When Luke Gulbranson walked into the Summer House, he was the maple syrup miner we all needed in our lives. But by the time he left, he was just the odd man out as a Minnesota native who couldn’t seem to find his footing on reality TV. Luke never really did anything bad while on TV, and this could have been his demise. He could be seen as a bit boring, and once he embraced his Grizzly Adams ways, viewers just became seemingly uninterested. But I haven’t heard a lot from Luke recently, so let’s take a deep dive into what he has been up to.
Why did Luke leave?
I would die on the hill that Luke was perhaps the best-looking male specimen ever to grace Summer House. However, he didn’t last long. The ice hockey player joined the cast for Season 4 but left after Season 6. Bravo viewers were invested in his flirtation with Hannah Berner because it was perhaps one of the better storylines. Luke also had a situationship with Ciara Miller, who he brought onto the show, but she quickly shut him down.
At the time, Luke took to his Instagram Live to comment on his departure after rumors started circulating. Summer House viewers started to worry when fan accounts started reporting that Alex Wach, Andrea Denver, and Luke were not going to be asked back. Luke told followers, “To kind of address the elephant in the room. Just so everybody knows, I’m not going to be on Summer House this year. Those were rumors, but I wanted people to hear that from me. Yeah, I won’t be on the show.” Now, he never explicitly said he wasn’t asked back, but in the now-removed Insta post, he basically said that he wanted to go back – so let’s face it, he was fired. Allegedly.
Why did Luke quit?
During the same Instagram Live, Luke revealed, “I’m extremely thankful for the past three years of being on the show. I’m going to miss my friends a ton. I’m actually extremely bummed I’m not going to be able to spend the summer with them. It breaks my heart, but I know they’ll have a good time, and we’ll be in touch anyway.” When a fan asked why Luke wouldn’t be returning, he only said he wouldn’t “get into details.” The model did say that he would “have loved to have been a part of it. I will miss my friends dearly this year, this summer. I can’t answer the why.”
Luke hinted that he had a few movies in the works set to film in Canada during the same time. So, it is likely that a schedule clash occurred. Luke shared, “You never know what’s on the horizon. Maybe there will be something else.” Apparently, he was also trying to shoot a pilot for a series at his lake house in Minnesota, though nothing has come of that yet. But Luke was asked to be a part of Winter House Season 2, where he spent most of his time tapping maple syrup.
What is Luke up to now?
Even though Luke is no longer a cast member of Summer House, he is still very intertwined with the Bravoverse. In 2022, he was linked to the Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashely Darby after they met at BravoCon. Sadly, they decided to end their love affair in January of 2023. Since then, Luke has co-designed an apparel brand named R_Co and founded Luke’s Maple Syrup. But Luke also isn’t taking his eye off of acting as he recently went to showcase his talents in the romantic comedy Love Reconsidered.
In January 2024, Luke announced that his beer brand, Happy Dog Lager, would be available for purchase at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN. Luke also hasn’t given up on dating, as he has recently been linked to Tayshia Adams, who previously appeared on The Bachelorette. So even though Luke might not be on our small screens anymore, he hasn’t totally disappeared from our lives. Fans can always check in on him through his social media as he makes sure to keep his followers updated.
TELL US – DO YOU MISS SEEING LUKE ON SUMMER HOUSE?
