‘Summer House’ Hits Milestone for Latino Representation with Two Actors on Screen

summer house is making great strides in showcasing a diverse cast and last night’s episode hit a milestone when two full-time Latino performers shared the screen for the first time.

Longtime cast member Danielle Olivera made her season debut on the second episode of the Bravo reality series. The app developer met Chris Leoni, who joined the show in the current seventh season, and shared a sweet moment together.

Leoni was paired with Olivera in a corn hole match against Kyle Cooke and Samantha Feher. It was Feher who noted that the paired teammates could be siblings.

“We could,” Olivera confirmed, telling Leoni she was Puerto Rican.

Leoni then asked Olivera if she spoke Spanish, to which she replied, “Un poquito,” which means “a little” in English.

“I’m Honduran and Uruguayan,” Leoni said in Spanish.

The moment was small, but for Bravo viewers who are Latino, this scene was poignant because it shows that they too can be a part of places like the Hamptons, where summer house to be filmed.

Later in the episode, Leoni talked about his background and said his parents pushed the idea of ​​prioritizing his career above everything else.

“When I was in high school, my mother said, ‘No girlfriends at all. I don’t want to see you with girls, I want you to go to college, I want you to get A’s… We didn’t come here for you to mess with girls and then break up,” Leoni said during his confession.

Explaining that his mother is from Honduras and his father is from Uruguay, Leoni added, “Coming to America is literally one of the hardest and biggest things an immigrant has to do. I just want to make sure I make my parents proud.”

Sharing a post on her Instagram Stories of the scenes with Leoni, Olivera added: “It was just SO amazing to make it happen – more moments to come. Now I need Chris Leoni to join me in the town to stay! When I got back to town… Primo [Cousin]!!!”

summer house did not shy away from addressing racial issues. Last year, Mya Allen opened up to her co-stars about the microaggressions she experienced from her mostly white co-stars. The powerful episode showed the house coming together to address the issues and try harder to make her feel included.

In a March 2022 interview with ET, Allen said she raised her voice for the other cast members of color, including Ciara Miller, Olivera and Alex Wach.

“I thought it needed to be said,” she said. “It had to be known that these are the feelings and emotions I go through while I’m here and to be my friend you have to understand that. I think this is a conversation that everyone should have. It shouldn’t be scary. It’s part of life. This is America. That’s what we’re dealing with.”