{"id":4393,"date":"2026-06-02T17:44:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/how-summer-house-star-kj-dillards-mental-health-struggles-affected-dara-levitan-relationship\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T17:44:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:44:01","slug":"how-summer-house-star-kj-dillards-mental-health-struggles-affected-dara-levitan-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/how-summer-house-star-kj-dillards-mental-health-struggles-affected-dara-levitan-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"How &#8216;Summer House&#8217; star KJ Dillard&#8217;s mental health struggles affected Dara Levitan relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2F129502975.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>KJ Dillard revealed his mental health struggles caused his girlfriend and \u201cSummer House\u201d co-star Dara Levitan to end their relationship briefly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/summer-houses-kj-dillard-on-his-bpd-diagnosis-and\/id1867880013?i=1000770725710\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Speaking to Carl Radke<\/a> on Tuesday\u2019s episode of \u201cMore Life with Carl Radke,\u201d the Bravo newbie explained that \u201cpre-show, nothing was really going on\u201d for him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cModeling was slow. I\u2019d taken a break during the\u00a0summer\u00a0to focus on the show,\u201d he explained, noting that this left him in a \u201cterrible place\u201d financially.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>KJ Dillard (pictured here on Tuesday\u2019s episode of the\u00a0\u201cMore Life With Carl Radke\u201d\u00a0podcast) said that his mental health struggles caused girlfriend Dara Levitan to briefly break up with him. <span class=\"credit\">More Life With Carl Radke Podcast<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>\u201cDara, I think, was gonna hang on \u2026 but that wouldn\u2019t have been good for either of us,\u201d the model (pictured here with host Carl Radke) explained. <span class=\"credit\">More Life With Carl Radke Podcast<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cMe and Dara were struggling because I was taking out what I was going through out on her. I wasn\u2019t even aware of it,\u201d the reality star recalled.<\/p>\n<p>Despite taking medication for his anxiety and depression, Dillard explained that he \u201cdidn\u2019t realize\u201d he was also battling undiagnosed borderline personality disorder \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/27\/celebrity-news\/summer-house-star-kj-dillard-reveals-hospitalization-bpd-diagnosis-at-emotional-reunion\/\">a diagnosis he revealed<\/a> during the<a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/entertainment\/summer-house-season-10-reunion-recap\/\"> first part of the \u201cSummer House\u201d reunion<\/a> aired last week.<\/p>\n<p>As Dillard hit \u201crock bottom,\u201d Levitan ended their relationship \u201cbecause she had to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDara, I think, was gonna hang on \u2026 but that wouldn\u2019t have been good for either of us,\u201d Dillard explained. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The Bravo star (pictured here on the podcast) confessed that he \u201cdidn\u2019t realize\u201d he was also battling undiagnosed borderline personality disorder. <span class=\"credit\">More Life With Carl Radke Podcast<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Dillard said he and his partner (pictured here during the \u201cSummer House\u201d Season 10 reunion) needed the split because dating in recovery \u201cwould have been a mess.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Jocelyn Prescod\/Bravo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI needed the time, because after the hospital, I went to recovery \u2026 and that\u2019s when we broke up,\u201d he added, referring to his late 2025 hospitalization over self-harm. <\/p>\n<p>However, the Bravolebrity admitted that the break-up was for the best, noting that dating in recovery \u201cwould have been a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would have been focused on saving the relationship rather than focusing on my health,\u201d he mused. \u201cRecovery changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The musician (pictured here with Levitan last month) expressed, \u201cI would have been focused on saving the relationship rather than focusing on my health. Recovery changed my life.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">daralevitan\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Dillard (pictured here with the makeup artist) also gushed over his current bond with Levitan. <span class=\"credit\">daralevitan\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While on the podcast, Dillard also made it clear that Levitan is still his \u201clil thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do a good job at not letting [the public] tear us apart. It affects us individually, of course, but the relationship, we both know what we want and what we\u2019ve gone through together,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n<p>Calling his relationship with Levitan \u201csome love story s\u2013t,\u201d Dillard insisted that the pair isn\u2019t going to let \u201coutside influence affect that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, just last week, the duo sent fans into a frenzy when they unfollowed each other on social media.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The \u201cSummer House\u201d newbie (pictured here with his partner last month) called their romance \u201csome love story s\u2013t.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">daralevitan\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>\u201cWe do a good job at not letting [the public] tear us apart,\u201d the reality star (pictured here in a mirror selfie with Levitan) sweetly shared.  <span class=\"credit\">daralevitan\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dillard also deleted all photos of Levitan off his Instagram page and posted a series of cryptic messages on Threads, including one that simply read, \u201cWelp.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But a few days later, he dropped a music video for his song, \u201cMy Lil Thing\u201d \u2014 proving the online chatter was promotion for the track.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s my lil thing \/ Stick around and give her a wedding ring \/ Stick around and give her a second name,\u201d Dillard rapped in the music video, in which Levitan was front and center.<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics also referenced meeting during Season 10 of \u201cSummer House,\u201d with the artist singing, \u201cFrom the Hamptons to the city, every weekend getting litty.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Late last month, the pair (pictured here in May) sparked breakup rumors after seemingly unfollowing one another on Instagram and wiping their feeds of any pictures together. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for DSW<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Turns out, it was a promotion for Dillard\u2019s new music video for his song, \u201cMy Lil Thing\u201d (as pictured here).  <span class=\"credit\">KJ Dillard\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere was something different about [Dillard] for me he was a little bit more soft-spoken, he led forward with, like, this very kind, warm energy,\u201d Levitan \u2014 who previously dated the controversial West Wilson \u2014 revealed to hosts Evan Real and Danny Murphy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The television personality shared that she and Dillard had a lot of similarities, which allowed her \u201clover girl\u201d side to come out.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, contact the\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/988lifeline.org\/\"><strong><em>Suicide and Crisis Lifeline<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0by calling or texting 988.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/02\/entertainment\/how-summer-house-star-kj-dillards-mental-health-struggles-affected-dara-levitan-relationship\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KJ Dillard revealed his mental health struggles caused his girlfriend and \u201cSummer House\u201d co-star Dara<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/129502975.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}