“You can see me smiling when you ask [about Paige],” Carl, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Thursday, February 4, premiere. “I think for starters, Paige and I’ve always had great chemistry. You know, since season 3 when she came on, obviously I was a little smitten by her and we had our little flirty pantry thing.”

The former dental salesman met the 28-year-old fashionista during season 3 of Summer House, which taped during the summer of 2018. During season 4, Paige introduced viewers to Perry. Carl, meanwhile, told Us that he didn’t see her much in between filming seasons 4 and 5 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The cast filmed the upcoming fifth season during a six-week span in the summer of 2020.

“We just have a good vibe. I think we kind of understand each other. I got her, I have her back. I think that’s important,” he told Us. “We’ve had our history, but I honestly feel like we have such a good, solid base of friendship that you’ll see us explore that and maybe some more [during season 5]. I can’t give away too much, but I think you’ll see me and Paige have this great chemistry and great friendship.”

While Carl noted that his friendships with his other castmates also grew during season 5, he added that he and Paige “took it to another level” in their relationship.

Paige, for her part, confirmed in October 2020 that she and Perry had called it quits.

“I used to be so scared of change, now I welcome that s—t,” she quipped to costar Hannah Berner on their “Giggly Squad” podcast at the time. “What’s meant for you, you can’t mess it up.”

Summer House also stars Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula, Lindsay Hubbard, Danielle Olivera, Luke Gulbranson and season 5 newcomer Ciara Miller. Lindsay’s now-ex-boyfriend Stephen Traversie also filmed the upcoming season. (Us confirmed last month that the publicist was no longer seeing Stephen, who wasn’t included in the official cast photo of the season but was seen in the trailer.)

“You’re gonna see some ups and downs from [Lindsay and Stephen],” Carl told Us, adding that “it was nice having another guy” in the house. “Stephen likes to work out, he’s very active. And for the guys, when we’re locked up in a house, we needed another layer of bro around. … And having Ciara is, I think an amazing addition. … It’ll be interesting to see how she kind of weaves herself into the group.”

Season 5 of Summer House marks the first time the cast didn’t go back to New York City for work during the week due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“You got to see everybody’s, like, real rawness,” Carl told Us of the filming change. “It was different. You learn a lot about people by living with them for six, seven weeks in a row.”

Summer House returns to Bravo Thursday, February 4, at 9 p.m. ET.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sarah Hearon