Naomie Olindo Speaks Out for 1st Time About Metul Shah Split, Recalls Having to ‘Beg’ Her Way Back to ‘Southern Charm’

Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo; Courtesy of Metul Shah

Naomie Olindo Speaks Out for 1st Time About Metul Shah Split, Recalls Having to ‘Beg’ Her Way Back to ‘Southern Charm’

Spilling the southern sweet tea! Naomie Olindo publicly spoke out for the first time about her split from Metul Shah after learning of his alleged affair. The Southern Charm star, 29, made headlines in July 2021 when news broke that she and Shah, 30, called it quits after three years together. The news came amid cheating allegations on the doctor’s part, and now, Olindo is breaking down what really happened. “I was still trying to process what had just happened that, you know, infidelity is the thief of reality. So I was like, ‘What is my life? What am I doing? What have I been doing? Who is this?’ Questioning my judgment, you know, ‘How did I not see all this?’” Olindo said on the Monday, February 7, episode of the “Skinny Confidential Him & Her” podcast. “Everybody knew. And, and then, you know, people are commenting on the situation.” The France native, who appeared on Southern Charm for four seasons before her 2020 exit, recalled people being “cruel” to her ex, which led her to stand up for him even though she had alleged proof he cheated on her with his ex ahead of their brief move to New York City that summer. “I felt bad for him again. And I was like, ‘Guys, please stop being mean to him. This is not the answer,’” she recalled. “Like, still defending him at that point, even though he had done essentially the worst thing you can do to somebody that trusts you the way that I trusted him." When looking back at her relationship with Shah, Olindo revealed that there were red flags before she saw his text exchanges with his former flame. [jwplayer eGnoSRHP-zhNYySv2] “I think I just wanted to feel loved. I don't think that he ever truly loved and accepted me,” she explained. “It was always what he thought I could offer him or what he thought he could gain. It was never about who I was." When Olindo did break off the relationship — on the day she was packing up her home to move to the Big Apple with Shah — she remembered him trying to pull her back in. “The process afterwards was really difficult because when somebody is that narcissistic and they try to come back into your life, they'll say all the right things. They know exactly what they've been withholding from you, like, previously in the relationship what you crave,” she told the listeners. “’Cause I would express my needs, but they would just not get met. And I was like, ‘Well, maybe this is a trade-off, you know, he doesn't scream at me. He doesn't call me names. So I'm alright, I'll take it.’" The Blueprint to Breakup cocreator remembered Shah constantly trying to reinsert himself in her life after she pulled the plug on the relationship. “I was begging him on the phone, sobbing being, like, ‘Please stop trying to call me. I need time to think and figure out what's going on.’ And [he'd] be like, ‘OK, hold up. But can I just call you tonight?’ And I'd be like, ‘No, you can't,’” she claimed. “And he would call me over and over and over again.” During that time, Olindo learned that she deserved more, saying, “If somebody just can't respect your boundaries, that is the No. 1 sign [that] they don't need to be in your life.” In addition to finding herself again, the breakup led Olindo back to Southern Charm. She will appear on season 8 of the show after having to “beg” the network to let her come back. Scroll down to learn more about her reality TV comeback and where she stands now with Shah: [podcast_block]

Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo; Courtesy of Metul Shah

Naomie Olindo Speaks Out for 1st Time About Metul Shah Split, Recalls Having to ‘Beg’ Her Way Back to ‘Southern Charm’

Spilling the southern sweet tea! Naomie Olindo publicly spoke out for the first time about her split from Metul Shah after learning of his alleged affair. The Southern Charm star, 29, made headlines in July 2021 when news broke that she and Shah, 30, called it quits after three years together. The news came amid cheating allegations on the doctor’s part, and now, Olindo is breaking down what really happened. “I was still trying to process what had just happened that, you know, infidelity is the thief of reality. So I was like, ‘What is my life? What am I doing? What have I been doing? Who is this?’ Questioning my judgment, you know, ‘How did I not see all this?’” Olindo said on the Monday, February 7, episode of the “Skinny Confidential Him & Her” podcast. “Everybody knew. And, and then, you know, people are commenting on the situation.” The France native, who appeared on Southern Charm for four seasons before her 2020 exit, recalled people being “cruel” to her ex, which led her to stand up for him even though she had alleged proof he cheated on her with his ex ahead of their brief move to New York City that summer. “I felt bad for him again. And I was like, ‘Guys, please stop being mean to him. This is not the answer,’” she recalled. “Like, still defending him at that point, even though he had done essentially the worst thing you can do to somebody that trusts you the way that I trusted him." When looking back at her relationship with Shah, Olindo revealed that there were red flags before she saw his text exchanges with his former flame. [jwplayer eGnoSRHP-zhNYySv2] “I think I just wanted to feel loved. I don't think that he ever truly loved and accepted me,” she explained. “It was always what he thought I could offer him or what he thought he could gain. It was never about who I was." When Olindo did break off the relationship — on the day she was packing up her home to move to the Big Apple with Shah — she remembered him trying to pull her back in. “The process afterwards was really difficult because when somebody is that narcissistic and they try to come back into your life, they'll say all the right things. They know exactly what they've been withholding from you, like, previously in the relationship what you crave,” she told the listeners. “’Cause I would express my needs, but they would just not get met. And I was like, ‘Well, maybe this is a trade-off, you know, he doesn't scream at me. He doesn't call me names. So I'm alright, I'll take it.’" The Blueprint to Breakup cocreator remembered Shah constantly trying to reinsert himself in her life after she pulled the plug on the relationship. “I was begging him on the phone, sobbing being, like, ‘Please stop trying to call me. I need time to think and figure out what's going on.’ And [he'd] be like, ‘OK, hold up. But can I just call you tonight?’ And I'd be like, ‘No, you can't,’” she claimed. “And he would call me over and over and over again.” During that time, Olindo learned that she deserved more, saying, “If somebody just can't respect your boundaries, that is the No. 1 sign [that] they don't need to be in your life.” In addition to finding herself again, the breakup led Olindo back to Southern Charm. She will appear on season 8 of the show after having to “beg” the network to let her come back. Scroll down to learn more about her reality TV comeback and where she stands now with Shah: [podcast_block]

