ANDY: Previously on the "Southern Charm" Reunion...
Salley, have you and Austen been intimate?
- Oh, yeah. - Austen.
- Salley. - Help me out.
- Stop lying. - MADISON: You guys are dumb
as fuck if you think you're gonna tell us
that y'all have not had sex.
I think that I'm blamed for y'all not being together,
- because that is bullshit. - But the whole time,
you just were like, "Charley's talking to other boys."
- She was. - CRAIG: Right, but she promised
she wasn't talking to anyone else the whole time
- we were together. - I did not. I did not.
Whitner said Craig is a narcissist.
I'm only going off of what I see.
Do you think Craig is a narcissist?
- Yes. - So you don't think
- I'm empathetic? - No.
If that's how you believe about me,
then you shouldn't be friends with me because--
AUSTEN: And, like, here we are again, Craig,
where you're like, "Then you shouldn't be friends with me."
Dude, you're such a fucking dickhead.
Well, we're gonna leave it there for right now.
- [Austen sighs] - We'll be right back.
[intense music playing]
Goddamn.
♪ Ba-ba-doo ♪
[tense music playing]
You guys have villainized vulnerability, so unfortunately,
I'm not gonna be vulnerable with you guys anymore.
I don't even know where my battery pack is.
It's here. Restroom...
RODRIGO: Is that steak?
- Yeah. - It looks like gyro meat.
Okay, well, not an ideal night to eat my ass, Austen.
- [mock vomiting] - [both laughing]
- MADISON: Hey, baby. - BRETT: Say hi.
- I miss you. - You look beautiful.
- Do you like it, babe? - Yeah, I like it a lot.
Headed backstage, please, guys. Headed backstage.
All right. Mama's going back to work.
- Good luck. - I love you.
♪♪♪
If I can have you guys in your seats, please.
Oh. What's up, guys?
- MAN: Okay, glam, you gotta go. - Hey, guys.
- What's up? - Uh...
- How are you? - CRAIG: I'm...
This is, um... a lot.
I did so well...
and then it just fucking exploded.
- What? - CRAIG: Just--
not freaking out at Austen.
All right, here we go, Andy. I'm sending it to you.
No talking. All eyes on Andy.
Three, two, one.
- Yeah. - ANDY: All right.
Welcome back to the "Southern Charm"
Season 11 Reunion.
I'm your host, Andy Cohen.
This season, Venita found herself at war with Craig,
but it was the loss of her steadfast ally, Salley,
that left her feeling completely under siege.
SALLEY: Molly told me you were weary of me?
What the fuck is up with that?
Like, I feel like I've been a damn good friend to you.
VENITA: But you make it very hard being on your side
when you're on the side of someone that I don't like.
- SALLEY: Craig? - VENITA: Exactly.
I'm trying to protect you right now.
Because he will walk you like a dog on a leash
until he is done with you.
Let me find out for myself.
- It's fine. - SALLEY: Venita.
I don't have anything else to say.
Like, if you keep walking away every time,
our sh--'s is never going to be ----ing settled.
ANDY: So, Venita, a lot to unpack here,
but first I want to catch up a little with you personally.
So, there's a lot of talk
of a romance with "Summer House"'s Carl Radke.
Anything happening there?
VENITA: I think Carl put a deadhead in that
when he did a People interview saying that this was an issue
and he told them and not me.
- Oh. - VENITA: Yeah.
- All right. - VENITA: Mm-hmm.
It was lovely to see your mom on the show.
- How's she doing? - VENITA: She's doing great.
- That's my girl. - Yeah, well. [laughs]
- What was that shade? - VENITA: I said, "Well."
You said, "That's my girl" and I know why you said that.
Yeah, because she had my back.
Salley and I are having a little bit of a friendship hiccup.
So, I told her, "Go after your man,
"but don't call me when, you know,
"when he hurts your feelings."
That's mean.
And she didn't know the full story, so of course.
- Oh. - What's the full story, then?
- VENITA: Anyway. - Why don't we get into it?
We're on our way.
Yeah, we're gonna get to that later.
Venita, you were interviewed on several podcasts and asked
- about Craig's breakup. - Yeah.
Do you think he should,
like, let everyone know what Paige is or isn't doing?
Ooh. Yeah.
I think he should speak your truth
and let it be known the same way you're speaking your truth
- about everything else. - What if he doesn't know?
Then stop answering like you do.
- Ooh. Period, Venita. - Okay.
What she said about me I didn't think was true,
and I think she was just regurgitating gossip
from the Internet, so, yeah, I'm not friends with her.
And I wish her well, but no one's entitled to my friendship,
and she definitely isn't anymore.
You must have realized that
- that might upset him. - Sure.
But you know what would've been better if he said,
"Hey, I don't like what you're doing"
the first time I hurt his feelings
versus letting me continue to go on
because I was like, "Oh, well, I'm speaking my truth
"and how I feel about it."
And if he corrected me and be like,
"Hey, listen, I know you're doing this podcast,
but I don't like what you're saying," we could've had
a conversation about it, but that never happened.
Did you think of reaching out to her?
