Hannah Berner on Why It Feels "Bittersweet" to Leave 'Summer House' (EXCLUSIVE)

When Hannah Berner joined the cast of Summer House in Season 3, she became an immediate fan favorite. Along with her best friend and her then-coworker, Paige DeSorbo, Hannah added a younger energy to the Hamptons-based Bravo series.

Her honest and lighthearted confessionals also made her a voice of reason. The podcaster guided the viewers through the show's most entertaining storylines, including the will-they-won't they hookup between Paige and Carl Radke.

In Season 4, Hannah, now a veteran on Summer House, navigated a flirtatious relationship with new addition Luke Gulbranson. The two left the house with plans to hang out in Luke's home state of Minnesota, but their "situationship" became complicated going into Season 5.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the entire cast isolated for six weeks together at a home in the Hamptons. Instead of just filming the show on the weekends as they had in years past, the cameras were rolling the entire time.

Fans were divided about Hannah's subsequent squabbles with Luke, Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula, and Lindsay Hubbard. Many viewers saw the Berning in Hell host as the season's villain.

In mid-May of 2021, just a few weeks after the intense Season 5 reunion concluded, Hannah announced her departure from the Bravo reality show.

Why did Hannah Berner leave Summer House? The Brooklyn native spoke exclusively with Distractify about why she decided to leave the show, and what she has planned next.

After what she said was a "very, very difficult" third season on Summer House, Hannah shocked her fans by sharing that she would not return to the show.

In an Instagram statement posted on May 14, the Giggly Squad co-host said that she was exiting the popular New York series to spend her summer focused on her House Broken comedy tour.

While speaking with Distractify, Hannah elaborated on what really motivated her to say goodbye to the show. In addition to diving head-first into her tour, Hannah is also planning a wedding to fellow comedian, Des Bishop. The two met right before Hannah left to film Season 5, and they announced their engagement in March of 2021.

"Summer House is really a show about coming of age. When I first went on the show, I was 26, single, and excited to meet new people," Hannah explained. "Fast-forward three years and I had two great seasons, and I had a very, very difficult [third] season. I met the love of my life, and the universe was telling me, 'You're engaged and you want to be a stand-up comedian. You're going to travel in the summer. You may have to lose something in order to gain stuff that you want to have.'"

After three seasons on the show, which highlights the party scene and drinking culture in the Hamptons, Hannah said that she was ready for a different kind of summer.

"People change and people grow, and it's partying every weekend," she said about the mood of the series. "That's not what I'm up to right now. It was a dream to be able to do that and to make people happy, even when I wasn't always happy."

Though it felt right for her to move on, Hannah still has mixed emotions about it because "it was an incredible experience."

"It's pretty bittersweet, but I never saw myself doing reality TV for forever. I actually don't think I can emotionally handle it forever ..." Hannah said before mentioning her ongoing battles with anxiety and depression. "However, I do think I was f-----g entertaining, and I hope everyone was able to escape from their own darkness by watching Summer House."

The former college tennis player may be done with her stint as a full-time cast member on Summer House, but she is open to making an appearance on the show at some point in the future.

"Bravo made it pretty clear that the door is always open for me," she dished. "You never know what the future holds, but right now, it's time for me to focus on my wedding coming up."

Plus, she has a comedy tour to focus her attention on.

You can buy tickets to Hannah's House Broken Tour on HannahBerner.com.