Kory Keefer is opening up about his recent split from Samantha “Sam” Feher.
Days after the Summer House cast member, 26 confirmed their breakup, explaining that he didn’t love her on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, Kory, 33, shared his biggest regret, took full responsibility for the end of their relationship, and confirmed where they stand today while also looking back on Summer House season seven and suspecting that producers invited Sam to Winter House season three to amp up the drama of the series.
“Long distance was hard but we were making it work. There was no pressure on it. I think that was the biggest thing: We were just being ourselves and there was no outside forces saying, ‘Are you doing this?’ We weren’t hooking up with anyone but we weren’t really talking about that. I was seeing her a couple times a month, flying to New York or she was coming down to South Carolina,” Kory said on the January 22 episode of Real Moms of Bravo of his and Sam’s status prior to Winter House season three.
Then, after joining the show, Kory said everyone wanted to know if he and Sam were official.
“It was my fault for not putting a title on it. I was just trying to be truthful … and just going in that house, it was like a pressure cooker,” he admitted. “I guess I was just naive to think that wasn’t going to happen going into it. Now, looking back, I think I should have made it official going into it, and I think that would have received a lot of stress and the mishaps that happened throughout the season.”
As viewers witnessed, Kory engaged in flirty behavior with several of his castmates throughout season three, including Malia White, 33.
“I take 100 percent responsibility for why we’re not together,” he declared. “There were a lot of things that I would’ve changed … There are things that I’m not proud of, and it sucks to see.”
According to Kory, Sam “had to look out for herself” after watching his behavior play out.
“[The relationship] was great up until it really wasn’t. [But] I look back, and I cherish the time. I was lucky to have the time that I had with her,” he continued.
As for where they stand now, Kory confirmed he and Sam are in a “pretty good” place.
“We don’t talk all the time, but after the breakup, we’ve texted once a week-ish here and there, and then after the interview, I texted her and said, ‘You did really good. Thanks for not completely destroying me on the podcast.’ And she hearted in and said something sweet back,” he revealed. “I have nothing but positive memories and respect for her. It is a really big stress watching something back on TV that happened eight months ago … and it brought a lot of unwanted stress.”
Since their split was confirmed, Kory has been “getting a lot” of “well-deserved hate” and receiving plenty of “f*ckboy” allegations. And, while he confessed to having a “f*ckboy persona” and “acting like that” at times, he insisted he’s not a f*ckboy.
“I’ve tried to fight against it, but the media and people are going to think what they want of you. I challenge anyone who says that to get to know me. Have a conversation with me and then judge for yourself,” he advised. “It’s a lot of judging a book by its cover. I used to be probably the typical f*ckboy where I would do stupid things [but] I’ve tried to mature. I’m not perfect [but] I’m trying to get better as I get older.”
Looking back on Summer House season seven, which saw Lindsay Hubbard, 37, and Carl Radke, 38, who have since split, at odds with Danielle Olivera, 34, Kory admitted the dynamic was “very tense.”
“Watching it back, I didn’t realize all the tense moments behind the scenes that I wasn’t a part of, but we did have a lot of fun as well. Walking into the house, you could feel the tension already there,” he shared.
Kory then recalled Sam’s visit to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
“Production knows what they’re doing. They definitely saw the flirtation that I was doing with the other girls and saw the girls talking about, ‘Oh I would make out with him,’ and all the bad sh*t I was doing. And they were like ‘Well, if we bring Sam in, this will spark a flame one way or the other,’” he stated. “I don’t think they intentionally want harm or want bad things to happen to us, but at the end of the day, they have a job to do, and they want to create good TV.”
“I think they [knew], bringing Sam into the situation, something was gonna happen and I was gonna have to address my feelings to the camera and try to make it official or not or fumble or whatever the case is,” he added.
Winter House has not yet been confirmed for a fourth season.