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Amanda: not fun.
Fans shout it while partying and repurpose it for captions on Instagram (COVID-19: not fun!).
The memory was a lemon, but she knows enough to turn it into profitable lemonade.
I fell in love and sort of joined the show for that.
Batula with her two dogs, Reese and Ryder
That love, of course, is Cooke, her now husband and the shows star since season one.
In the pantheon of reality TV stars, this is an anomaly.
Filming the show is fun, but when it airs?
Good pups
I say every year it takes 10 years off my life, she says with a laugh.
Batula with her two dogs, Reese and Ryder
Good pups
Its a classic tale.
Boy meets girl at a New York City rooftop party.
Batula near her home in New York
Boy and girl date.
Girl goes to hook up with the boy while both in the Hamptons with friends.
That was Batulas introduction to reality television.
Batula with her friends and costars Paige DeSorbo, left, and Ciara Miller, right, during a Studio 54-themed party.
Cooke continued to invite Batula over, when, she says, he thought the cameras werent rolling.
They had me put my bags down on Kyles bed five different times, she says.
But my first experience of filming a show was like, Im not good at this.
Batula’s husband and costar, Kyle Cooke, helps entertain their dogs during the photo shoot.
More surprises followed when the show aired.
She loved Cooke, and also, may have not fully understood what she was getting herself into.
When the producers asked her to audition for season two, she decided to go for it.
I was quite naive, she says.
I thought it was fun and partying and no drama.
We were just gonna be madly in love and have the memories to look back on.
Id just always felt like an outsider, she says.
She started having fun and having her own storylines.
Sometimes, though, being too real has its downsides.
Cameras were there to document Batula and Cookes rocky moments.
They fought hard while partying (one fight led to Cookes infamous Amanda, not fun, comment).
In season three Cooke admitted on camera that he hadcheated.
Viewers saw the emotional toll it took on Batula and their relationship.
Yet the couple also got engaged on camera and have reaffirmed their love for each other on screen.
Lindsay and I have always had our ups and downs.
Our relationship has never been black-and-white, always been complex, she says.
Loser behavior, wrote another.
Amanda is a bitch and always looks for any excuse to hate on Lindsay, said one.
Batula, frankly, wishes everyone would knock it off.
After theyre done filming the show, the cast members usually end the summer on good terms.
Then the show airs, the gossip machine begins, and false narratives and rumors spread.
Suddenly things are tense between the castmates, and its all so unnecessary.
Really, they have kind of made it worse.
Batula did lose weight, but it wasnt intentional.
The reality was much more intense than the Earth Mother vision she had.
Then, she says, she suddenly dropped a lot of weight.
No matter how much she would eat, she couldnt gain it back.
It was disappointing, Batula says.
Shed thought we as a society were past that.
Batula’s husband and costar, Kyle Cooke, helps entertain their dogs during the photo shoot.
Losing her period was particularly terrifying.
Batula is proud of the scene.
How often do women have frank discussions about reproductive health on reality TV?
Were all going through something with our menstruation journey….
I have private support, I have quiet support, and Im okay with that, she says.
Batula also wants to clear up that she is not trying to get pregnant anytime soon.
She and Cooke are focusing on each other, and on growing Loverboy.
I say I like the filming part and being able to be with your friends and have these memories.
Its a lot of fun, she says.
But when we are, thats it for us, and thats okay.
Its been a long, strange, exhilarating seven years.
Maybe she will continue being in the public eye; maybe she wont.
For now, shes proud of the identity shes carved out for herself.
- Stephanie McNeal is a senior editor atGlamourand the author of the forthcoming bookSwipe Up for More!
Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers.
Fashion Credits:Tank top: Gooseberry IntimatesSkirt: LionessSneakers: AdidasDiamonds: Nicole RoseJacket: Vintage \