Credit: Naomie Olindo/Instagram

The Moving Drama

Olindo recalled moving to New York City with Shah ahead of his fellowship, noting how she did all the work to find them a temporary place to stay. “It was just very stressful. He really didn't do anything to help,” she said, explaining that after securing a place, she agreed to drive all of their stuff to the Big Apple solo. “[I] didn't think twice about it. That's how much — that's how used to doing everything myself I was. … I was used to zero contribution on his end. Just completely self-sufficient like, 'Yeah, sure. I'll fly down. I'll go get this like giant truck and drive it to New York by myself.'"

Credit: Courtesy Naomie Olindo/Instagram

When She Learned of Metul’s Affair

The Bravo star revealed that while packing up her whole house — which is where Shah was staying at the moment — she came upon his computer. As she waited for some of her friends to come and help her load the U-Haul, she recalled wanting to see something bigger on her phone, so she opened up Shah’s monitor.

“I call him ‘cause I didn't know the passcode to it. I'm like, 'Hey, Madison's here. We're waiting on Stone to help us load the truck. What's your computer password I'm trying to show her this picture?' And he's like 'Uh, I don't remember, I don't remember it.' I'm like 'What do you mean you don't remember it?'” Olindo recalled.

She eventually got the code and opened up the computer, which showed Shah’s most recent history, including alleged proof of him cheating. “It was like a year's worth of texts with his ex and explicit pictures and, you know, the whole nine yards. So I read through them for a little bit,” she said. "So I called him back. I could tell he sounded panicky on the phone, but I didn't understand why. I didn't realize it's because he knew I was probably about to see what was on his iMessage 'cause I never looked through his stuff. I would never, I'm just not that way. And I called him, and I was, like, 'Hey, I just want you to know, I saw the messages with Sophie and this is done.' And hung up the phone, and he tried to call me, you know, a hundred times.”

Credit: Courtesy of Metul Shah/Instagram

There Were Signs

"It was honestly, I just wanted to have like a like deeper conversation. I like to talk, you know, before bed and stuff like that. I would try to talk to him and he'd be like, ‘OK, stop talking. I want to go to sleep, just stop talking.’ And so, now I'm just used to, I would get used to going to bed and being quiet and that takes away so much intimacy over time,” the TV personality explained. "There were a lot of signs about him just not having the right priorities. The way he just wouldn't really care if I was talking about a problem with a friend but then would perk up if I started talking about anything financial. He'd be like 'How much did you make on this?' Things like that. Like he wanted these Saint Laurent boots once I remember, and instead of being like, 'Hey, will you buy me these boots?' He'd be like, 'Look, they make them from men and women. We could match, we should get them.' And I'd be like, 'Oh yeah, we should get them,' and I would buy them."

Credit: Courtesy Metul Shah/Instagram

Inside Her Heartbreak

“The amount of support that people had and the incredibly kind messages were overwhelming [on social media]. And it was really helpful in that time because, you know, I felt isolated. I just felt sad,” Olindo remembered. “I could just read through these messages of encouragement and, you know, people being like, ‘I've been there, this has happened to me. You're going to be fine. You don't know it right now.’ And I got similar messages when my dad died, so I knew that that was going to be true. It was going to get better. But I mean, [I was] completely brokenhearted for weeks. I didn't wash my hair for, I don't know, 11, 12 days. It was disgusting."

She added: "Pain is still the same. So it's OK, like, at least for me, if people are going to write about it, I don't really think I care that much. I cared more about the fact that my life was quite literally flipped upside down. … The first two weeks were awful. I had so many weak moments where I was like, ‘God, I just want my old life back.’"

