Podcast Summary: The Squeeze

Episode: Ciara Miller: Knowing When to Walk Away
Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Taylor Lautner (joined by co-host, husband Taylor Lautner)
Guest: Ciara Miller (Nurse, Reality TV personality from Summer House and The Traitors)

Overview

This episode of The Squeeze dives deep into the intersections of mental health, nursing, and reality television with guest Ciara Miller. Ciara openly discusses her experiences as an ICU nurse during COVID-19 and as a reality TV star, the toll these roles have taken on her mental wellness, and her personal journey toward self-acceptance and healing. The conversation blends light-hearted camaraderie with raw honesty about burnout, online hate, therapy, and learning when to step away for the sake of mental health.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ciara’s Early Influences and Reality TV Journey

• Turning 30 & Reflecting on Beginnings
  (00:01) Ciara discusses coming to terms with turning 30 and looking back on starting Summer House at age 24, calling it "highly intimidating" but formative.

  • “I can't believe I was 24 when I filmed my first season.” – Ciara

• Transition to Reality TV
  (16:58 – 19:14) Ciara describes the adjustment from nursing to reality television and how unscripted reality TV is, despite common misconceptions.

  • “If it was fake and like, we were scripted, that would be so much easier for me. ...We're actually all genuinely nuts.” – Ciara (18:25)

2. Behind the Scenes on The Traitors

• Joining the Show Unprepared
  (06:18) Ciara was cast for The Traitors on short notice and went in mostly blind, without a strategy, unlike many “gamer” castmates.

  • “Had I known that people had these Personas and these like big... I would have put on a Persona. I was just myself.” – Ciara (06:56)

• Trust and Paranoia in Game Play
  (11:25) The intensity of the competition made it difficult to trust anyone, even after returning to her original Summer House cast.

  • “I just, like, don't trust anyone right now. Not even my own cast mates that I filmed with for the past five seasons.” – Ciara

• Memorable Moments: Bug Challenges
  (12:38) Ciara recounts enduring genuine bug challenges on The Traitors and admits to keeping her eyes shut the entire time due to fear.

3. Nursing, Burnout, and COVID-19

• ICU Ambitions & Challenges
  (30:07) Determined to start in ICU against "everyone's advice," Ciara relished the fast pace and challenge but was quickly thrown into the deep end by the pandemic.

  • “All my teachers in nursing school were like, you won't be able to start in the ICU. And I was like, okay, watch me.” – Ciara (30:07)

• Pandemic Experiences & Burnout
  (32:23) The realities of COVID-19, death, and emotional toll led her to take multiple breaks from bedside nursing and ultimately step away.

  • “It was just such a gruesome death that I was like, this is so nuts. ...I think I'm done with Bedside, you know, Just because I did it. I did my time at Bedside, but I'm like, I think there's a purpose for me outside of Bedside still in the nursing world.” – Ciara (34:15-35:44)

• Impact on Mental Health
  Both Taylor and Ciara reflect on how night shift, trauma, and pandemic chaos contributed to prolonged anxiety and even dissociation.

4. Mental Health: Coping, Therapy, and Medication

• Struggles with Anxiety and Isolation
  (43:31) Ciara shares her tendency toward isolation and how anxiety kept her from fully enjoying life, even when achieving goals she'd wished for.

  • “I'm like a isolationist. Like. Got it. Sit rot. Not leave my house. Hate social situations. Like, couldn't be social. ...Just anxiety, too.” – Ciara

• Therapy and Ketamine Treatment
  (41:15) She briefly tried ketamine-assisted therapy and found it fast-paced and intense, leading her eventually to talk therapy and EMDR.

  • “Ketamine therapy... it's fast moving, but you got to really release control to do it. You got to surrender.” – Ciara (40:45)

• Prozac & Medication Acceptance
  (43:13) After various holistic and therapeutic attempts, Ciara started Prozac and found major improvement.

  • “I'm on Prozac. Newly. Well, I've been on Prozac for like a year now. And it's amazing... Why did I ever raw dog this life.” – Ciara (43:13-43:22)

• Speaking Up About Medication
  Taylor (host) and Ciara both stress that medication is valid, but encourage listeners to cover basics like sleep, nutrition, and self-care first.

5. Navigating Online Hate & Setting Boundaries

• Handling Criticism and Negativity
  (21:29) Ciara avoids toxic online spaces (Reddit, Twitter), uses muting/blocking online, and protects her mental health by not reading comments.
  • “When I want to cr—cry, when I want to like, really hurt myself potentially, I'll go to Reddit, but like, typically not in the mood for that.” – Ciara (21:48)

6. Rapid-Fire Insights: The Lemon7 Segment (46:09)

• Mental Health Soundtrack:
  “Pretty much any song off Justin Bieber's album is Me... It carries me.” – Ciara (46:31)
• How Open Are You?
  “Probably a 6. Because here's the thing: I'm probably gonna cry about it first, and then...open up about it.” – Ciara (46:59)
• Favorite Self-Care:
  “Sitting, laying, rotting. I love it. Like, I can just be home in my space, take a bath, do whatever.” – Ciara (49:13)
• Most Misunderstood Thing:
  “Tough exterior, crybaby. ...I literally cry all the time at everything.” – Ciara (49:50)
• Who Most Impacted Your Mental Health:
  “Honestly, I'm going to say myself. ...I've really kind of had to do a lot of it myself and kind of figure it out on my own.” – Ciara (52:04)
• Advice to Younger Self:
  “I definitely would tell myself to believe in yourself a little more...But I don't think I would go back and change anything necessarily.” – Ciara (53:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We're not scripted. We're actually all genuinely nuts.” – Ciara (18:25)
• “Why did I ever raw dog this life?” – Ciara, about why she waited to take Prozac (43:22)
• “I don't go on Reddit...when I want to cry, when I want to like really hurt myself potentially, I'll go to Reddit...” – Ciara (21:29)
• “People rip you apart for, like, your decisions in a one hour episode, you know? Which isn't like a true reflection of my life...” – Ciara (19:22)
• “It's not that serious. The stakes are so different these days.” – Ciara (51:26)
• “I feel like you get to the point where you're at because of all the things.” – Ciara (53:36)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01–01:34: Ciara on life at 30, Summer House reflections
• 03:15–05:27: Nurse-to-nurse bonding, night shift woes
• 06:18–12:45: Behind the scenes on The Traitors, trust, and bug challenges
• 16:46–23:20: Reality TV adjustments, handling social media & online hate
• 29:36–36:16: Ciara’s nursing background, COVID-19 trauma, and burnout
• 40:20–45:27: EMDR, ketamine therapy, Prozac, mental health strategies
• 46:09–53:36: Lemon7 rapid-fire questions (self-care, openness, misunderstood traits, advice to self)

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode mixes humor (“Why did I ever raw dog this life?”) with deeply sincere reflections on trauma, burnout, and healing. Both Taylor and Ciara vulnerably share their journeys through the medical field, pandemic, and public scrutiny, emphasizing that resilience and self-compassion are essential—sometimes medication, rest, and retreat are legitimately the best way forward.

For listeners seeking honest conversations about burnout, boundaries, and embracing the messy parts of being both a caretaker and in the public eye, this episode delivers empathy, candidness, and actionable insight.