What about her comments annoyed you?
She's just repeating what she read on Reddit.
- I don't read Reddit. - CRAIG: She didn't know Paige.
She didn't have a relationship with her.
Paige and I were inseparable and never spent a day really apart,
and so when she went on that podcast,
she said the exact opposite of what the case was.
You know, the public was accusing me
of dragging the breakup out, which actually,
I was the only one not speaking about it, and I still haven't.
And I just thought it was like a little bit bandwagon,
like, getting caught up in, like, let's capitalize on this,
like, you know, public breakup.
Why do I need to capitalize off of you?
I don't know why you did it, Venita.
Because you didn't know Paige
and you got your information off Reddit.
VENITA: I don't read Reddit. You and I are in the same--
I don't go on social media when the show's airing.
Okay, fair, fair.
I don't read comments. I don't read Reddit.
- I don't do any of that. - So you honestly believe
that I was enjoying my breakup two months out of it.
I think you were talking about it more than others.
CRAIG: Okay, so again,
I don't agree with the things that you said,
and I think
- that's fair to say. - Okay.
Madison, what's your point of view on this?
I definitely don't think that Craig was enjoying it.
I think his whole life just kind of blew up in front of him.
Everything just shattered.
ANDY: Venita, we got a lot of posts from viewers
wondering why you weren't more loyal on Craig's side of things.
Cindy23 said,
"Didn't Craig jump in the pool last season to rescue her?"
[Venita screams]
- Oh, my God. - CRAIG: Okay, I got her.
- Craig just jumped in. - MOLLY: Oh, my God.
AUSTEN: Craig.
I think my thoughts are that's nice and dandy,
and I texted Craig multiple times after that happened,
thanking him for weeks on end.
But I'm not going to sit here and allow you to act like
you want to be my friend when we're not sitting in this group.
- I-- - You do not reach out to me.
Please let me talk because you do this
for everyone in this group.
You over-speak, and you speak
past the time that anyone else is given.
You burnt the bridge and then ask why I don't visit.
- Yeah, I don't have any desire. - I burnt the bridge last year.
What were the years prior to that?
CRAIG: We don't know each other.
We don't have a relationship. We never have.
And I didn't think what you did to me was nice,
and I've always been nice to you,
and I will continue to be nice to you.
- You're being nice right now? - CRAIG: Yes.
I'm just telling you how I feel. It's nothing against you.
VENITA: You're overtalking, and you're interrupting,
and I can't get my words out, and it's never a,
"Oh, I didn't realize," or "Oh, I could see your side."
It's just like, "I did nothing wrong" every time you speak.
CRAIG: Venita, the things that you say about me
are actually, like-- They're really nasty.
And you know what I can do? I can apologize for that.
I'm very sorry for saying the nasty things
about you, and let me say it again.
I am sorry for saying those things.
Well, thank you, Venita.
'Cause I can apologize for that, and there is no but after.
ANDY: Venita, you seemed really hurt by Salley
kind of choosing Craig over your friendship.
That never happened.
ANDY: Why did it become an either-or for you?
- Did it? - No.
I don't think it ever became an either-or.
I think my emotions were so heightened,
but I understand now, watching it back,
how aggressive it came across.
And for that, I'm going to apologize to you, Salley,
for coming across so aggressive.
I think it was more so, Salley and I are best friends,
and I know what Salley wants, and that, in my head,
I was just like, "Okay, let me try to make sure
"I'm steering her in the right direction,
"helping her as her friend, and Craig is not her end game."
And so, Venita and Salley, are you two good these days?
- Yeah. - Are you?
- Yeah, when? - VENITA: I mean, I think--
- Because I feel like-- - Good is loose.
I think we're working towards being better,
within the last couple of weeks, like, at her birthday party,
she kind of made me feel like shit.
- Yeah, y'all were crying. - Messing up her birthday party.
Yeah, she said that I made her cry and stuff.
SALLEY: Well, it makes me feel like shit,
because we have a very deep friendship,
and I feel like things have shifted.
You haven't really wanted to be in pictures with me.
You don't want me to post with you.
And I feel like you're honestly, like,
sometimes ashamed to, like, call me your friend.
And it makes me sad.
- Damn. - SALLEY: It really does.
SALLEY: We have a very deep friendship
and I feel like things have shifted.
You haven't really wanted to be in pictures with me.
You don't want me to post with you.
And I feel like you're honestly, like,
sometimes ashamed to, like, call me your friend.
- And it makes me sad. - Damn.
SALLEY: Or like, when fans are out, and they're like,
"Hey, can we take a picture together?
And you're like, "We can't be seen together."
It just hurts my feelings.
Yeah, because on the back end of that I'm getting called stupid
for having your back and like going...
- For what? - ...and standing up for you,
for you to then turn around and just play me like a fool
- in the friendship game. - When did I play you?
VENITA: Watching it back should explain it enough.
Venita, you're trashing me the entire fucking show.
I've said one thing in my green screen,
it's calling you immature.
Venita, why you gotta always leave so fucking dramatically?
Oh, I am dramatic, I'm dramatic.
You are.
