She is not a cast member. She is not an influencer. Until March 2026, Meija Moreno was a Philadelphia-based artist quietly building her handmade accessories brand and working a remote receptionist job to cover the bills. Then a reality television show she had never appeared on pulled her name into one of Bravo’s most explosive relationship scandals in years — and her entire world changed overnight. Understanding who Meija Moreno actually is requires looking past the tabloid headlines and at the real person behind the viral moment.
Who Is Meija Moreno and Where Did She Come From?
Meija Moreno is an American artist, entrepreneur, and craftsperson currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the founder of Snarl Studios, a handmade accessories brand best known for custom horsehair ties. Beyond her creative work, she holds a day job as a remote receptionist, according to Billy Penn. She has no background in reality television and no public profile prior to the Summer House controversy of 2026.
Growing Up in Idaho and Montana
Born in northern Idaho, Meija grew up in a small-town environment that shaped her sense of independence from an early age. Her family moved to a suburb of Chicago for one year before relocating to Montana just before she started seventh grade, she told Billy Penn in April 2026. She completed the rest of middle school, high school, and college in Montana, attending Montana State University.
Reflecting on her upbringing, Meija described the cultural expectations of small-town life with honesty. “You don’t know what a small town is until you grow up in a place like Idaho or Montana,” she told Billy Penn. “The culture there is you get married, you have kids, you settle down — which there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. But that’s not something I ever wanted for myself personally.” That clarity of purpose drove her eventual decision to leave the region and pursue a creative life elsewhere.
Moving to Philadelphia
After completing her studies at Montana State University, Meija made the significant move to the East Coast. In a 2025 TikTok video, she revealed that she had recently relocated to Philadelphia from Montana and Idaho, according to Swooon. She confirmed to Billy Penn in April 2026 that she had been in Philadelphia for approximately a year at that point. The move represented a deliberate bet on her artistic ambitions over the comfort of familiar surroundings.
| Meija Moreno Personal Overview | Details |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Northern Idaho, USA |
| Education | Montana State University |
| Current City | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Brand | Snarl Studios (handmade horsehair accessories) |
| Day Job | Remote receptionist |
| Known For | West Wilson Summer House Season 10 scandal, 2026 |
| Previous Work | Administrative assistant at an eye care office |
| Social Media | @meijamoreno (Instagram), Snarl Studios (@snarl.studios) |
What Is Snarl Studios and How Did Meija Build It?
At the heart of Meija Moreno’s identity is her creative brand, Snarl Studios. Understanding the business gives important context to everything that followed.
The Origin of the Brand
The name and concept behind Snarl Studios came from a specific moment of creative inspiration. Meija told Billy Penn in April 2026 that she had made a kiss-lock purse with an embroidered cougar on the front of it, growling and snarling, with the painted words “show me your teeth.” That image stayed with her. When she was ready to build a brand around her work, she returned to that original piece for direction. “I wanted the brand to be something that’s animalistic and kind of bold, but not overly aggressive,” she told Billy Penn. “Then I found myself looking back at that bag that I had originally made, and she’s just, like, snarling on the bag. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s perfect.'”
What Snarl Studios Makes
The brand produces handmade accessories, with custom horsehair ties as the signature product. Each tie is crafted by hand, incorporating real horsehair into a wearable textile piece that sits at the intersection of artisan craft and fashion accessory. The brand’s Instagram, @snarl.studios, features close-up process videos and finished product shots that showcase the distinct texture and quality of the work. Additionally, Meija’s background in embroidery and textile craft informs the broader Snarl Studios aesthetic, which is simultaneously bold and meticulously made.
Industry Recognition Through an Unexpected Channel
Before the Summer House connection brought Snarl Studios to national attention, the brand was building its audience organically. Moreover, the horsehair ties had already attracted notable interest within fashion-adjacent circles. Consequently, the moment West Wilson wore a Snarl Studios tie on live television, the brand’s visibility jumped dramatically — a viral moment that Meija herself had not anticipated.
