Summer House’s Carl Radke Rejoins Loverboy to Launch Non-Alcoholic Teas with Kyle Cooke: ‘Totally New Chapter’

Carl Radke is Loverboy again.

After parting ways with the beverage brand earlier this year, Radke rejoined the company he founded Summer house co-star Kyle Cooke to launch a product close to his heart.

Radke, who has been open about his journey to sobriety and struggles with alcohol and partying, is working with Cooke on a new line of non-alcoholic Loverboy carbonated strong teas. Two flavors, Peach White Tea and Lemon Iced Tea, are available starting Tuesday at DrinkLoverboy.com.

In an exclusive interview, Cooke tells PEOPLE that he remembers discussing the idea with Radke (who served as the brand’s VP of sales before resigning in February) while filming season seven. Summer house.

“From an authenticity standpoint, imagine you’re selling something you’re not a consumer,” Cooke says of Loverboy’s original hard teas. “And Carl would tell me it was almost embarrassing to be at one of those Loverboy events with a Red Bull or a non-alcoholic beer in hand.”

Loverboy non-alcoholic iced tea with lemon.

Courtesy of Loverboy

When Cooke approached Radke about the launch this summer, he told him, “We’re not going to overthink it. We’re going to take two of our bestsellers on the sparkling hard tea side and ditch the alcohol.”

It was important to them to infuse the new teas with the same sense of fun that fans have come to expect from the brand and their hit Bravo show, which has followed the antics of Cooke, his wife Amanda Batula, Radke and the rotating members of the Hamptons house since 2017.

The cast of the 7th season of “Letnikovac”.

Clifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty

“People always ask me, ‘How do you still have fun and not drink?'” Radke tells PEOPLE. “Over time I’ve become more comfortable just being in social settings, but for me the key is to have something in your hand, something that helps you feel like you’re a part of it.”

Summer houseCarl Radke Doesn’t Think Lindsay Hubbard Was ‘Blinded’ By Their Broken Engagement (Exclusive)

Cooke adds that Loverboy’s colorful cans still look good – whether they’re alcoholic or not.

“Nobody’s going to look at you weird if you’re at a party and you’re wearing this,” he says. “I think that’s the point. It is no longer about standing out like a hall. It’s no longer about really generic options and feeling like you’re not participating if you’re holding a bottle of Poland Spring.”

Loverboy non-alcoholic white peach tea.

Courtesy of Loverboy

Radke will celebrate three years of sobriety in January. The death of his brother, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues in 2020, prompted him to seek help.

Radke says he is “beyond proud” to be behind the new product, especially since people have credited him with inspiring them to make changes in their own lives.

For Cooke, it’s also a chance for him and Batula (Creative Director of Loverboy) to get the band back together after he and Radke fell out in the last season Summer house.

“It’s been a wild ride, and obviously we’re doing it very publicly,” Cooke says. “There are moments that I really regret about how I behaved in Season 7. But look, long before Loverboy, we started filming this TV show. And to have three of the original actors back together, working on something that gives us a much greater purpose… I mean, that’s the kind of vision that I sold Carl from the very beginning.”

In the show’s final season, Cooke suggested that Radke’s relationship with ex-fiancée Lindsay Hubbard had a negative effect on his work performance. The couple broke off their engagement in September.

When asked if the breakup has changed the dynamics of their friendship, Cooke says, “From my perspective, absolutely. I mean, the door went from wide open this summer to wide open this fall.”

“No matter what happened to Lindsay and I, I still took this opportunity incredibly seriously,” says Radke. “I was very focused on trying to find the next chapter of my career regardless of where I was in the relationship. So Kyle and I started the summer off in a great place, working on this project, getting our friendship back to where it was. I mean, it almost feels like we’re in another chapter of our friendship, where there was some old stuff in the past, and I mean just some baggage. But right now I feel like we have a whole new chapter together.”

Carl Radke (left) with Lindsay Hubbard and Kyle Cooke.

Eugene Gologursky/Bravo via Getty

Radke, who previously described the split as “incredibly emotionally difficult,” says he feels “good” about the future.

“I feel like I have a lot of exciting things going on career-wise,” he says. “I’m just really focusing on taking care of myself, working on Loverboy. I haven’t forgotten, there was a lot going on, but the way I got through a lot of difficult things in my past was to focus on my career, on my friendships and on my family.”

Summer house Stars Carl Radke and friends and family of Lindsay Hubbard on vacation in Mexico the week of their canceled wedding

Cooke says Radke has “really turned it around” in the past four months.

“It just shows on his face,” he says. “I mean, obviously it was super traumatic, super unfortunate for both of us, September, October. But you could just see the life coming back to his face, his emotions. There is a little more will in this step. So I’m happy to see Carl back in a great place.

Summer house will return for an eighth season in 2024, with Cooke saying, “Other than the crazy ending, it’s been an amazing summer.”

“It kind of went back to our roots,” he says. “I think the seventh season was a strange departure. I mean, you had a lot of OGs that contradicted each other. That ruined the mood. I mean, we’ve always kind of emphasized when each other basically influences the vibe of the house, and I think a lot of us, a lot of the OGs influenced the vibe in season seven.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“If you want pure drama, where people flip tables and throw wine glasses, there are plenty of shows you can turn to,” he adds. “I think a lot of people are looking Summer house as an easy escape, I dare say, ‘Oh my God, I wish I was at that party, or I wish I was at that house,’ or, ‘I wish it was in the Hamptons.’ I think we will bring it back.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education