I think Venita is being very immature.
And I'm not putting up with Venita's shit anymore.
I'm not.
What specifically from the show, Venita, are you seeing?
I shouldn't say show, I should say the screenshots that I get
of comments and DMs of people being like,
"This is the type of friend you have,
"this is the type of person you wanna be with."
Who are these people? They are not your friends.
- VENITA: Yeah, I know. - They don't know me.
- You know me. - VENITA: Yeah.
And that fucking hurts that you let them get to you.
- That hurts. - I'm sorry, but I'm gonna--
Like, that makes me literally wanna cry.
But I'm gonna speak my truth,
but I'm sorry it does hurt your feelings.
Well, so what's it gonna take to get you two back?
Because it's actually, it seems like you really miss each other
- and it doesn't seem that deep. - Yeah. No, it's not.
And I don't think you should let what viewers are commenting,
- you're too smart for that. - I know, but you know,
we all fall into the trap sometimes, you know?
And, like, with this, sorry, I'm not gonna-- whoo.
Mm-mm.
- Oh, my God, am I gonna cry? - ANDY: You can cry, it's okay.
- I have a Kleenex. - MADISON: It's a lot.
My makeup's too good for this shit.
- Yeah, right. - MADISON: Yes, you're hot.
Yeah, I'm hot, I'm hot, I'm hot.
I think the thing that got to me the most,
and, like, no offense to anyone on this couch,
I did not open myself up in any way
to anyone else the way I did Salley.
Oh, my God, I'm actually crying.
That's okay. That's because you love her.
I miss you, like, a lot.
So, like, that hurt my feelings, you know?
So it's just like, I-- So when I--
Anyway, I can't even talk right now, I'm sorry.
- ANDY: You're good. - Yeah.
- You're good. - VENITA: It's not that deep.
ANDY: Well, but it is because you're crying, so.
- It was a genuine friendship. - Yeah, and I miss that.
Like, I hate that we have this stupid squabble over nothing.
I do too.
MADISON: I will say, this is the first time
in, like, "Southern Charm" history
that every single one of us are genuine friends.
- Yeah. - MADISON: We all hang out...
- Yeah, I get that vibe. - ...outside of filming.
We're like, "Wait, I miss you.
"I haven't seen you, you know, five days in a row."
So it is, like, everybody's emotions are involved.
Yeah, there was a moment that, like,
I literally thought I was dying and I called Salley
and Salley was at my house in six minutes.
Mind you, she lives 15 minutes away from me. [laughs]
I was literally, and then the first person I see
- when I wake up.. - VENITA: From your appendix.
...from my operation is Venita smiling in my face.
All right, Austen and Craig, take fucking notes
because that's how you mend a friendship.
- Yeah, right. - That was a therapy session.
We'll talk to them in six more years of doing this for them
and see how they handle it.
And then we'll take lessons because we do need lessons.
ANDY: Well, let's switch gears.
After incubating herself in Craig's hot tub,
- Salley was hellbent... - Do you want the tissue?
ANDY: ...on becoming Craig's number one chick.
- Fucking hate that. - But that relationship
ultimately never hatched once Salley realized
she wasn't first in the pecking order.
Me and you have obviously gotten to be really good friends,
but, like... [sighs]
...I've been kind of catching some feelings.
I'm not-- I'm saying I'm liking you.
Like, I can date you.
Yeah, I mean-- Like,
Yeah, I just-- I don't see it.
Salley, what was it about him that made you--
It was strictly his looks.
- [all laughing] - Yes.
Just a hot piece of ass, yeah.
- Show pony. - A piece of meat.
Craig, was there ever any serious interest in Salley?
I mean, I honestly just was so drawn to you as--
It sounds weird to say,
like, I just saw you as like a sister, like, yeah.
Well, let's talk about the text to Salley
after that first hot tub party,
which in Salley wrote, "That was fun."
You responded, "Yeah, it was."
Salley wrote, "I should have stayed."
You responded...
- So scandalous. - ANDY: Now...
Kind of. Yeah.
ANDY: ...I would interpret that text
as I could have slept with Craig Conover
- that night. - Mm-hmm.
ANDY: You say that you were just being nice,
but what did you mean by that?
Yeah, I was just being like, she was gone
and she was like, "I should have stayed."
And I was like, "Well, you could always stay."
I shouldn't have sent it because maybe my judgment was--
SHEP: It's double meaning. It could mean two things.
CRAIG: If I was you, I would have been like,
"Oh, damn, I should have stayed."
ANDY: Craig, you also said that during
the hot tub get-togethers, no one ever kissed.
Well, so there was a night
that Salley and Kory had gone off somewhere
and Charley, I showed my sewing room to.
ALL: Ooh.
- I did. Do you remember? - Your sewing dungeon?
And I was like-- I said-- I basically was like--
like, should I-- Like, I went to kiss her.
You said you can kiss me right now if you want.
- And I said, "I don't want to." - What?
- Yes. - I don't remember what I said.
You said, "You can kiss me if you want."
And I was like, "I'm okay."
- [laughter] - CRAIG: God.
