‘Southern Charm’ Season 8 Recap: Austen Stirs the Pot Between Naomie and Craig Post-Hookup, Olivia Gets Into Girl Fight

Credit: Stephanie Diani/Bravo (2)/Christopher Polk/Shutterstock

‘Southern Charm’ Season 8 Recap: Austen Stirs the Pot Between Naomie and Craig Post-Hookup, Olivia Gets Into Girl Fight

The hits just keep on coming! The cast of Southern Charm aren't letting their proper southern upbringings keep them from telling it like it is this season — especially when it comes to Naomie Olindo and Craig Conover’s relationship status. The former couple, who broke up in 2017 after three years together, have been main topic of conversation during season 8 of the series after they came clean during the premiere about hooking up in Las Vegas ahead of filming. During the second episode of the season, which aired on Thursday, June 30, it came out that Naomie, 29, and Craig, 33, actually hooked up twice. Despite their romantic past, Craig insisted that he had completely moved on with girlfriend Paige DeSorbo. Pal Austen Kroll, however, didn’t believe that things were totally over between the Pillow Talk author and the France native. In fact, he confronted Naomie for details at her “fresh start” party and things didn’t go well. “I’m convinced that you had a mini reconnection. Weren’t y’all hanging out in Charleston,” the King’s Calling Brewing Co. founder, 35, asked, to which Naomie responded, “Yeah, we hung out a week.” Austen proceeded to throw Craig under the bus, claiming that when they spoke about the fling, he made it seem like Naomie was “clingy” and not over him. [sendtonews type="float" key="I2TruNA8mw-2834006-14453"] Naomie said she didn’t believe Austen, but later approached Craig regarding his alleged comments about what happened between them following her breakup with Metul Shah in the summer of 2021. “I mean, what hurt me so much is you insinuated [to Austen] that I was your ex for a reason because it just wasn’t fun,” Naomie told Craig, who denied it saying, “I never said that. … We had an amazing experience. It was great.” While Austen was busy trying to seemingly destroy Naomie and Craig’s newfound friendship, his girlfriend, Olivia Flowers, found herself making enemies as well. The season 8 newbie got herself into trouble at Naomie’s party when she claimed that Naomie and pal Venita Aspen didn’t try hard enough to talk with Kathryn Dennis at her Great Katsby bash earlier that month. “I would stick up for anyone who is not at a party and being talked about like this,” Olivia, 30, said during her confessional interview after getting an icy response for her comments. “I would hope someone would do that for me if I wasn’t at a party. That’s where I was coming from with it. It didn’t read well with Regina George and the rest of the girls.” Scroll down to relive all the drama from Southern Charm season 8, episode 2: Southern Charm airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. [podcast_block]

Credit: Stephanie Diani/Bravo (2)/Christopher Polk/Shutterstock

‘Southern Charm’ Season 8 Recap: Austen Stirs the Pot Between Naomie and Craig Post-Hookup, Olivia Gets Into Girl Fight

The hits just keep on coming! The cast of Southern Charm aren't letting their proper southern upbringings keep them from telling it like it is this season — especially when it comes to Naomie Olindo and Craig Conover’s relationship status. The former couple, who broke up in 2017 after three years together, have been main topic of conversation during season 8 of the series after they came clean during the premiere about hooking up in Las Vegas ahead of filming. During the second episode of the season, which aired on Thursday, June 30, it came out that Naomie, 29, and Craig, 33, actually hooked up twice. Despite their romantic past, Craig insisted that he had completely moved on with girlfriend Paige DeSorbo. Pal Austen Kroll, however, didn’t believe that things were totally over between the Pillow Talk author and the France native. In fact, he confronted Naomie for details at her “fresh start” party and things didn’t go well. “I’m convinced that you had a mini reconnection. Weren’t y’all hanging out in Charleston,” the King’s Calling Brewing Co. founder, 35, asked, to which Naomie responded, “Yeah, we hung out a week.” Austen proceeded to throw Craig under the bus, claiming that when they spoke about the fling, he made it seem like Naomie was “clingy” and not over him. [sendtonews type="float" key="I2TruNA8mw-2834006-14453"] Naomie said she didn’t believe Austen, but later approached Craig regarding his alleged comments about what happened between them following her breakup with Metul Shah in the summer of 2021. “I mean, what hurt me so much is you insinuated [to Austen] that I was your ex for a reason because it just wasn’t fun,” Naomie told Craig, who denied it saying, “I never said that. … We had an amazing experience. It was great.” While Austen was busy trying to seemingly destroy Naomie and Craig’s newfound friendship, his girlfriend, Olivia Flowers, found herself making enemies as well. The season 8 newbie got herself into trouble at Naomie’s party when she claimed that Naomie and pal Venita Aspen didn’t try hard enough to talk with Kathryn Dennis at her Great Katsby bash earlier that month. “I would stick up for anyone who is not at a party and being talked about like this,” Olivia, 30, said during her confessional interview after getting an icy response for her comments. “I would hope someone would do that for me if I wasn’t at a party. That’s where I was coming from with it. It didn’t read well with Regina George and the rest of the girls.” Scroll down to relive all the drama from Southern Charm season 8, episode 2: Southern Charm airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy Kathryn Dennis/Instagram

