Why 'Summer House' star Paige DeSorbo's boyfriend hasn't appeared on the show

Paige DeSorbo's second season on "Summer House" has been a vastly different experience than her first.

Her first go-round in season 3 was largely dominated by her on-and-off fling with fellow cast member, Carl Radke, which ended up fizzling out by the end of the summer.

However, between seasons 3 and 4 of the Bravo hit, which centers around a group of 20- and 30-something New Yorkers living together in a Hamptons share house, DeSorbo started dating Perry Rahbar, who is not on the show.

Reality TV stars having relationships with people outside of their respective show's orbit is nothing new, but whether or not they end up appearing on the show is another story. And much to some fans' confusion, Paige's boyfriend is not expected to be on "Summer House."

During her recent interview with In The Know's Gibson Johns, Paige acknowledged that Perry's absence initially prompted questions from her housemates, though they ultimately understood and respected that it was his decision not to be there.

"In the beginning, everyone was kind of like, 'Where's Perry? Where's your boyfriend?' And when I explained to them, like, 'Look, it's not me. I would love for him to come and hang out with all of us. It's not me making the decision,' they kind of understood it," Paige explained. "I can't force someone to do something they don't want to do."

That being said, it took a bit more explaining on her part to viewers, who reached out with questions about her relationship, despite it not taking center stage this season.

"It was definitely hard. I've gotten a lot of DMs like, 'Why would you not have your boyfriend come to the summer house?' And some people think it's me not inviting him, which wasn't true at all. I told him he could come any weekend he wanted to!" the fashion influencer told ITK. "But he is just in that very different place in his life than I think all of us are, even though he's 37 — he's Kyle's age — they're just in different places. I could never picture Perry drinking until 3 a.m. and eating snacks in the kitchen with us. He's just not that type of person."

That being said, it wasn't as if he judged Paige's decision to continue on with the share house, having fun with her friends in the Hamptons every weekend instead of spending time with him. While it was a difficult decision, she said, ultimately neither of them wanted her to miss out on the opportunity.

"He was very supportive, being like, 'I was 27 once, and I had a share house, so I would never deprive you of that experience,'" Paige explained. "He would never want me to miss out on those memories. But, yeah, I definitely miss him every weekend. But it's like, he wouldn't want me to resent him for not going, and I wouldn't want to resent him for not doing it."

And, at the end of the day, Paige and Perry not sharing the same desire to spend their summers partying in the Hamptons highlights a challenge that comes with dating someone a decade older than you, and a portion of the fans have been able to relate to seeing that play out on Bravo.

"There are a lot of girls that actually will DM me and be like, 'I am dating someone who is 10 years older, how do you deal with it when you want to still be 27?' and stuff like that," Paige said. "I'm glad I can connect with people on that level, so him not coming didn't take away my connection with fans."

For more of her thoughts on season 4 of “Summer House,” listen to our full, 20-minute interview with Paige DeSorbo above, and don’t forget to tune in to “Summer House” on Wednesdays, at 9 p.m. EST only on Bravo.

For reference, see below for a timecode breakdown of In The Know’s interview with Paige DeSorbo:

0:44 – 5:56: Paige talks about social distancing with her parents (but not watching “Summer House” with them), going live with Hannah on Instagram every night and how she’s keeping up her social media content right now.

5:57 – 8:02: Paige talks generally about watching last summer back on TV and what she’s learned about only since seeing the show.

8:03 – 11:25: Paige talks about her boyfriend, Perry, and how his decision not to be on the show impacted her experience on the show, and she reveals how others reacted to him not being there.

11:26 – 15:30: Paige talks about her friendship with Hannah being put to the test this summer in their first ever fight, which leaves everyone involved in tears.

15:31 – 18:30: Paige talks about Lindsay and Carl, who she had a fling with last season, getting involved this summer and receiving criticism for it.

18:31 – 20:32: Paige talks about Jules and Jordan hooking up in the house this summer.

20:33 – end: Paige talks about what’s in those boxes that get delivered to the house every week and teases the rest of the season.

If you liked this story, check out In The Know’s recent interview with fellow Bravo star Ramona Singer here.

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