had the producers “set up cameras and manipulate me into sitting down” so he could break up with her on camera.
As season 8 of Summer House transpires, Us is breaking down all the signs from the show that hinted Carl and Lindsay’s relationship was headed for the end.
Summer House airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
Scroll down to see what we’ve learned so far in season 8 — and check back weekly for more clues the pair were headed for a split:
Solo Wedding Planning
During the season 8 premiere, which aired on February 22, Carl and Lindsay revealed they were skipping the 4th of July in the Hamptons to celebrate the holiday at the White House. While they appeared to be in good spirits, Lindsay confessed she was overwhelmed planning their wedding alone.
“Wedding planning is busy, to say the least. Carl, God bless him, he has not been helpful,” Lindsay told the cameras, quipping, “This is not my wedding, it’s our wedding. So, it would be nice to have a little help!”
Lindsay confessed she was “excited for this little break from wedding planning” and from New York City as the pair jetted off to Washington, D.C.
In the Name of Babe
Throughout their relationship, which turned romantic in fall 2021, Carl and Lindsay never shied away from PDA. They were also known for calling each other “babe” whenever possible, much to the chagrin of some of their housemates.
Carl received an icy response during episode 2, which filmed in early July 2023, when he made a joke about their nicknames. “I’m not going to say ‘babe’ this summer. I’m going to say ‘dude,’” he said, to which Lindsay let out a big sigh of frustration.
“Do you really care what people think about you? Do you call me babe at home?” she fired back. Carl responded, saying, “I was making a joke. It didn’t work.” Lindsay agreed, adding, “Yeah, it didn’t work.”
‘Cocaine Carl’
Tensions between Lindsay and Carl reached a boiling point at the end of episode 2, which aired on February 29. During a car ride to a club, Lindsay claimed she told Carl she was “worried” that the girls would have an issue with her riding in the guys’ car.
“I’m calm as can be in the backseat with her and I say, you’re fine. I can see that but it’s not that deep,” Carl said during a confessional, claiming that Lindsay then flipped a switch. “She looks at me this close, she’s like, ‘What are you on?’ I’m like, ‘Nothing, what are you talking about.’”
A drunk Lindsay decided to leave the club and go home with Gabby Prescod. Once back at the house, Lindsay alleged, “Something is going on with him. The way that he spoke to me tonight was very reminiscent of Carl on cocaine. I don’t know what happened with him but he was not sober tonight.”
Lindsay insisted that her then-fiancé was “cocaine Carl tonight” as she cried to Gabby in her bed. Although the rest of the group thought Carl was sober — he has been sober since January 2021 — Lindsay didn’t let it go.
“You’re the one who’s [been] drinking all night and wakes up f–king angry,” Carl argued when Lindsay came into his room the next morning. “You’re the one who is clearly doing other things,” she fired back, once again accusing him of doing drugs. Carl yelled back, “Lindsay, I am f–king sober!” He then accused her of being “rude and aggressive” toward him.
Housemate Tough Love
After Lindsay accused Carl of being on drugs during episode 2, several of their castmates voiced concerns over their relationship. Kyle Cooke had a heart-to-heart with Carl during episode 3, which aired on March 7, and pointed out how “unacceptable” Lindsay’s allegations were the night before.
“I can see you trying to make compromises. You’re trying to solve the problem. Last night she was the problem,” Kyle, 41, told his longtime friend. “What worries me is, how many times does something go down like that where she is pinning it on you when it literally had nothing to do with you?”
Kyle added: “That’s a long life of falling on the sword. Like, how many times are you going to do that?”
Carl was once again asked about Lindsay’s actions while out with half of the group for dinner. Carl told his housemates that Lindsay felt like he “dismissed her,” which is why she lashed out.
Ciara Miller questioned whether Lindsay’s drinking would be a bigger issue for Carl, who is sober, when they tied the knot.
“How the f–k do you think you’re going to maintain that in the long run?” she asked. “Being in a relationship with someone who drinks and has a tendency to be obnoxious and rude when she’s drinking [must be hard].”
Carl insisted that Lindsay had “gotten a lot better” about her alcohol intake recently and said that, even though it can be “hard sometimes,” the pair “always come back together.”
Not-So Funemployment
During episode 3, Lindsay raised another red flag she saw in Carl and his lack of a job. “Since Carl quit Loverboy last November, we have been trying to figure out what he’s into,” she told the cameras, explaining that Carl had been unemployed from November 2022 to summer 2023.
“He hired a career coach for six months [that cost] $20,000,” she said in frustration. “It’s been a journey trying to figure out who Carl wants to be when he grows up.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Lindsay addressed her concerns with Carl directly. He assured her that the “alarm will sound at some point” and he’ll know his next step.
“It’s sounding for me,” Lindsay quipped, noting that she would reopen her PR firm if “s–t hits the fan.” After she asked Carl for a timeline, he told her he’d be back on his feet by the end of summer.
Carl then pitched his latest idea, telling Lindsay, “I’m proud to be a voice for things that I’ve been through. I’ve been thinking about a sports bar [with] no alcohol. A sober sports bar.”
Lindsay shut down the idea, replying, “I’m going to have to say no to that one. I’m telling you, I don’t want that for our future family.”
All Bark, No Bite
Lindsay made it known that Carl’s actions were getting on her nerves during a group dinner in episode 4, which aired on March 14.
“The boys bringing in boy energy is great,” Lindsay told her housemates during a toast, which caused the guys to start barking loudly. Newbie West Wilson was impressed by Carl’s voice, asking, “Did you hear Carl’s bark?”