Wouldn't the right thing to say be, "Can I kiss you?"
Yeah, who knows all this? And my moves aren't great.
You have my permission.
- AUSTEN: Proceed. - Proceed.
I will say that one sense that I've gotten from you
over the years, as we've talked about you dating girls,
as we talk about it in relation to Austen or Shep's game
is you do seem like of the three of them
to be the most kind of chaste of everybody.
I just won't hook up with someone unless I like them.
Like, I'd rather just go home by myself and do myself.
- Do yourself. - Do yourself.
You shake hands with Ben Franklin by yourself, huh?
Now, I can't take up for you anymore.
He's just standing in front of the mirror.
- You can kiss me now. - CRAIG: That's what I said?
Salley, you talked about wanting babies,
but you ended up with chickens.
All right, come here.
I'm terrified of Popcorn. [screams]
I fucking hate those chickens.
The viewers had a lot to say about the chickens.
BravoLover on Twitter said,
"Salley buying chickens to impress Craig, oh, man."
Show of hands, who thought
buying the chickens was to attract Craig?
- What the fuck? - [Austen stammers]
- We talked about it. - I know that, but I watched it.
- I just thought it was stupid. - AUSTEN: It looked very like,
"Hey, we're raising chickens together."
Okay, but no one saw the conversation
- about the chickens. - [laughter]
ANDY: I want to come back to,
you kind of went after both Craig and Austen this season,
and I wonder if you learned anything more
about what you're looking for in a man as a result.
- No. - ANDY: No.
[laughter]
No, actually, I wouldn't say that because...
I think me and Austen
have a really good foundation of, like, friendship.
I'm not saying anything's ever going to happen there,
but I genuinely think that Austen is a really good guy,
and I think he's going to make a great husband and a great dad.
- That's so sweet. - I know.
Thank you for saying that. That's very sweet.
- MADISON: Make out. - Very sweet.
- Make out. - SALLEY: I can't put--
He's going to make a great father to your children.
We're going to be some fun dads, I'll tell you that.
Well, you guys are about to age the fuck out.
- Shut up, Madison. - [laughter]
ANDY: Up next...
Charley, did you love bomb Craig?
ANDY: Look at the hair and makeup that comes in
for these Charmers.
Like, look at the hairspray on Craig.
And Austen, too.
I mean, these boys are divas.
Everybody settle in. Five, four, three, two.
Welcome back.
This season we were joined
by an art consultant named Charley,
and Whitner, a well-read attorney,
or what Craig would call a lawyer and a story reader.
[laughter]
Whit, what surprised you most about your first season?
- Um... - The DMs.
Probably the most surprising thing.
- Yeah, I'll give you that one. - Really?
Just a lot of women
- reaching out to you? - WHIT: Oh, yeah.
What's wild is that some of them are just completely unsolicited,
and this one person sent me some--
I would assume most of them are.
Then, after sending me the explicit, like, offer,
like, explicit offer, gave me three voice memos
lecturing me about not becoming a fuckboy.
I was like, "The mixed messaging here is confusing me."
Whit, your mom got a lot of love from viewers.
- Good. - [indistinct] said,
"10 out of 10 would date Whitner only to hang out with his mom."
- I've heard that before. - She's great.
ANDY: We also got a lot of comments
about your literary-themed birthday party.
MOLLY: Some girls dress up like Salley and Venita.
Some girls are Gandalf.
- Yup. - ANDY: Shep, fans wanted
to know why you didn't tell Craig
that Rufio is not in the book Peter Pan.
- He's only in the movie. - [laughter]
I don't really—- I wasn't all that into Peter Pan.
- I don't know. - Shep had eyes for me that day.
- He didn't care. - SHEP: Yeah, that's right.
- I'm Shepard Rose. - Oh, my God.
He's a literary figure, right? He wrote a book.
I mean, you nailed it.
Imitation's the best form of flattery.
Yeah, that was the biggest compliment.
- That was great. - MADISON: I even practiced,
like, my long-winded speech.
Oh, boy.
Charley, you came in as the new girl.
Everyone had eyes on you.
- That's Charley. - Yeah.
Yeah, I know Charley.
She's a good-looking girl.
She's the girl that Shep's been, like, obsessed with.
Was that overwhelming?
I think that this group in general is overwhelming.
Love y'all, but, like, just, like,
everything that you do, being under a microscope.
But I don't think--
I feel like I, like, knew that coming into it.
Salley, you're the one who brought Charley into the group.
Did you ever suspect
you two would be kind of circling the same guy?
- Not really, but, like, I-- - Really?
ANDY: Did you pick up on any vibes
between them in your group hot tubs?
- No. - ANDY: No.
SALLEY: And it was near the end.
Do you think she was downplaying her interests?
1,000%, and I definitely think,
like, all of us would be together all the time.
We'd go to dinners. We'd go to out.
And, like, then y'all started texting
outside of The Cult, which I didn't know happened.
- The Cult. - Whatever.
- Because it was secretive. - Your hot tub group.
Yeah, it was secretive. So I'm not knowing.
I'm in the dark on all of this.
I have no idea that they're texting.
