Jesse Solomon Finds It Hard to Care About ‘Summer House’ Drama Amid Testicular Cancer Return Concerns (Exclusive)

The reality star was expecting the results of his five-year scan in the May 16 episode, and tells PEOPLE it was “shocking” when he was diagnosed in 2017

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

‘Summer House’ Star Jesse Solomon

Emotions reached their peak in the episode broadcast on May 16 Summer house.

“The boys shed a lot of tears this weekend — some justified, some maybe not so much,” star Jesse Solomon tells PEOPLE.

At the beginning of the episode, Jesse, 30, was nervous about his upcoming five-year oncology checkup because he thought he felt a lump in his testicle. “I’m just not comfortable being emotional like that,” Jesse, who was first diagnosed with testicular cancer in August 2017, told West Wilson.

Jesse told PEOPLE magazine that he confided in West, 28, because they “became fast friends” after moving into the same house together.

“West really dragged it out of me,” Jesse says. “I didn’t try to talk about this horrible thing. He just sensed something was wrong, and he’s a good friend, and he said, ‘What’s wrong, and is this about Tuesday?’ And then I just broke down. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”

Related: Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard Were Like ‘Volcanoes’ Before Their Split, Erupting in ‘Huge Arguments’ (Exclusive)

Meanwhile, Kyle Cooke confided in Carl Radke and Danielle Olivera about his feelings after hearing from his wife, Amanda Batula, that she wanted to work on a side project that she was more passionate about than their company, Loverboy.

“The way Amanda talks to me really grosses me out,” Kyle, 41, said.

The Loverboy founder and CEO cried in his car in the driveway, telling Danielle, 35, that he felt “very defeated” by the situation. Later in the episode, Kyle spoke to Amanda, 32, by the pool and became emotional as he told her he felt “really, like, sad” about how their conversation went. “I’ll be there for you,” he promised Amanda.

Rich Polk/Bravo via Getty

‘Summer House’ Stars Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula at BravoCon 2023 in Las Vegas

Jesse didn’t realize what Kyle and Amanda were dealing with that weekend. “I really didn’t know Kyle was having his panic attack, but I was sitting there while he was crying by the pool,” he told PEOPLE. “I was out of shot and I was just sitting there like, ‘I can’t believe this guy is crying right now.’”

Jesse was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 24 after he went for a routine physical and told the doctor he felt a “twink of pain in his testicle.” The doctor recommended an ultrasound, and Jesse also asked for an STD test.

“I go and pee in a cup, I get an ultrasound, and they call me back right away. And I was at work, and I missed the call, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I must have chlamydia. My life is over. I’m going to have to tell this girl I was dating and it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,'” Jesse recalls.

When Jesse finally spoke to his doctor, the doctor informed him that he had a lump on his testicle that was most likely cancerous and would need to be removed.

“It was pretty shocking, I was really scared and pretty panicked,” Jesse says. “My parents handled it well and came to New York, and we ended up doing everything in New York because I wanted to live as normally as possible.”

Jesse had one testicle removed and didn’t need chemotherapy when it was first detected, but the cancer returned a year later, at which point he began four rounds of chemotherapy. The University of Miami graduate began losing his hair during his second round. “It was tough, but I knew it was coming, so I was prepared for it,” he says.

Before the second round, Jesse caught a cold, which delayed his chemotherapy for a week.

“Then I go into my third round of chemo, still sick and I get pneumonia, and then I’m in and out of the hospital,” the reality star says. “The whole four rounds of chemo were supposed to be three months, but it ended up being four. I was in and out of the hospital so many times before they gave me the green light. By the end, I had no eyebrows, no hair, I was just skinny and fat, I lost muscle and veins, but it all comes back.”

After four years of clean scans, Jesse entered Summer house season 8, hoping to continue his streak and celebrate five years without cancer. But he told West and Ciara Miller over the phone during the May 16 episode, “The doctor felt something and then I felt something separate and both of those things were, like, not normal.”

Felix Kunze/Bravo

‘Summer House’ Stars Ciara Miller and West Wilson

As a result, Jesse had to undergo an ultrasound examination.

“Everything was going smoothly, but I really thought when I found that tumor, I was done for,” Jesse tells PEOPLE. “The chances of it coming back go way down with chemo—they said my chances went from 13 percent to 2 percent—but when it happens to you twice, in my mind, it’s 50/50. You have some kind of PTSD.”

He says that “having fun with friends” and “partying” were “a solid distraction” as he anticipated the scan, “but that’s never going to solve any problem.”

That same weekend, Carl and his then-fiancée Lindsay Hubbard experienced drama when she once again brought up the subject of his career options.

“I want soft and delicate,” Carl, 39, told Lindsay, 37.

Lindsay replied, “Are you sure you want to marry me, because I won’t always be this soft, this cuddly…”

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

‘Summer House’ Stars Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard

At the end of the weekend, Lindsay went with Danielle to grab lunch on the way back to New York, leaving Carl to drive back alone. “I need some space, personally,” Lindsay told Carl, who drove off without taking his luggage.

Jesse knew about tensions between Lindsay and Carl that weekend, but his health concerns took precedence.

“It’s just so hard to take care of the things in life when you’re just worried about your health, because if you don’t have your health, you don’t have any of those things in life,” Jesse says. “That’s something that cancer taught me—sometimes you just have to step back. It’s still good to be motivated and ambitious, but sometimes when things aren’t going your way, it’s really liberating to just be alive and healthy and do all those things.”

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The episode ended with Jesse waiting for his test results. Jesse jokes that he feels “good” today.

“I’m healthy, I’m happy and I’m just trying to live in the moment,” he says. “If I knew I was going to be okay, if I knew I was going to be Summer house and I would be living my best life at 30 and doing my thing, it would be so much easier. But I’ve gotten so many amazing messages from people who say, “You’ve encouraged me to go to the doctor. I’ve been meaning to go for a checkup, but I’ve been putting it off.” It’s been super rewarding, more than I thought it would be. That was the main reason I wanted to do the show, and I’m really glad I did.”

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Summer house airs Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET on Bravo.

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