Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard is showing up strong in its sophomore season. Bravo fans have been treated to epic theme parties like the Neon Carnival and Freaknik as well as juicy drama. Texas relator Amir Lancaster has managed to stay out of the drama mostly as he and a few of his male cast mates were left to bunk in the lower level of the crew’s spacious share house. “We definitely lucked out,” remembered Lancaster. “We couldn’t hear anything; the basement became our safe place.”
Though, Lancaster opened himself up to a little gossip when girlfriend and fellow realtor Natalie Cortes arrived to the house for couples’ weekend. It’s no secret that Cortes didn’t approve of Lancaster’s flirty nature and pursuit of housemate Jordan Emanuel last summer. When asked if Cortes was hesitant about coming to Martha’s Vineyard, Lancaster was happy to clarify: “She wasn’t hesitant, but she was nervous to figure people out.” “She wasn’t sure what energy people wanted to give her,” explained Lancaster.
While Lancaster admits that it’s “hard not to pay attention to” negative comments about their relationship, Cortes and he remain partners, both personally and professionally. “We have two very different ways of doing business, but we have a lot of fun together,” said Lancaster. “She is a very professional woman, and I give her a lot of credit for that.” Lancaster added: “Just like any other power couple, we have our differences, but we’re able to piggyback off our strengths.”
Lancaster came to the Page Six studio to talk about the show’s upcoming reunion, his chance run-in with Andy Cohen in the West Village with Summer House stud West Wilson, and more.
DECIDER: Amir, I must start off by asking: how did you not know Jasmine was pregnant?
AMIR LANCASTER: [laughs] How did everyone know Jasmine was pregnant? I don’t get it. I see now that everyone’s talking about the bigger bosoms, but that was the only obvious tell. Her ankles weren’t swollen. She wasn’t having cravings. I don’t know how I missed it, but she finally had to let everyone know officially. No one can suck it in for that long.
When the season first started, I felt bad that all the guys had to sleep on the lower level, but as I’m watching all the drama unfold upstairs, I’m thinking you dudes lucked out. How did you feel about the room situation?
We definitely lucked out, mainly because the others would get into it at all hours of the day. In the last episode, Summer was going off at around two in the morning, and the women then were screaming at each other. Because we were below, we couldn’t hear anything. The basement became our safe place. We stayed out of trouble versus getting into trouble by just being in listening range of the conversations.
You did get to sleep in Jasmine Ellis Cooper’s room when Natalie arrived for couples’ weekend. How was Natalie feeling going into the share house? Was she at all hesitant?
She wasn’t hesitant, but she was nervous to figure people out. She wanted to make sure that she came across well, naturally. She also wanted to make a better impression with everyone, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure what energy people wanted to give her. Her approach was simple: “I’m going to be friendly to the people whom I know will be friendly, but outside of that, I’ll just play it safe, and be neutral. And then if there’s an opportunity for me to make a good friend, and make a connection, then I’ll make it.”
It appeared that Jordan Emmanuel didn’t give Natalie the warmest reception, but then I saw them together on Instagram having a good time together. Can you clear up any misconceptions about their meeting?
I think females can coexistent well together most of the time. Sometimes, they just need an opportunity to bond. It just takes a nice comment or compliment like “oh, I love your nails,” and that sparks a conversation, and before you know it, they’ve hit it off. Natalie has supported Jordan. We just went to her Freaknik set here in New York. They always share positivity, so they’re good. They’re not really good friends. We’re not going to put a stretch out there, but they’re people who are friendly towards each other.
It has to be nerve-racking to open up your relationship to scrutiny via social media. Do you pay attention to that at all or is it water off a duck’s’ back?
I wish it was water off a duck’s back. It’s hard not to pay attention to it, because people will go to some extreme lengths to make sure that I know their opinions. I try and take everything with a grain of salt. Obviously, people don’t know everything about us. They know what they see, and I have to remember that. Natalie has to remember that. We just have to let people vent on my posts, and my family’s posts, and LinkedIn, and anything else that they feel they should reach out on.
First of all, it is awful that people are leaving you rude comments. Second of all, it looks like you and Natalie are not only great partners in life, but also great partners professionally.
We are.
What’s your favorite part about Natalie as a colleague?
We have two very different ways of doing business, but we have a lot of fun together. She is a very professional woman, and I give her a lot of credit for that. In an industry like real estate, there are many people willing to do whatever it takes to get clients and make a deal. She always keeps things 100% above-board and never comprises her standards. While she’s very traditional in the business sense, I’m a little looser. I want to throw parties, and I want to meet people in an organic and authentic way. I want you to know who I am first. I want my clients to love working with me because they love me, not because of what I’m able to do professionally. Just like any other power couple, we have our differences, but we’re able to piggyback off our strengths. We get the job done.
Speaking of parties, former cast member Mariah Torres and you had a tense reunion at Preston Mitchum’s cocktail hour. Where does your friendship stand today, if at all?
We are able to coexist. We were never friends before, and we have the same relationship that we had at the beginning of the season now. I guess that’s a big win, because when she left, I don’t think we had a friendship at all. That’s unfortunate, but accidents happen. I made that very apparent that it was an accident, no matter what people say.
I think it’s pretty clear you didn’t mean to throw Milo’s things in the with the rest of the house’s laundry two summers ago.
It is an accident, but apparently, because I didn’t apologize soon enough, then it’s not an accident, it was malicious [laughs].
Listen, you can’t make everyone happy! However, you did make a lot of Bravo fans happy when Andy Cohen posted about his chance run-in with you and Summer House star West Wilson in the West Village. How did that happen?
I went to support West at Watch What Happens Live, and then afterwards, I was like, “Hey man. Let’s grab some lunch real quick” and he was like, “Let’s do it.” So we went to some restaurant and just started catching up. I thought I saw Andy out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn’t sure. I said to West: “Man, I don’t know too many white dudes with that specific look walking around.” So I shouted “Andy” and he looked back. Andy was like, “Guys!” He lit up. He was like, “I’ll be right back. Don’t move,” and then came running over to us, and was like, “What are you guys doing?” I was like, “We’re just hanging out. What do you have to do? You want to join us?” He’s like, “I got to go. I got to pick up my kids.”
Lastly, Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard is getting a reunion this season, and the internet couldn’t be more thrilled! Are you ready to hash everything out?
I’m thrilled. We are going to get the opportunity to hopefully go into another season with a fresh start, which is what we didn’t get this season. The reunion is going to clean the slate. I’m also really nervous though because a lot of things transpired this summer that were really heavy. I don’t think that everyone got to express themselves in the fullest way. My housemates were already a lot while we were in Martha’s Vineyard [laughs]. I can only imagine how they are going to act with a platform to speak their peace.
It’s going to be fireworks.
Fireworks is one word. A boxing match is another. It’s going to be a brawl. I think that’s my prediction. If you were to ask, “What’s on your BINGO card?” in the center, it would be “brawl.”