I have no idea that they're FaceTiming all the time.
That's where my frustration lies,
is that I don't think that you were truthful
from the get-go of your interest in Craig.
Because everyone wanted to be, like, "Yes, I like Craig."
And I'm, like, "I don't know him yet.
"Let me get to know him."
ANDY: Charley, did you think Salley was trying to ruin
your relationship with Craig?
At times, it felt like that.
I knew, like, subconsciously that you, like,
had something to say about it all the time.
Well, you also didn't want to talk about it
because you wanted it to be a secret.
It's not that, like, I wanted it to be a secret.
It's that I wanted to form my own opinion on him.
- And which is totally fine. - Yeah.
SALLEY: But we've never done friendship that way.
It's like there's not a night that she would go out and,
like, even if she got a guy's number,
she would call me and tell me about it.
How many months were you guys friends before this?
- Not a long time. - Like, five months?
- A year. - Y'all throw the word
"best friend" around so hard that I fucking hate it.
I know you're no longer dating Craig,
- but are you dating anyone? - Yeah, I am.
- Really? What can you tell us? - CHARLEY: Yeah.
He's from Boston.
He's on "Southern Hospitality."
He works at a club.
- Who is it? - It's Justin.
- ANDY: Justin? - CHARLEY: Yeah.
- ANDY: Craig, do you know him? - Yeah.
I always say hi to him when he comes in the bar.
ANDY: Okay.
- CRAIG: I mean, there was-- - Sounds great.
Okay, I'll move on.
CRAIG: Well, Austen had to tell me,
yeah, Austen had to tell me in Vegas because Charley and I
- were still, like... - That's right.
hanging out and finally
Austen sat me down in Vegas and he was like,
"Dude, whatever she's telling you
"that she's not talking to someone, I met him."
He's like, "He's real.
"She brought him to the bar and said, 'I'm in love.'"
I never said I was not talking to anyone.
I gave you a lot of chances to tell me
you were talking to someone else and you actually never did.
And then Salley was like, "Craig, you need to know this.
"She's talking to two other guys."
And then I asked you, you took my hand and you said,
"I'm not talking to anyone else."
- And then-- - That did not happen.
I swear to God that did not happen.
What would it matter? Because weren't you broken up?
- We were not, we were not... - We were never dating.
...together, like, we went on two dates.
CRAIG: On camera, but we would always go out.
I was strung on.
I feel like I was a little, like,
I can't believe I know what this means now because--
- You feel like you were gaslit? - I was love bombed.
- You were love bombed? - I was.
- Shit. - You said all of this stuff
for me and, like, you were FaceTiming me
from your friend's weddings and, like, it started to be
the talk of the town, but then I was like...
- The town? - CRAIG: ..."Oh, my God,
- that's what love bombing is." - No.
Like, there was some future planning from you.
ANDY: Charley, did you love bomb Craig?
I do not feel like I love bombed him.
You made it seem to me
like we were going to make it out of filming.
ANDY: Craig, had Salley not been involved in the picture,
do you think things would have worked out?
- Yeah. - SALLEY: That's crazy.
Look, Charley's shaking her head.
CHARLEY: I don't-- I don't-- No, I told you,
in Mexico, I completely felt different after that.
But at the end of the season, you said,
I can't do this anymore.
- I did. - After the freak out
- and everything. - Yes.
- SALLEY: Craig, calm down. - CRAIG: Stop.
SALLEY: Why are you yelling at me?
Because you keep getting involved with [bleep]
that has nothing to do with you.
Just leave me alone.
♪♪♪
- Yes. - But I'm saying, in Mexico--
That's a very valid reason to be done with it.
Whatever, Mexico happened, but I'm saying,
up 'til Mexico, the way that you talked to me
made it sound like you had feelings for me.
Because, like, I really thought we had, like, real feelings.
I really thought we were something more.
Because, Craig, I had every intention
of continuing to, like, hang out with you afterwards.
And then in Mexico, I decided I didn't want
- to do that anymore. - That's fine.
- Are you okay? - I'm fine.
- Are you sure? - Yes.
- I'm not trying to upset you. - CHARLEY: It's upsetting me.
I feel like you're trying to tell me
how I was feeling the entire time.
And you're trying to say to everyone, "No, like,
"she was telling me this, she was telling me this."
Because he's gaslighting and manipulating.
- What? - CHARLEY: I feel like
I was very forward.
All I've done is said how I felt in the relationship.
ANDY: Okay, I'm going to leave it there.
We're going to be right back after this.
CHARLEY: Oh, my God.
I'm crazy that she's saying that.
- We're almost done. - We are?
[indistinct chatter]
[intriguing music playing]
It's just, like, awful.
- SALLEY: Hey. - Hey, I'm sorry.
- I'm really fine, no... - SALLEY: You're doing so--
I'm really overwhelmed right now.
- It's a hard day. - Yeah.
It's your first one. It's hard.
Like, I just, I hate not, like,
like him telling me, like, over and over again,
it wasn't Mexico, it wasn't Mexico.
Like, okay, I was one foot in, one foot out,
and then Mexico, I was like, "I don't like you anymore."
