Southern Charm’s Austen Kroll and Salley Carson kicked off season 12 with a complicated — and somewhat messy — dynamic.
“If I don’t talk to Salley for, like, two days, we’re like, ‘Where the f*** have you been?’” Austen, 39, told pal Shep Rose during the Thursday, November 12, premiere, revealing where he stood with Salley, 31, at the beginning of filming in March.
The beermaker then confessed, “But, do I make out with her sometimes when we’re drunk? Yes.”
Austen admitted, “Some might call my situation with Salley f***ing perfect, right? Like, you have a hot friend who is cool with you talking to other girls and doing your thing and who sometimes you get to make out with.”
Salley, for her part, told the cameras that Austen “really hurt my feelings more than I let on in New York” when he criticized her at the season 11 reunion for having a “body count” and being a “bar rat.”
“Before we all go together, I genuinely kinda put my heart out there,” she recalled of their conversation pre-reunion. “I was like, ‘I do genuinely like you, I would want to be with you.’ But he basically was, like, not reciprocating the feeling.”
Since the reunion’s February taping, Salley said she and Austen repaired their friendship, revealing in a confessional that they “hang out all the time.”
“We talk three times a day and we make out sometimes. We’re very close,” she said with a cheeky smile.
Salley later explained to pal Venita Aspen that while she and Austen have “serious chemistry” and she “loves being around him,” he sometimes treats her “like a bro.”
Salley appeared to be cool with their dynamic, but later confronted Austen about their friends-with-benefits-like relationship during Venita’s garden party — after his brief flame Allie Newman arrived.
“Me and you obviously had an intimate moment. And then we’ve been drunk kissing, flirting. People think that we’re together sometimes,” Salley told Austen, admitting she didn’t understand why he would take Allie, 27, on dates and not her.
She confessed, “I do feel like there needs to be, like, a harsh line so that I don’t get my heart broken.”
Salley identified the “harsh line” as “no kissing” as well as “no touching,” clarifying “just hugging” is OK.
“OK, wow. I’m in. I take the pledge,” Austen vowed, before putting his hand on her leg and being scolded for “touching.”
Salley once again outlined their new deal, saying, “No more kissing me when you’re drunk and I won’t kiss you either.”
Austen nodded, before asking whether they were “good” now. “Yeah, I love you,” Salley replied. “I love you too,” he responded.
Seven months after making their deal on screen, Austen and Salley exclusively told Us where they stand, teasing that their “boundaries” will be tested throughout the season.
“I like where we are [now],” Salley told Us in October. “We have a lot of fun together.”
Austen hinted that “other people just have a lot of opinions on it,” which will unfold on the show.
“Who cares what they think? F*** ’em,” Salley fired back, before confessing that she does “get a little jealous sometimes” when Austen flirts with other girls.
Austen, meanwhile, told Us that he’s not “jealous” per say, but he is “protective” of Salley when she gets close to another man.
Southern Charm airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
