Lexi Wood's quick-burning romance extinguished when she broke up with Jesse Solomon on Summer House, but she expects him to still be in the hot seat at the Season 9 reunion.
The reason? "I think he lied so [much] to so many people, all over the place, on and off camera," Lexi explained in an exclusive April interview with The Daily Dish. "He created just such a mess and such a huge confusion for everyone, I think, and he completely manipulated relationships to form against each other which I think is awful."
Watching the season back is ultimately what validated the Summer House newbie's lingering trust issues with Jesse — even if the experience didn't feel so great.
"I think it's funny because a lot of people don't have the opportunity to see what the person that you're dating is doing behind your back or saying behind your back," she added. "Seeing everything [that] has been said behind my back by the person I trusted the most, I think that's been the most hurtful."
In hindsight, what advice would the model go back and offer her pre-filming self? "Trust your gut instinct, for sure," she revealed. "I think I ignored that girl inside of me for a long time."
Why did Lexi Wood break up with Jesse Solomon?
From "lying about a girl sucking his toe" to him flirting with Ciara Miller and generally "acting single," Jesse had apparently sown the seeds of distrust within Lexi for a good part of the summer. His decision to get a 9 p.m. manicure, rather than meet her best friends, ultimately gave her enough of "the ick" to end the relationship in Season 9, Episode 14, though.
"When you said that, I immediately got, like, a gut punch where I’m like, 'He's lying again,'" Lexi told Jesse during their breakup conversation.
"You've changed me," she added. "I no longer trust people like I did at the start of the summer. I feel like the light in me is slowly dying because I'm exhausted from teaching you. I've said this all summer: I feel like it's, like, emotional whiplash."
Despite giving Jesse "so many chances" amid his "many lies," as she put it, Lexi ultimately didn't feel she could trust him, nor was he "ready for" the serious relationship she wanted. Meanwhile, she also resented that he supposedly prevented her from forming friendships with the other women in the house, particularly Ciara.
How Jesse Solomon reacted to Lexi Wood breaking up with him
Though Jesse was "sad" about the breakup, he told Lexi he wasn't "gonna fight" for her to change her mind. He did, however, take issue with her calling him a liar, despite him admitting to a "lie by omission" amid "Toe Gate."
"I think she's gaslighting me into thinking that I actually did some really bad stuff," he shared in a confessional. "It's like she's making up that I told these half-truths, which are lies, and now I'm a liar ... It's messed up."
Recapping the convo — during which Lexi expressed hope they could "create a friendship" in the future — for West Wilson, Jesse added, "I don't really wanna be friends with somebody who makes me out to seem like a liar who, like, smothers his girlfriend."
Now that they’re officially single, don't miss Lexi's bold prediction about Jesse dating Ciara.
-Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