Credit: Courtesy of Naomie Olindo/Instagram

How Her Dad’s Death Affected Her Relationship

“That is actually something that kept me with him probably, even before the cheating and stuff, because there were other issues. It was the bond, like, he had met my dad and he was really, he was there for me when my dad was sick and that was really important,” Olindo said, noting she gave Shah grace since he was by her side during her father’s December 2019 death. “He was there for my mom a lot. He was there and he spent a lot of time with me. But now in hindsight, I'm like, that's just kind of a basic human thing to be there for somebody. It shouldn't be something that, yeah, it shouldn't be glorified. I also hung on to him cause I'm, like, my dad thought I was going to be with this person.”

Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Turning to Her Pal Benji for Help

“Somebody that really, really helped me was my friend Benji. I call him sorta my guru, but he and I had dated when we were 20, 21, but very briefly, just like a fling, nothing really. He was in New York [and] I was coming home from France and had to layover. I was like, ‘Hey, OK, Metul and I are broken up. I know you, you're a safe person. I know your family, let's get a drink and that'll be sort of like my introduction into dating again,’” Olindo said of the beginning of her path to healing.

The pair hung out in New York, but once she got back to Charleston, Benji remained in her life and helped her with his blueprint to getting over a breakup. “It changed the course of my life. It really did,” she revealed. "He spent months and months working on himself. I think he’s a really enlightened person. [Benji] was like, ‘We're not like hooking up. You're not, well, I need to help you. You know?’"

Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo

The Craig Conover of It All

"Oh, my God, yeah. He's dating someone who I really like. Paige [DeSorbo] is great," Olindo said, noting she’s “definitely not” going to date Conover, 32, again. She teased that the chemistry between her and the Sewing Down South founder may be visible on the upcoming season of Southern Charm. "I mean, I don't know how to answer this. You'll just have to watch the show, I guess. I aired it all out on there."

Credit: John Valkos/Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Begging to Get Back on 'Southern Charm'

“I had to like beg my way back. I was like, ‘Guys, please. I know I quit, and I know I told everybody to f--k off, but please I'm very depressed and I really want to come back. I don't know what I'm going to do if I'm back in Charleston’ and they're like, ‘All right,’” the reality star said of her return to the Bravo series after two seasons away.

The L’Abeye founder explained that she left the show partly because she was trying to have a “healthy relationship” with Shah while filming the show, but he refused to film himself.

“He's doctor, you know, those two things don't really go hand in hand, and he was a resident and he needed to apply for fellowships. I was totally willing to give up the show for what I thought to be a healthy and loving relationship, because that's what I would prioritize over a reality show, obviously,” Olindo continued. “I had no problem doing that, but then when it ended up not being a healthy and loving relationship, I was like, ‘OK, well I'm single’ [and] the show opens doors for so many opportunities business-wise and stuff.”

She added that “everybody already knows what happened” in her split, so she didn’t have a “problem sharing it” on camera. “I was like, ‘Why not?’ Just tail tucked between my legs, I was like, ‘Hey, can I come back?’”

Credit: Courtesy of Naomie Olindo/Instagram

Why She Left the Show

“It gets so robotic. People will strategize. It can get so toxic. When it reaches that level … it’s just too much,” she told the podcast listeners of her initial Southern Charm exit. “I can’t be in that because it makes me depressed. It’s a really dark side of life. When negotiations were happening right before my dad — I did meet with the network a couple of times. I could not imagine sitting down and filming [after my dad’s death]. I couldn’t even pretend to care.”

Credit: Courtesy of Patricia Altschul/Instagram

What Patricia Altschul Said About the Breakup

“She gives such great advice,” Olindo said of her longtime friend and Southern Charm costar. “To Patricia men are, like, disposable. She basically was like, ‘F--k them, just go date other people and do your own thing.’"

Credit: Courtesy of Naomie Olindo/Instagram

Picking Up the Pieces

"I think after you're betrayed and your judgment betrays, you wonder, ‘Can I trust myself again to see somebody's real intentions? To see the way somebody really is? Am I going to be love bombed again and gas lit and manipulated, and then discarded after a few months?’” the South Carolina resident said. “Because that's essentially what happened. It's hard to learn to trust yourself."

Olindo reflected on how the breakup and cheating scandal affected her outlook on relationships moving forward. “I realized just a little bit, you get like a little inch of gratitude, a little inch of positivity in what comes back to you is just so overwhelming. I've met some of the most incredible people and gotten to talk with like the most interesting minds and learn so much,” she revealed. “And it's just brought out this curiosity in me about life that I had sort of dulled down before because Metul wasn't interested in that stuff. … I feel like I'm just running free, little bit buckwild I would say.”

Credit: Courtesy of Naomie Olindo/Instagram; Courtesy of Metul Shah/Instagram

How She Feels About Metul Now

"I don't think there's anything [to say to Metul now] and I definitely don't hold any, like, hatred for him. I really wish him the best. I just don't think he's even really worth me having any negative feelings or any feelings at all at this point,” the Southern belle said. “I'm six months out so if you're listening to this and you know, you're struggling through your breakup, you don't know what to do, promise you it gets better. This is me telling you, you know, and listen to yourself because nobody knows better than you.”