Is this the end of a beautiful friendship? Weeks after Lindsay Hubbard declared she needed a “break” from her friendship with Austen Kroll, she has opened up about whether they could ever reconcile.
“This is not the first time Austen and I have gotten into any sort of tiff,” the Summer House star, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly at the DeuxMoi x Studs Holiday Party on Friday, December 10, at New York’s Lavan 541. “That’s what happens when you have a close friendship with somebody when you’re very, very close — and you’re best friends or you consider yourselves best friends — you’re bound to get into some sort of fight. It’s just, unfortunately, this one was very public. So yeah, I don’t think that our friendship is over. I think it will repair, [but] it might not look the same as it did before.”
The Hubb House founder also revealed that the Southern Charm star, 34, “never” blocked her on social media despite previous claims.
Hubbard and Kroll, who were close long before appearing together on Winter House, both appeared in the teaser for the sixth season of Bravo hit, which debuted on Wednesday, December 8. The New York native confirmed the series was filmed before their falling out. Their ongoing drama heated up after Kroll picked costar Ciara Miller over his longtime friend during a Watch What Happens Live game with Andy Cohen — while Hubbard was in the audience.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in more of an awkward uncomfortable situation in my entire life,” the PR executive revealed during a November 3 appearance on the “Reality Life with Kate Casey” podcast. “I’m just always a very comfortable in my own skin kind of person. But that moment was extremely uncomfortable, and listen, thank God [Austen’s sister] Katie [Kroll] was there because I was holding her hand, like, the world was coming to an end.”
She added at the time, “I can’t be [OK] with keeping that kind of person in my life. Like, I spend so much time caring and nurturing for my friendships and being the best friend I can be to everyone around me,” she said. “If it’s not going to be reciprocated [after] almost four years of friendship and if it’s still not there, then I don’t need to train a 34-year-old man how to be a good friend to me.”
After Hubbard declared her intentions to take a step back from their relationship, the Kings Calling Brewing Co. founder, for his part, alleged that she had unfollowed him shortly after the WWHL taping.
“The tea on Watch What Happens Live is she ended up, like, you know, blocking me,” he explained during a “Pillows and Beer” livestream with Craig Conover. “I saw weeks prior to Watch What Happens Live, she found out that I was going on and she was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, my aunt’s in town, I want to come.’ I was like, ‘Cool, great, you know, I’ll call my sister.’ … I thought that they’re gonna hang out in the green room and then Andy [Cohen] found out that she was there and was like, ‘Let’s put you in the front row.’”
While her relationship with the South Carolina resident hit a rough patch, the publicist has been keeping busy by hanging out with her “besties,” including Danielle Olivera, Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula and Carl Radke.
“He’s always been my best friend,” the Bravo star gushed over her bond with Radke, 36, during the festive NYC event. “I mean, we [have] sort of always done everything together. He moved into the building a year ago. We work out together, we go to the grocery store together. It’s the convenience of being in the same building and you do a lot together.”
With reporting by Diana Cooper
