After officially joining the cast of Summer House five seasons ago, Ciara Miller knows a thing or two about becoming part of the Bravo family.
“It’s hard to come in as a new person. We’ve known each other for a while now and we’re a family — and it’s sometimes super toxic — so it’s not easy coming into that environment where we all have so much history and there’s so many personalities at play,” Ciara, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly. “And having to sort that out as a new person is kind of intimidating. But I think it’s always best if you’re new to sit back a little, learn dynamics and offer an ear because it’s really hard to have an opinion when, you know, we all are so interconnected and there’s so many years of drama at play.”
During the season 9 premiere on February 12, fans met two of the three new cast members: Lexi Wood and Bailee Henderson. While it’s clear Lexi will be in the mix — she struck up a quick connection with Jesse Soloman on the first weekend of the summer — Bailee was noticeably missing from the recent premiere party in New York City.
“I loved Bailee. I thought she was so cute. She’s from Kentucky, has the cutest southern accent, and was always bubbly, down for whatever. Loved to party. She had a really cool girl style about her,” Ciara told Us. “[Lexi and Bailee] came in together and it was a really cute pair. I think Lexi and Jesse — she got whisked away with that— and then Bailee would hang with the girls a little bit. It was kind of [Bailee] balancing between the two. Sometimes when you come in with a new person, you wanna stick with the other new people. But I liked Bailee a lot. I know she’s not really in our, like, Summer House promo or anything, but hopefully people get to see a little bit of her.”
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Ciara also had a positive first impression of Lexi, telling Us that she’s “so cute” and “super nice.”
“When you think of Canada, in my head, I think of Lexi, like, she’s just so nice. And then her ‘o’s are super drawn out and she eats ketchup chips,” she said, revealing she warned Jesse about jumping into a showmance too quickly. “Lexi coins herself as a lover girl. I don’t think it was like uncharted territory for her. I was kind of, like, ‘Jesse, ust as a word of advice, pump the brakes. I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but I have walked in your shoes once or twice.’”
In the trailer for the season, Lexi actually accuses Ciara of being flirty with Jesse during the summer. “Honestly, I don’t really know [what that was about],” Ciara told Us. “I am gonna watch and figure it out with the rest of you guys because I still don’t know. In my head — and maybe this is just my world — but I don’t see it as that big of a deal. Once we watch it back and we see, I guess, then I’ll see you at the reunion.”
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Ciara noted that she is just friends with Jesse.
“[Going into the summer], me and Jesse were really cool. I mean, we’re still really cool,” she said. “Honestly, I feel like me and Jesse fight and it’s fine. We’re gonna get over it. And it’s typically always me mad at him for something or he’s annoyed that I said something or I was a little bit too honest. t That’s our relationship.”
She added that part of his innate personality is to flirt.
“He’s a flirt. He’s gonna flirt. He loves his female friends. He loves the female species,” she said. “If you wanna gossip, you call Jesse. He’s like, ‘You got tea for me?’ I love a FaceTime with him and him getting in the bed is, like, so normal.”
Rounding out the newbies is Imrul Hassan, who Us hears had a very eventful summer with ladies “outside of the house.”
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“Imrul’s a party animal,” Ciara told Us. “They have coined him the name ‘Orgy Beast.’”
She added that he has “such a complex story” and “a really cool family” that fans will learn about.
“It was really nice getting to know him this summer. But on the other hand, he parties a ton,” she said. “I will never be able to keep up with [some] people, but he was able to jump right in and keep up and, honestly, surpassed us. So it was super impressive. There were definitely moments where we’re like, ‘Who, what is, what is happening here?’”
Summer House airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m ET.