Like, just understand that.
CRAIG: That's bullshit.
I was perfect until then.
- Maybe not perfect. - No, but...
not enough that, like, you're going to take
some mishap and, like, say it's over.
You were looking for a way out.
♪♪♪
SALLEY: You're up against Craig Conover.
He's very, very good at manipulating and gaslighting.
I mean, seriously, before Mexico,
we would talk, like, every day.
After Mexico, we talked one time a week.
CREW: All right guys, heading back to set.
MOLLY: Can you tell them she just needs a second?
SALLEY: Charley needs a second.
I'm really not trying to be dramatic.
- I'm just overwhelmed. - WOMAN: You're okay.
CREW: All right, guys, only got, like, two minutes for looks,
so you're not doing it now, you're gonna lose time.
Seriously, here we fucking go.
♪♪♪
Five, four, three, two...
We are back with the "Southern Charm" reunion.
Charley, tumultuous first season for you.
What have you learned?
Yeah, I mean, just being, like,
I've definitely had to work on my communication style,
like, this season, in my friendships, so,
- yeah. - ANDY: Okay.
Well, as tensions threatened to rip this group apart,
Shep had the idea to bring everyone
on a restorative journey.
But when explosive chaos ensued,
this gang probably needed a healing trip
from their healing trip.
Venita, you don't exist in my world,
so just fuck off.
- SALLEY: Craig, calm down. - CRAIG: Stop.
SALLEY: Why are you yelling at me?
CRAIG: Because you keep getting involved with shit
that has nothing to do with you.
- CRAIG: Fucking loser. - SALLEY: Fucking asshole.
Gonna need a lot more smoke than that.
So, Shep, given the state of Austen and Craig's friendship
at the time, it did seem a little optimistic.
Why did you think it would be successful?
Easy, I mean, the best times that we've had have been
traveling together, having fun.
- Some of our biggest fights. - So what?
You put it perpendicular.
Hey, you fucking cunt.
[shouting]
Cook your own fucking hot dog, I'm serious.
- Oh! - Break your fucking glasses.
Damn, Craig.
That's true, but it's all part of it.
Yeah, so what are you talking about?
[chuckles] Yeah.
Well, Austen, you and Craig seem to be having fun together at
- the start of the Mexico trip. - Yeah, we had a good time.
How do you go from hating each other
as "enemies" to being buddies?
Because I'm fucked in the head, Andy.
- [laughter] - SALLEY: We all are.
I just think that going on the trip, too,
I was like, by pain of death, I am going to have fun.
I'm going to do my thing and not worry about,
you know, anything else, and I just want to have fun.
So you were forced to having hang out with me.
How you see them flip-flopping, and this moment alone,
they've gone from at each other's throats...
- I know, it's... - ...to back on good graces.
It's what keeps us on the edge of our seats.
So, Venita, at the dinner,
you brought up their relationship.
I would like to see Austen stand up for himself...
- in more situations than not. - Okay.
Generally.
- She didn't. - No?
No, she basically just said that
Austen needs to stand up for himself,
and obviously Craig, you know,
took that implication, like that.
I'm going to stop you, I'm going to stop you,
because I was digging. I was digging.
She knew it. I knew what I was doing.
- [overlapping conversation] - I knew what I was doing.
Okay, okay, all right.
Craig didn't spout off entirely unprovoked,
so I looked at him and said, "We know that's about you."
ANDY: Craig, walk us through what got you so upset.
I was just sick of being meddled with and poked and prodded.
Austen and I, it seemed like that meddling of being like,
well, tell, you know, you have to stand up to Craig.
I was just like, I'm so sick of everyone
getting involved in my business.
Salley, did you think Craig overreacted?
I do, I think that there was things
that he was making good points on,
but he was delivering it completely wrong.
Yeah, and the things you said were pretty hurtful.
ANDY: Austen, do you think Craig's problem
is only his delivery
or also the things that he says?
The things that he says as well.
And, like, Craig knows,
and Shep has bragged about this too,
- sorry to give you a stray. - SHEP: No, it's okay.
Sorry to give you a stray, but, like, Shep brags about
knowing the thing that'll cut you the deepest.
And he's like, piss me off enough
and I'll say the shit that'll cut you the deepest.
- Craig has that trait. - Craig knows it too.
Well, it was, it was, and Venita,
I really have no ill will to you.
And I thank you for all the words you said.
But in the moment, what I was being told from Salley,
like, Venita said this,
Venita said we can't hang out.
The message that I was getting relayed
was that Venita really talks about you a lot.
And so at the dinner, after not saying anything all year,
which you're right, I guess, not I guess,
I could have come to you and said, why are you meddling?
Oh, my God, is this a little accountability coming from you?
Yeah, of course, I shouldn't have waited,
- but I guess I avoided it. - ANDY: All right.
Craig, I really want to talk about what happened in the van.
Yeah, it was terrible.
I wasn't of right mind that's why...
But also what was going through my head was like,
damn, like, I'm kind of seeing what people warned me
- a little bit about in you. - Okay.
And that, I mean, don't just say okay.