Lindsay joked, “I don’t want to hear Carl’s bark, because I might give the ring back!”
Elsewhere in the episode, Lindsay hinted at intimacy issues with her then-fiancé while talking about West and Ciara’s budding romance. “We were just talking,” West said when asked about making out with Ciara earlier that weekend. Kyle laughed, adding, “With your tongues!”
Lindsay, who was seated in the back of the car, said under her breath, “Ah, I miss those days.”
Tension Over Lindsay’s Drinking
For the second weekend in a row, Lindsay accused Carl of doing drugs during a fight between the pair. “It’s so f–ked up,” Carl said in the March 14 episode after the pair got back to the house.
An intoxicated Lindsay argued that she was referencing Carl smoking weed. Lindsay then stormed off into the kitchen and told pal Amanda Batula that Carl is a “f–king terrorist” who “switches the narrative” to make their fights about her drinking.
Carl told the cameras that he doesn’t “care that Lindsay drinks,” but he does care “how her behavior changes when she drinks.” He explained, “There are plenty of people who drink and they do not turn into aggressive, volatile, detective, crazy.”
The next day, Lindsay confided in Amanda that she and Carl get into “conflict patterns.” She explained that Carl is “always questioning my alcohol intake,” which leads her to call him out about his “intake” of everything.
Carl, for his part, told the guys in the house that Lindsay should know that her excessive drinking can trigger him as a recovering alcoholic.
“I’m just super sensitive but maybe have some understanding that your partner is sensitive because he doesn’t f–king drink and you’ve been drinking since f–king noon,” Carl vented. “It’s an absolute f–king fact [that] this is how she f–king acts when she’s drunk.”
Carl and Lindsay ended the episode with another argument over Lindsay drinking and lashing out at Carl and Carl allegedly overreacting. “She’s doubling down on [how] her questioning me about drugs is valid,” Carl told Amanda. “It’s her way of rationalizing her drunkenness in my opinion.”
No Hanky Panky
Lindsay opened up about her sex life with Carl on episode 5 of the Bravo series, claiming, “He’s not a very sexual person.” When asked point blank “how often” the couple were having sex, Lindsay revealed, “Like, once every couple of weeks.”
“You’re probably having sex with your long-distance boyfriend more than me,” Lindsay told housemate Paige DeSorbo on the March 22 episode, referring to Paige’s relationship with Craig Conover.
Although Lindsay said the sex was still “good,” she alleged Carl didn’t seem that interested. “Your f–king boyfriend, and your husband are initiating,” Lindsay said. “Mine just doesn’t even initiate.”
Red Flags All Around
Amanda Batula, Lindsay Hubbard, Paige DeSorbo. Bryan Bedder/Bravo
During episode 6 of Summer House, which aired on March 28, Kyle told Lindsay he thought Carl had “tunnel vision” about wanting to marry her despite their summer arguments.
“He’s basically so committed to seeing this thing through he’s pushing through some of the red flags,” Kyle claimed, clarifying he thought Carl was overlooking “some of the hardships” the then-couple was facing.
Lindsay was confused, asking, “He wants the marriage more than the actual relationship? That’s what you’re basically telling me right now.”
She then alleged that Carl had a “problem” with her showing “an emotion other than happy” anytime she drinks, which had been the root of many of their fights. “If I’m happy he’s totally fine,” Lindsay said. “If I have something else in me that’s not so Stepford Wife he literally cannot handle it.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Lindsay told the girls that she had her own red flags about Carl after struggling with their sex life prior to their November 2023 wedding date.
“I honestly think he thought we were going to get into a relationship and I was going to change,” Lindsay told Amanda and Paige during a party, which was filmed in July 2023.
She noted, “There are little miniature flags, but they’re not red enough for me to be like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get married.’ Maybe it’s naïve of me.”
The Flower Boy Fiasco
During episode 7, which aired on April 4, Carl informed Kyle that instead of a groomsman, he wanted him to be a flower boy in his and Lindsay’s wedding. While the role felt like a “demotion” for Kyle — Carl was his officiant and co-best man — it was also a red flag that Carl didn’t have much of a say in his nuptials.
“I mean, this is really how I really deep-down feel. Lindsay didn’t want Kyle to be a groomsman,” Carl confessed during the episode. “Did that come out of Lindsay’s mouth, ‘I don’t want Kyle to be a groomsman’? No. But because of what Kyle had done and said previously …”
Carl noted that the turmoil between Lindsay and Kyle the summer prior influenced her decision — and he had to “play ball” with his future wife.
“Carl officiated their wedding and they’re making him a flower boy? I wonder who made that decision?” Paige asked in a confessional, hinting it was all Lindsay’s idea. “‘He will throw petals as I walk down the aisle.’ That’s what she thought. That’s insane. I would’ve slapped Carl in the face if he said that to me.”
No Alcohol and Still No Love
Despite feeling slighted about his flower boy role, Kyle and Carl were rebuilding their friendship during episode 7. So much so that Kyle offered Carl a “cool way to get back involved” in Loverboy by helping promote the brand’s new nonalcoholic line.
Carl had hesitations about taking the position because of how Lindsay might react. “This non alcoholic project just makes perfect sense. It’s a huge opportunity. I’d be crazy not to look at this seriously,” he told the cameras. “But part of my concern is if this offer becomes real that Lindsay won’t be on board with it.”
Carl revealed, “We’re on a good streak right now and bringing something like this to the table, that could kind of cause some more issues and I don’t want to address them at this point.”
