CANNES — “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard” star Bria Fleming was living her best life in the South of France when she found out that Bravo had put the reality show on pause after just two seasons.
“I was actually here during the [Cannes Film] Festival,” Fleming, 28, tells Pvnew’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast during a special taping at Spotify Beach amid the 2024 Cannes Lions fest, which convenes creators, media, marketing execs and more in the scenic seaside city.
“I was on a yacht, and everybody’s blowing me up, but I didn’t have service in the middle of the water,” she continues, recalling her Mediterranean escapades last month. “I get off and I’m, like, blackout drunk with my friends — and I get off, and I just see everyone’s like, ‘Did you see the news?’”
On May 28, Deadline broke the news that “SHMV” — a spinoff of “Summer House” that followed an all-black cast vacationing together in Massachusetts’ affluent enclave — was taking an indefinite hiatus.
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“It kind of was like a slap in the face to hear that the show is on pause because it came out of nowhere,” Fleming tells us, noting that the Season 2 reunion with Andy Cohen — a first for the unscripted series — had signaled to her an upward trajectory.
“I think we were just very shocked and disappointed because we brought it. We brought it [in the] second season. Like, everybody did their part,” she says, asserting that the entire cast delivered “juicy” drama.
“It was all organic,” Fleming elaborates, reminding us that even her pet dachshund, Milo, did his part by going missing in the season finale and her German boyfriend, Simon Marco — who spent a few days filming with the crew — incited conflict by dancing in a flamingo costume.
“I had my drama,” the fashion entrepreneur adds. “I’m always in something.”
The sophomore installment of “SHMV” starred Fleming, Jasmine Ellis Cooper, Jordan Emanuel, Shanice Henderson, Summer Marie Thomas, Noelle Hughley, Nick Arrington, Amir Lancaster, Preston Mitchum and Alex Tyree.
Fleming says her closest pal among the group, Henderson, 32, was the first to alert her that a third season was not in the works this year.
“I didn’t get a heads-up until everybody texted me, and they’re like, ‘Call me when you find out.’ I think it was … my best friend, Shanice, who told me, ‘We’re done. It’s on pause.’ And I’m like, ‘What?!’” she recounts.
“Thank God I didn’t answer it on that yacht because I would have reacted way different.”
The show is not canceled, though plans for its return remain uncertain. If and when “SHMV” comes back, Fleming says she and her beau, Marco, 38 — who joined her for the Cannes Lions chat with “Virtual Reali-Tea” — would love to reprise their roles.
“My heart felt like it was [broken] to pieces because this is, like, my dream job, and I know it’s not the end, but we’re so conditioned to go back every summer. August is like, ‘OK, I gotta prepare, I gotta get my outfits and everything,’” she says. “But, of course, we would love to come back.”
With more free time this summer, Fleming reveals she is looking forward to getting breast implants — a procedure she has long wanted to pursue but could previously never fit in due to her packed schedule.
“I’m gonna get a boob job, just a little augmentation, because I always wanted to do it during the summer, but we would have to go back,” she says, acknowledging that she has been interested in doing so “for years.”
“[I’ve wanted breast implants] since, like, college because they droop a little,” she explains. “So I just wanted to get, like, a natural[-looking] lift. But I always had something going on. So I was like, ‘I don’t know when I’m going to have the time to do this.’”
Whether it’s starring on reality TV or going under the knife, Marco has always been supportive of Fleming’s desires.
“I’m always positive about everything,” the businessman says, emphasizing that he and his girlfriend approach life with similar levels of curiosity and optimism.
“I always try to do new things. And when something is not working, I’m always trying to find a new way to make it better. I mean, that’s just my mindset. That’s how we build everything in our lives.”
In the meantime, the couple are enjoying more moments in Cannes — their “favorite” place in the world, as it is where they met and began falling in love two years ago.
“My favorite place to travel to in the whole entire world would be Cannes in the South of France,” Fleming says, while Marco chimes in to say, “Because that’s where we met.”
The former Playboy Club Bunny says she also likes Cannes for its “luxury, shopping, food and parties.”
“There’s so much life here and so much to do and freedom and yachts and just the glamorous side of life,” she gushes. “So, I love you, Cannes.”