No, I mean, it just sucks to mess up.
You know, I hadn't done that for, like, two years prior.
- And then, like, I should... - Okay, don't disregard me
like that, you still need to take accountability
for your like, anger.
♪♪♪
You still need to take accountability
for your like, anger.
I mean, talk about a tornado. That was a fucking tornado.
Dude, it was psychotic break.
What? I-- Okay.
Austen, you were silent in the van.
- Why? - AUSTEN: I was in the back.
I had like a hat pulled down and I was like,
I don't want to be a part of--
I don't want to fucking deal with this
until it got to the point
where Rod was like, "Please fucking help me, man."
I know. I know.
What are you guys talking about?
She was just like, if I was there,
- it would have never happened. - I just think that
if I see a friend in that kind of situation
where clearly he was out of his mind,
I wouldn't have just sat there
and let him to continue to do it.
I would try to calm him down.
Madison, you don't understand.
- We were! - You don't understand.
You just flat out do not get it because you were not there.
Okay, I want to know, Shep, what's your take on this?
You weren't in the van. You heard about it.
I know how painful it can be knowing that not quite sure
what happened, but you know it was bad.
And it's just such a helpless feeling.
And it's such a lonely feeling.
Yeah, I mean, that's not a fun place for anyone to get.
No, I know that.
And it actually scares the shit out of you.
I know, but it's warranted. You earned it.
But it's just this inner turmoil that you can't get rid of.
And it takes time to get rid of. So I've been there before.
Yeah, I haven't drank that much in fucking years.
I mean, I was just in a place that no one should be in.
And I just kind of was emotionally spent
and drank entirely way too much.
It triggered a legit meltdown.
Obviously, if I wouldn't have drank,
it wouldn't have happened, and it sucks.
And that's on me. It's very embarrassing.
But then I'm like, yeah, but would I ever be drinking
for 16 hours straight without water and dinner and food?
[chuckles]
Make it sound like you're deprived of natural resources.
Well, no, I mean, they have all sorts of
footage of you eating and drinking.
That chicken with the red salsa is the best.
Keep your mouth closed, please.
Yeah, all of them, all of them.
Chicken, steak, cheese, shrimp, two, two, two, two, two.
Oh, yeah, man, we ate a shit ton of food at the bar.
I was full as hell.
I don't want it to seem that you were...
- No, no, you're right. - ...all put in a cage
with tequila and not allowed to eat or drink.
- I don't mean that. - That's what it sounds like.
SALLEY: All of us were doing the same thing
and no one had a freak out like that.
Andy, I think it's more of an anger issue
than an alcohol issue, I just think
you need to better control your anger.
SALLEY: Yeah, I mean, that was a terrible night.
But there had been other nights leading up to that
that you had screamed or yelled at me also.
So I don't necessarily think
that it's your drinking that leads to it.
I think it's your anger.
ANDY: So, Craig, your apology to Salley,
was that enough to repair your friendship?
You should've come to my door...
[tense music playing]
I don't know if we're completely repaired in our friendship.
Because I feel like I kind of had to bring it on.
I don't think that you, like,
came out of your way to apologize.
CHARLEY: Yeah, I thought that he would, like,
address the group just because it was just
kind of like the elephant in the room.
And then I thought that, like, him and I would have
a separate conversation about it
because, like, I was in the van, too.
CHARLEY: There was some extreme avoidance.
But I think I was just, as in shock,
I was like, "How did I let myself,
"like, get to this point?"
ANDY: Austen, you said apologies from Craig
are meaningless at this point.
What did you mean by that?
[groans] Just, I've just fucking seen it so many times.
And I know that Craig, man, sits here and cops to it
and he's like, I know, I shouldn't have done that
and I shouldn't have done that.
But sometimes I'm just like,
how many more times does that happen?
Like, you know, you yelled at me at my birthday dinner,
yelled at Venita at dinner, told them you have a meltdown
on the thing and it's like, holy shit.
Like, it's just a lot.
You recognize it, sure.
But, like, I just...
Well, there's, like, nothing I can do
but continue to, like, work on myself.
WHIT: Well, the problem is that it feels a little bit more
like lip service than actual work, though,
because we hear you say these great apologies, but...
Do you know how much work I've done on myself
We don't know, we're not there in the room with you, my man.
CRAIG: Okay, but then that's why when you say
it feels like lip service, like...
- It feels like. - CRAIG: It took...
Okay, well, I'm sorry it feels that way.
There's no way for me to prove to you.
I think we just need to accept him for who he is
- and either like it or not. - Accept what?
That our friend is an asshole?
God, this fucking show, man.
You know, maybe this isn't right for me.
Like, maybe I just shouldn't be here.
♪♪♪
There's, like, nothing I can do but continue to,
like, work on myself.
WHIT: The problem is that it feels a little bit
more like lip service than actual work, though.
Okay, well, I'm sorry it feels that way.
There's no way for me to prove to you.
I think we just need to accept him for who he is
- and either like it or not. - Accept what?
That our friend is an asshole?
God, this fucking show, man.
You know, maybe this isn't right for me.
