Could Ciara Miller Be The Next Bachelorette? Will Justin Baldoni Ever Work Again? And Inside the Business Of Dating Famous

Monoculture is dead - we now live in a fragmented cultural landscape where your coworker is obsessed with a podcast you’ve never heard of, your bestie can’t stop talking about some random HULU show, and you've genuinely got no idea who the person is that your teenager worships. We now curate our own celebrities. Which makes it even more remarkable when something breaks through. 

One week ago, the names Amanda Batula, Kyle Cooke, West Wilson, and Ciara Miller meant nothing to most people... unless you're a Bravo viewer (and even then, you’re never 100% certain which one is which). They’re the stars of Summer House, an obnoxious reality show where a bunch of largely douchey New Yorkers relocate to a McMansion in the Hamptons each weekend, get drunk and shout at each other. A lot. It’s a show that’s beloved by a devoted fanbase, but totally invisible to everyone else. Then Summer House had its moment. 

Ten seasons in, the show has done what only the best reality television can: it's escaped its own audience. The drama currently consuming its cast is so primal, so perfectly constructed, that you don’t need to have watched a single episode to be completely gripped. The New York Times explained the situation to its readers as if filing a dispatch from a foreign country. That’s how you know something lower brow has broken through.

Here’s the lowdown on why we’re all obsessed:Boy A dumps Girl B. Girl B’s best friend, Girl C — freshly separated from Husband D — is secretly dating Boy A. And has been lying about it. That’s it. That’s the story. No famous names required. Swap in any four names, set it in any town, and it hits exactly the same nerve: loneliness, betrayal, the particular sting of being deceived by someone you trusted completely. These are not Summer House themes. These are human themes. It’s modern-day Shakespeare. Reality TV at its most effective is just mythology with better lighting and a Hamptons location budget.

This was, in fact, the whole secret behind me creating two decades of magazine covers that (mostly) worked. Strip the celebrity name out of the story. Replace “Jennifer Aniston” with “Mrs. Miller.” Does it still make you want to read it? If yes, you have something real. If it only works because of who it’s about, you have a one-week cover and nothing more. The best stories are the ones that would be interesting whoever they happened to.

By that test, this Summer House moment passes with flying colors. And one person is going to emerge from this particular fire significantly shinier than she entered it - Girl B: Ciara Miller. Ciara is a strong, beautiful, confident, smart, funny and deeply human reality star and her moment is just beginning...

Yes, she’s from Bravo. But ABC need to build a bridge and get over it.

I hosted an event with Ciara last year, and in a world of reality stars who perform charisma, she simply has it. Wit, warmth, emotional intelligence that would make a therapist envious. She’s the rare television personality who is more impressive in person than on screen. ABC, this woman was made for your rose ceremonies.

Here’s my case:

1. The Nation Is Already On Her Side

The most powerful arc in storytelling isn’t the hero’s journey — it’s the woman who keeps getting back up. America didn’t make Jennifer Aniston a cultural icon because of her Friends residuals. They did it because Brad ran off with Angelina. Ciara’s audience isn’t just watching her. They’re rooting for her. That’s the difference between a ratings show and a cultural moment.

2. She Brings the Buzz You’re Desperately Chasing But Safely

And she does it without the liability. No lawsuits. No scandals lurking in a deposition. She’s an ICU Registered Nurse who worked frontline through COVID-19. She literally kept people alive while you were binging Bachelor in Paradise. The internet will not come for her, ABC. They will come for her.

3. Her “Unlucky in Love” Arc Is Already Written

Austen Kroll. Luke Gulbranson. West Wilson. Bravo handed her the most compelling Bachelorette backstory since… well, possibly ever. She hasn’t just experienced heartbreak — she’s experienced it publicly, repeatedly, and with the kind of grace that makes audiences want to throw a brick through their television on her behalf. That’s gold. That’s your premiere episode monologue, right there.