How Did Meija Moreno Meet West Wilson and What Was Their Relationship?
The connection between Meija Moreno and Summer House cast member West Wilson traces back to their shared time at Montana State University. Both attended the same institution, and the friendship they formed there eventually grew into something more, according to multiple sources.
From College Connection to Romantic Relationship
According to Page Six, which reported on April 1, 2026, Meija and West were in an exclusive relationship at the time his romance with Amanda Batula became public. The outlet reported that West had told Meija he was not sleeping with other people. Furthermore, during the Summer House Season 10 reunion in May 2026, Meija confirmed via FaceTime with castmember Ciara Miller and Kyle Cooke that she and West had dated throughout the summer of 2025, according to Bravo TV.
Their accounts of the relationship’s seriousness differ, however. West publicly referred to Meija as his “friend” during his March 24, 2026, appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen — the same appearance where he wore her horsehair tie and credited Snarl Studios. According to Swooon, West also referenced Meija during a Season 9 Summer House episode in 2025, saying of the unnamed girl: “She lives in Montana. And if I was seeing anyone seriously, he’d probably be the first to know.” That framing suggested he was keeping the relationship deliberately private.
The Horsehair Tie Moment
The tie became the catalyst that brought Meija’s name into the public conversation. On March 24, 2026, West Wilson appeared on Watch What Happens Live wearing a custom Snarl Studios horsehair tie. He told host Andy Cohen: “My friend Meija made this for me,” according to TV Insider. At the time, most viewers took the comment at face value. Within weeks, however, the revelation of his romance with Amanda Batula prompted internet sleuths to revisit that appearance with fresh eyes. The “friend” comment quickly became central to the public narrative.
The Amanda Batula Connection and the Scandal
The broader Summer House Season 10 storyline involves West Wilson’s romantic involvement with Amanda Batula, a cast member who was still married to fellow cast member Kyle Cooke at the time. Additionally, Amanda and West’s relationship developed while Amanda’s former best friend on the show, Ciara Miller, had previously dated West. The combination of those overlapping relationships made the story one of the most discussed in Summer House’s history.
Meija’s name entered that conversation as the third party who had allegedly been in an exclusive relationship with West during the period when his involvement with Amanda was developing. Amanda confirmed during Part 1 of the Season 10 reunion in May 2026 that she had known about Meija when she first started seeing West, according to Yahoo Entertainment.
How Did Meija Moreno Respond to the Sudden Public Attention?
For someone with no prior media experience and no reality television background, the speed and scale of the public attention was genuinely disorienting. Nevertheless, Meija handled the moment with a combination of honesty and restraint that many observers found admirable.
Speaking to Billy Penn
Meija gave her first and most substantive public comments in an interview with Billy Penn published on April 16, 2026. Her response was candid and grounded. “I’m a normal person,” she told the outlet. “I’m not a part of that world. I don’t have a fan base that knows me and is ready to ride for me. So when my name started getting thrown in the mix, my immediate fear was that I was going to become a scapegoat, or somehow become the villain in the situation.”
That fear of being made into a narrative device rather than recognized as a person speaks to a broader dynamic in how reality television scandals consume real individuals who never signed up for public scrutiny. Meija’s concern was not primarily about the attention itself but about the way that attention could distort her identity and reputation.
The Pronunciation TikTok
Rather than issue a statement addressing the romantic speculation directly, Meija took a drier approach. She posted a TikTok video captioned “Clearing up the speculation” — in which, instead of addressing the West Wilson rumors, she simply corrected the widespread mispronunciation of her name, according to Swooon. The move was widely interpreted as a deliberate, wry deflection that communicated her discomfort with the situation without giving the gossip cycle more fuel.