Like, maybe I just shouldn't be here.
Um, I mean, look.
I would love to figure out a way
to be able to enjoy this again
and not feel like I'm always...
- Against. - CRAIG: Yeah.
Like, even if it's in my own head.
Like, no matter what your feelings are,
you gotta have healthy ways to process them.
And I didn't realize that, like, I just bottle it all up.
And then, you know, when you get so out of control,
there's no more bottling, and it all comes out
- in a horrible way. - MOLLY: I used to have
anger management issues, absolutely.
Anger's almost always a secondary emotion
stemming from, you know, hurt or fear or whatever.
And it just rules you.
CRAIG: Well, yeah, so that night on the van,
I was already feeling rejected.
Like Charley said, she was...
one foot in, one foot out, and I think
that had already triggered a losing control response
because I had just been very sure about something
for three years and then it was gone.
And I think I felt like I was losing my grasp on,
like, Charley and was blaming,
you know, the situation and the environment.
I just freaked out.
So I guess, where do you go from here with it?
Just redirect talks with my therapist
because I never understood
that it could be, like, an anger issue.
I always thought it was, like, a losing control.
You've never talked to your therapist about any of this?
I think I always focused on, like, if I didn't, like, drink,
then it wouldn't be an issue.
When in reality, it could have just been, like,
you're suppressing other stuff.
But again, you can't prevent stress from happening.
You can't prevent environments from changing on you
and I need to have the tools to deal with it.
Also, I didn't get to apologize to everyone.
I'm-- I'm obviously sorry.
And I will try my hardest to make sure
that it never happens again.
Maybe you should watch this season.
After I do the work on myself.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Well, that's an interesting suggestion.
- Sometimes it'll... - Uh, I think it'll be a goal.
...open your mind a little.
All right, this season, we saw challenges
to both old and new friendships
that tested the very fabric of your relationships.
So before we go, I want to give you
one last opportunity to clear the air.
Madison, you're living the dream.
- I am. - New house, new baby.
What's next for you?
- Another baby. - Maybe another baby.
- Yes. - You did say that's possible.
- Oh, for sure. - Hot girl summer.
- There you go.
Rodrigo, I'm wondering if we'll see you
tie the knot next season.
I think that's definitely next and...
Who would officiate? Be honest.
Honestly, Madison.
- Yay! - Yeah.
- Madison. - I need a suit.
Tom Ford, call me.
- Molly could sing. - ANDY: Molly, you, uh,
Molly, you tackled your singing stage fright.
Any other fears you're hoping to take on in the near future?
Oh, my gosh. I think just more of that.
I'd like to get into songwriting
and creating my own music, which is scary for me.
- Watch out, Taylor Swift. - Oh, God. [chuckles]
Salley, given your conflict this season with Venita and Charley,
what have you learned about your female friendships?
That they're what lasts forever,
and that's what I'm hoping for all of us girls.
Charley, how will you leave things with Salley?
Salley and I are in a good place.
Anything you want to say to Craig?
CHARLEY: No, I mean, at the end of the day,
like, I do see Craig as a friend.
I feel like we had a good friendship
before whenever we were all hanging out,
and, like, I just...
like, I wish him the best, yeah.
Um, Venita, it seems like you and Craig
may have made some headway tonight?
A little, yeah. In a good way, though.
I mean, I'm not going to lie and be like,
"Yeah, we're at 100," but I'm positive for things,
better outcome, hopefully getting invited to the hot tub.
- I don't know. - I'm ready when Venita is.
[laughter]
Austen, do you think you and Craig
made any progress today?
I think that there has been some peace
in my life from us, you know.
We kind of operate like in group chats
and things like that, you know, this year when we have buffers.
It's been a bit more peaceful that way,
and I think that maybe it'll remain that way
for a little bit of time until...
you know, I don't know when.
ANDY: Craig, next steps with Austen?
I think just giving each other space
and hopefully try to relearn each other
or accept each other for, you know, who we are.
ANDY: Whitner, what do you think?
You know, Craig is who Craig is,
and like the tiger's not changing his stripes.
We like that the tiger is working on
changing those stripes, and it's just whether or not
those people will fit in each other's lives.
Shep, will you ever give up on Austen
and Craig's friendship?
No, and hopefully I can be
the bridge and...
sort of advocate for each other to the other one.
Shep, it's become a tradition.
You give the final toast of the evening.
This year, it's also Charley's birthday,
- so we have cupcakes coming in. - Yay!
Oh, cupcakes?
Okay, are y'all gonna sing?
Molly, sing for me. Everyone.
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday, dear Charley ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
- Whoo! - Okay, Sheppy, give it to us.
I drink to your health when I'm with you.
I drink to your health when you're gone.
I drink to your health so often,
I'm damn near endangering my own.
I feel like there was a rhyme there.
[overlapping chatter]
Okay, cheers.
- Cheers. - Okay, cheers.
I want to thank the gang from "Southern Charm"
for continuing to share their lives with us.
I'm Andy Cohen. Thanks, and good night.
Cheers.
Andy, you have a little cupcake.
- Let's go crazy. - [Venita laughs]