4. She Is Authentically Authentic

That word has been abused to the point of meaninglessness, but here it actually applies. She has spoken openly about family trauma, about navigating predominantly white reality TV spaces as a Black woman, about what it costs to keep showing up. Vulnerability is the engine of this franchise. She runs on it naturally.

5. She Says What She Wants

No producer-coached non-answers. No strategic fence-sitting. She will hand a man his bags and mean it. She will fall in love on camera and mean that too. In a genre where “journey” has replaced genuine feeling, Ciara is jarringly, refreshingly direct.

6. She Is Grounded In A Way That Will Make Everyone Else Look Ridiculous

Which is, frankly, tremendous television.

7. She Has Earned The Right To Drive Her Own Story

She has spent years navigating a rotating cast of Hamptons fuckboys who treated her like a supporting character in their own mediocre stories. Right now, that betrayal narrative is being told to her, not by her. The Bachelorette doesn’t just give her a platform — it hands her the wheel. Give her 30 men, a production budget, and the power of the final rose. Let her be ruthlessly, joyfully selective, as the protagonist of her own life on national television. That reframe alone is worth the licensing conversation with Bravo. America will watch every second of it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

8. She is Too Good For This World

I mentioned she’s a nurse. She also bought her grandparents a house and when the world was waiting to see what she would post on social media, she posted a message of support for world trans day. 

9. Have You Seen Her?

This should perhaps have been higher on the list.

ABC, the window for this is now. Make the call.

Who is dating who is celebrity gossip gold. And last week alone, two new couples made their intentions known: Florence Pugh and Finn Cole posed together at a Bulgari event with the confident energy of people who want to be photographed, while Brooks Nader and Taron Egerton were “caught” kissing by paparazzi - the quotation marks doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

And look, whether it’s genuine butterflies or a very attractive business arrangement, it doesn’t matter. Celebrity relationships are catnip. They sell covers, crash servers, and send Instagram analytics through the roof. We are hardwired to want to know what’s happening behind the bedroom doors of the world’s most beautiful people, and the media industrial complex has never had the willpower to resist giving it to us.

But here’s what the gossip coverage rarely acknowledges: dating a fellow celebrity is genuinely a brilliant strategy. It’s association marketing with better lighting. When two B-listers merge, they don’t just add their fanbases, they become more intriguing. Brooks Nader (glamorous model, Kardashian-adjacent reality fixture) plus Taron Egerton (critically respected British film star on the rise) equals a couple the internet didn’t know it needed but now absolutely cannot ignore. Separately, they’re interesting. Together, they’re a thing.

The calculus gets even more interesting with Florence Pugh and Finn Cole. Pugh is operating firmly in the B+ zone — a serious actress who commands attention in any room and any film she enters. Cole is talented and has the Peaky Blinders credibility, but he’s been a C-list prospect waiting for his moment. Dating Florence Pugh is that moment. His Instagram following will spike. Profiles will be written. Casting directors who filed him under “maybe” will start moving him to “yes.” Hollywood runs on visibility, and she just handed him a spotlight.

As for whether any of this is calculated from the start — almost certainly not. In years of watching this world, genuinely staged romances are rarer than the cynics suggest (and the jury is still very much out on whatever is or isn’t happening between Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson). These are attractive, charismatic people in overlapping social circles who are drawn to each other the same way the rest of us are. The business benefits are a very elegant side effect. Call it what it is: the most glamorous form of synergy in existence.

Say What!? Of The Week: "I was just talking to the president". Body cam footage came out on Thursday showing Tiger Woods after he flipped his SUV in Florida, telling a deputy, "I was just talking to the president" When your In Case Of Emergency contact is Donald Trump the story writes itself. 

Dan’s Fanalytics: Kanye’s $33M Weekend: Kanye West raked in a whopping $33 million from just two Los Angeles shows over the weekend, marking a major comeback after years of career turbulence that included antisemitic rhetoric and praise for Hitler.  That is around 160,000 people who have accepted his apologies and bought tickets.

The Colbert Succession: Yesterday CBS announced that it’s replacing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed. The new show takes the 11:35 p.m. slot starting May 22.  Late night used to be where culture went to process itself. Now it’s where networks go to cut costs. 

