Summer House fans, pay attention because we’re about to make your day. Probably your week. Possibly even your year. That’s because we scored an interview with the real MVP of Summer House: Stephen McGee, thrower of shade, eater of popcorn. Stephen had a LOT of shit to talk say about his fellow housemates and the future of Summer House, so get ready because shit’s about to get real.
How do you think being on the show affected your relationships with the housemates?
Well going into the show, I was only good friends with Lindsay. Lindsay was the only person I knew and she’s the one that got me involved, and before we started the summer I met Cristina. I met the Wirkus twins fall of 2015, but I wasn’t really friends with them—we just hadn’t hung out a lot. I did make great friendships with the twins, Carl and Kyle, but Lindsay and I are no longer friends really.
Because of the show?
There were a lot of things that happened before and after the summer… She got me involved in the house and then she tried to get me to quit before the summer even started, and she’s just very…all about Lindsay. I only knew her as a “going out” friend, and then spending a lot of time with her, it’s just kind of like, not working.
Are Lindsay and Everett still together?
The last I heard they are together, but they did break up. I mean, they’ve broken up like a million times. But there was a very serious breakup, I think it was almost two weeks. So…they did move in together, but then she was staying at a friend’s. But I think they’re back together now.
So there will be a second season?
We don’t have anything confirmed, but all signs are pointing to yes. We are hopeful.
Would you do a second season?
Yeah, I would do another summer share. I would definitely do a second season of the show… it definitely does depend a little bit on who’s in the house because this time obviously I was very peripheral, but I think my role in the group has shifted because like, to be honest I kind of replaced Lindsay when she became so side tracked with her relationship. And so I think it’s worth it to do it.
I feel like that’s why everybody liked you [on the show] because you were kind of just commenting on the side while the show was going on, but what was that like in real life when the drama was playing out?
I feel like everybody’s portrayal on the show was pretty fair to who they were. I think some people…I don’t want to rag on Lindsay and Everett, because individually they are not so bad, but honestly I think they [were portrayed] a little better than how it felt in reality.
Why wouldn’t they edit it to seem as bad as possible? That’s what people want to see.
Well, it’s all about the editing—I think that since the Lindsay and Cristina fight got so big, you kind of hated them both, and you didn’t really want either of them to win, like, [but] somebody had to look a little bit better. Yeah, Cristina lost. But I think Lindsay and Everett definitely were fighting ALL the time, it was not like a private thing, it was to the point where the house was pretty over it.
They were the Ron and Sam of Summer House.
Yeah, we were basically like…Get out.
We were kind of surprised there wasn’t a Summer House reunion.
There was talk about doing a reunion. I like to say that I’m the reason it didn’t happen. I was the only one that had a conflict with the date, they literally came to us a week before—it was like, the end of February and they wanted to shoot it on like, March 5th or something, which was the only day that Andy was available. I was going on vacation, so… But that’s just the scenario I made up in my head. Most shows dont get reunions season one.
And I mean… what am I gonna get 30 seconds to speak? All they’re gonna talk about is Kyle and Amanda, and Lindsay and Everett, and Carl and Lauren. Which, this is something you NEED to know—no one except the real couples fucked the entire summer. People would sleep in the same bed and it would look like, oooh we’re turning the lights out, we’re throwing a blanket over the camera, but they say “hooked up” all the time. I don’t know about straight people, but when gay people say “hooked up”, there was penetration. Like, everyone kept saying “well we hooked up” and I’d be like “you made out” and they’re like “that’s what I said!”
Was Cristina really as big a shit starter as they made it seem?
Cristina—I mean, I don’t want to say that Lindsay is right in saying this because I don’t wanna give Lindsay any credit,—but Cristina’s not maniacal enough to meddle… I don’t think she had bad intentions. The only thing that I’ll say that she kind of kept pushing on was Jaclyn and Carl. She kept trying to make that a thing, and it really wasn’t.
Was that just editing?
Well, that really is who Jaclyn is—a flirt. But I mean, Jaclyn and I went further than she and Carl. I made out with every one of the girls. We all made out at different times.