Support From an Unexpected Corner
Despite the circumstances, the scandal generated one tangible form of support for Meija’s brand. Summer House cast member Lindsay Hubbard wore a Snarl Studios horsehair tie during her own appearance on Watch What Happens Live in April 2026, according to Yahoo Entertainment. The gesture was widely read as a show of solidarity from someone within the Bravo world. For Meija, the increased visibility translated directly to awareness of her craft and her brand.
What Does the Summer House Scandal Mean for Meija Moreno’s Career?
The circumstances that pushed Meija Moreno into national headlines were entirely outside her control. Nevertheless, the outcome for Snarl Studios is difficult to separate from the controversy that brought the brand to public attention.
Unwanted Fame With Real Consequences
Meija’s situation illustrates a recurring dynamic in the reality television ecosystem. Real people who have personal connections to cast members can find themselves pulled into storylines and public narratives with no ability to shape how they are represented. Meija is not bound by any network contract, has no publicist, and had no prepared response infrastructure when her name first started appearing in tabloids. Furthermore, the absence of a public platform meant that early characterizations of her had room to set before she could offer any counter-narrative.
The Craft at the Center of It All
Regardless of the circumstances, Snarl Studios and its horsehair ties are now genuinely known within fashion and entertainment circles. The craftsmanship behind the brand earned independent praise — Cosmopolitan wrote “Can’t lie, her horsehair ties are sick” — in coverage that was ostensibly about the scandal but functioned, in practice, as a product review. That kind of organic credibility is difficult to manufacture and suggests that the brand has real substance behind the attention.
Building on Her Own Terms
Throughout the entire episode, Meija’s clearest priority was protecting her identity as an artist first. Additionally, her directness in the Billy Penn interview — describing herself simply as “a normal person” with no fan base to protect her — reflects a self-awareness that is uncommon in a media environment that tends to reward performance over honesty. The challenge going forward is translating unexpected public attention into sustained, genuine interest in Snarl Studios, on terms that Meija controls.
What Is Meija Moreno Doing Now?
As of mid-2026, Meija Moreno remains based in Philadelphia and continues to build Snarl Studios. The brand’s Instagram presence has grown significantly following the Summer House coverage. Her day job as a remote receptionist continues to provide financial stability while she develops the brand. Meija has not sought out further media engagements beyond the Billy Penn interview and has maintained a low profile relative to the level of attention her name attracted in the spring.
The Summer House Season 10 reunion, which aired its three parts in May and June 2026 on Bravo, brought her name back into circulation through Ciara Miller’s FaceTime moment, according to Bravo TV. However, Meija herself did not appear on screen. Her presence in that story remained exactly what it had always been: the presence of a real person who existed outside the show, whose experience was referenced inside it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Meija Moreno from Summer House?
Meija Moreno is a Philadelphia-based artist and founder of Snarl Studios who was never a cast member of Summer House. She became connected to the show’s Season 10 scandal in 2026 when it emerged that she had been in a relationship with cast member West Wilson at the time his romance with Amanda Batula became public, according to Page Six.
What is Snarl Studios?
Snarl Studios is Meija Moreno’s handmade accessories brand, best known for custom ties crafted from real horsehair. She founded the brand after creating an embroidered purse featuring a snarling cougar, which inspired both the brand name and its animalistic aesthetic. Cast members West Wilson and Lindsay Hubbard both wore Snarl Studios ties on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2026.
Were Meija Moreno and West Wilson in a relationship?
According to Page Six, Meija and West Wilson were in an exclusive relationship at the time his romance with Amanda Batula became public in 2026. During the Summer House Season 10 reunion, Meija confirmed via FaceTime with Ciara Miller that she and West had dated throughout the summer of 2025, according to Bravo TV. West publicly referred to Meija as his “friend” during his March 2026 Watch What Happens Live appearance.
Where does Meija Moreno live now?
Meija Moreno currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she has been based for approximately one year as of 2026, according to Billy Penn. She previously lived in Montana and Idaho, where she grew up and attended Montana State University.
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