How To Call In Sick: When Lady Gaga cancelled her Montreal show just three hours before curtain due to a respiratory infection, she wrote to fans: “I don’t think I could give you the quality of a performance today that you deserve.” In an era of “good enough,” knowing when not to show up is its own kind of excellence. Much more preferable to a show cancelled mid way through. 

Mark Shares His Grief: Mark Consuelos shared the death of his father Saul during a live episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, with Kelly Ripa calling the late patriarch “the greatest person I’ve ever known.” Morning television’s greatest trick is making millions of strangers feel like family so when real grief lands on set and the host is open to sharing their relatable personal life, the whole country feels it. Watching someone be human in real time is still the most powerful TV there is. Thanks for sharing Mark.

Hitting The Town: Rihanna & A$AP Rocky Out For The First Time Since The Shooting.The pair were spotted having a family dinner at Siena restaurant in Paris on April 4, just weeks after a woman allegedly fired around 20 bullets from an AR-15-style rifle into the exterior wall of their Beverly Hills home. The couple exited separately and looked completely unbothered. As one does when you're Rihanna.

Refreshing Honesty Of The Week: Former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft admitted to Bill O’Reilly he “hated” working at the show because of its cutthroat competitive atmosphere and relentless news cycle — and said if he could do it all over again, he “probably wouldn’t.”  Thirty years. Multiple Emmys. Would not recommend.

Prince Harry's Final Tabloid Lawsuit Is Now in a Judge's Hands: Prince Harry's last remaining lawsuit against the British tabloids has been handed to a High Court judge to decide. Harry has spent years and a considerable fortune (The UK Times estimates the figure at $38 million) pursuing press accountability in the UK — a crusade that has outlasted most people's attention spans and, arguably, the public's sympathy.  

Last Thursday, a federal judge dismissed Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni — narrowing a lawsuit that’s already reshaped careers, cost tens of millions in legal fees, and put Hollywood’s power dynamics under a microscope.

Why were the harassment claims dismissed? Two reasons. Lively was classified as an independent contractor, stripping her of federal workplace protections — a sobering reminder of how “contractor” status leaves entertainment workers legally exposed. The judge also ruled that Baldoni’s conduct, including an unscripted kiss during an intimate scene, fell within the bounds of artistic experimentation.

What’s still being decided? The May 2026 trial centers on retaliation, breach of contract, and aiding and abetting retaliation. The core question: did Baldoni’s production company and PR firm The Agency Group run a coordinated smear campaign against Lively after she raised on-set safety concerns — and does that cross into illegal retaliation? Proving intent and causation is where these cases typically live or die.

How does the Rebel Wilson lawsuit factor in? The Wilson case is now possibly sharing evidence with this suit — specifically communications allegedly detailing a PR playbook involving fake websites, manipulated social media, and coordinated narrative attacks. If that system can be proven, it significantly undermines Baldoni’s claim that the backlash against Lively was spontaneous.

Career damage so far: Lively’s team alleges $161 million in damages — $56.2 million in lost acting and endorsement earnings plus $71 million across her lifestyle brands. She has one film out since the dispute and another in production. Baldoni’s fall has been steeper. He’s lost three jobs, was dropped by WME, lost his podcast co-host, and has had honors rescinded. Baldoni is presumably focused on the lawsuit but it will be tough no matter the outcome. Says one industry insider: “He had great success with It Ends With Us, but I’m not sure he’ll ever get big stars to work with him again.”

Legal fees? Estimated at $25–35 million total and climbing.

Is anyone winning? No. This is mutually assured destruction — and it’s not over yet.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I hope you enjoyed this edition and took something away from Celebrity Intelligence. I switched on the format and added a round up of smaller items. Let me know if you liked it. And If there’s something you want to read about or for me to investigate, please let me know. If you like this email, it’s free so please feel free to forward it. If you’re not subscribed, please join the fun. Have a great week!