Who’s the best kisser?
I feel like Jaclyn, actually. Lauren was probably second place.
Was Cristina actually fired or did she just quit?
Cristina was not fired, to my knowledge, but she was basically forced to quit—she left her job to do the show, basically. So in reality, Lindsay just saw that as a way to pigeonhole her in because she can’t deny it because she can’t say “No, I left the job because I want to be on this TV show”. Smart. But now she has this great job at Wetpaint.
One thing we were all curious about was how did you guys get shitfaced all the time and then go to work on Monday?
Well Mondays were always tough. One Monday I did call in sick, and Carl and I just decided to stay out there. Honestly, I don’t know how we did Mondays. Usually Lauren was the most reliable one that she would drive in the mornings. Sundays at Surf Lodge are like, some of the best times to be there. We would stay there and Lauren would always get up and drive and we would sleep in the car. The Wirkus’ hangover cure, which we all were doing, is taking an alka seltzer in the morning. It was working!
So you watched the show as it aired, is there anything you would have done differently?
I didn’t regret doing it, but looking back on it, [one thing] I was like “This was not worth it and I shouldn’t have done it” was to tell Lindsay about Everett sleeping in a bed with four people. Because he did tell me that. We were in the pool and he just walked by and asked me what I did and I was like “oh it was crazy blah blah blah” and he was like “YEAH YOU’RE TELLING ME I WOKE UP IN THE BED WITH FOUR PEOPLE” and then kept walking.
Like, it wasn’t a big conversation but he told me that and then afterwards I hear what story she was told and I’m just like, that wasn’t true. The reason I told her is I figured it would come back around that I knew and it would be worse if I didn’t tell than if I did, even though we weren’t on the best of terms at the time. And that’s why I just simply told her and then let her do with it what she wanted. And it’s not like I thought Everett had an orgy, but I mean he obviously lied about what happened. And he went on this big campaign saying I was lying about it, and it all came back that then Kyle was like “well actually you did say…”
It always amazes me when people on reality shows lie about something when they’re ON camera.
You know it’s coming back. To be honest, it just wasn’t worth the drama of telling. It didn’t do anything, it didn’t solve any problems. That was the craziest moment, that dinner that we had…he tries to say that I was—which, okay, watching it back, I did you know, stir the pot, but I was smart about it. Lindsay quickly realized that the dinner was not about her so she had to start a fight and storm out, but then she just came back smiling, that was the weirdest moment. In real life it was very uncomfortable because she just came back in smiling like she forgot everything she just did.
What ever happened to that guy that you went on that date with who told you not to drink vodka?
So this is a weird story. This guy and I met in LA and we hooked up in LA, and then we came back and found out that we both lived here, so we came back here and we had seen each other maybe four times before we filmed that date, but that was our first date. We went out after that to Rosé Bar and he ended up trying to hook up with one of my friends that night, so I’ve never talked to him again. I didn’t even tell him it was airing.
Was it as bad as it looked?
Honestly it was, it was a full hour of that. It was definitely awkward and very very bad, not the highlight of my dating career.
One thing that wasn’t clear, it’s not as interesting, but Carl went to the wedding with MY friend, so I knew the girl that was with him in Wisconsin, it was my other friend, which is also why he sent me a photo and I knew all along they were going.
Why did Carl even bother with Lauren if he clearly wasn’t even into her then?
I guess it’s just the romance of summer love. I honestly can’t really explain it.
What about Kyle and Amanda?
They are still together, actually, I love Amanda. First, she makes Kyle a better person, she reigns him in, she keeps track of him, but still lets the fun side out.
Any parting thoughts you want to leave us with?
That one girl that Kyle went on the date with, that Russian girl…I still think [she was] a prostitute. I said it in my interviews, but they cut it out. They’re like, “you can’t say that.” I was listening to a podcast that was like “you should never trust a girl who carries a little backpack everywhere she goes in the Hamptons.”
Follow Stephen on Twitter and call your Congressmen/tweet at Bravo to bring back Summer House!