Carl Radke Reacts to Summer House's "Surreal" Emmy Nomination

Summer House's Lindsay Hubbard Reunites With Ex-Fiancé Carl Radke Amid Castmates' Drama

Carl Radke believes award shows should be fun.

And the reality star is in good company, as evidenced by Summer House's first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program after 10 seasons of friendship and drama in the Hamptons.

"It's a big testament to what we've been building and the team and everybody that comes together—it's a family." Radke exclusively told E! News. "I'm really excited for everybody because it's not just us on the cast. It's everybody included that makes the show happen."

As such, the 41-year-old—who has starred on the Bravo series alongside OGs Kyle Cooke and Lindsay Hubbard since its debut season in 2017—emphasized who deserves the most credit for the nod, which arrived after a scandal surrounding Amanda Batula, West Wilson and Ciara Miller's landmark love triangle.

"This is for our producers, the editors, all the people that work behind the scenes," Radke effused. "We have an incredible crew. So it's cool to be honored, but this is an award for all the other people, not the people you actually get to see on [TV]."

And Radke's love for the production team runs deep. After all, they've been working together "season after season," which Radke noted isn't typical in the reality TV world.

But, as the mocktail connoisseur said, the viewers also played a big part in the show’s success.

"This is for the Bravo fans," he continued. "It's for the audience. None of this would be possible without any of those people."

Being in contention for the primetime award against fellow nominees RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked, Welcome to Wrexham, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and Love on the Spectrum marks a major milestone for the unscripted drama, echoing fans' belief that the cast's evolution is far from over. In fact, Radke first learned of the "surreal" news from his ex-fiancée Hubbard.

Photo by The Hapa Blonde/GC Images

And he found the update hard to believe at first.

"Lindsay and Kyle were on a group chat, the three of us," Carl explained. "Lindsay texted me and said, 'We're nominated.' And I actually was like, 'Really?' Maybe she's screwing around with us. And then I got another text from our Bravo publicist with the announcement. So I was really excited."

For a refresher on what made the last season of Summer House such a standout, read on...

Don't miss the Emmy Awards 2026 live telecast Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and streaming on Peacock.