Chleb Calls Out Kathryn

Following their argument at Kathryn’s Great Katsby party during the season 8 premiere, things were rocky between the couple. Kathryn, for her part, told her then-boyfriend, Chleb Ravenell, that his decision to speak with Venita at the bash about their fallout made her feel like he was “on her team and not my team.”

The former football player was quick to point out that he and Kathryn are very different when it comes to how they speak with people. “I feel like you don’t like a lot of people and that’s not how I roll,” he explained. “You can go to all your friends and ask, ‘Is Kathryn a problem?’ Yes, you are the problem.”

Chleb later opened up to his mom about the couple’s issues, revealing, “All hell broke loose when we moved in together. She’s Mrs. Petty. She tries to take my time from you, from my family. All I’ve been trying to do is help her out, uplift her and I don’t think she understands that.”

Credit: Shutterstock (2)

Austen and Olivia Are Heating Up

Despite having tension after the Katsby party when Austen’s ex Madison LeCroy showed up, the new pair appeared to be progressing positively in their relationship. The beermaker told viewers during his confessional why he liked Olivia, noting their similarities. “First off, she’s tall, thank god. I can’t deal with these shorties anymore,” he said. “She gets my sense of humor. She’s wifey material. I’m not ready to go down that path.”

Olivia, for her part, seemed to be on the same page as her new flame. “First thought, and I kid you not, was his height. I was like, ‘Ooh, yes,’” she said during a confessional interview. “He’s hilarious and we have the same sense of humor.”

The photographer, who had only been on a few dates with Austen when the episode filmed, noted: “I’m not trying to lock it down but if someone’s not serious about being in a relationship or settling down then on to the next.”

Credit: Courtesy of Shep Rose/Instagram

Taylor Gets Real About Shep Romance

The majority of the episode took place during Naomie’s welcome back party, which is where Taylor Ann Green opened up to Shep Rose’s cousin, Marcie, about their future. “When Shep came over to the house he was gushing about you,” Marcie said. “He turned into a little puppy dog. I was like, ‘Have children!’”

Taylor replied, “I’m not on birth control or anything like that. He’s like, ‘Whoa, whoa whoa. I’m not ready for that.’” The clinical assistant added: “I can probably wait until I’m in my 30s.”

Credit: Stewart Cook/Shutterstock

Austen and Craig Continue to Butt Heads

Tension was high between the “Pillows and Beer” podcast cohosts as they reunited at Naomie’s party. “He doesn’t tell me anything anymore,” Craig told Madison while standing with her and Austen, to which he replied, “Ditto.”

The Sewing Down South founder threw shade at Austen, saying, “You told [Madison] everything that I ever told you,” before Madison noted, “You all seem a little toxic.”

Craig confessed: “We’ve got some sh—t that we need to talk about because it’s festering. But, we see each other, we have fun and act like nothing is happening.” Austen, however, wasn’t having it, adding, “That’s your specialty. Your specialty is to meet up and act like nothing’s the matter.”

Credit: Stephanie Diani/Bravo

Mean Girl Vibes

During Naomie’s event, Patricia Altschul brought up her drama with Kathryn from the Great Katsby Party. Since Kathryn wasn’t there to share her side of the story, Olivia found herself defending the mother of two — and therefore became an easy target for the rest of the group.

After Naomie explained that Kathryn thinks she’s “coming for her,” she noted she only attending the party to be nice. Olivia, however, claimed that Naomie wasn’t “open” to being there and trying to make amends. “I’m not even taking sides. I’m literally explaining what I saw,” Olivia said, to which Venita chimed in, “But you are. You’re on Kathryn’s side right now.” Things quickly escalated with Venita getting defensive after Olivia told her to “calm down.”

The California native proceeded to go outside and find Austen after being attacked by the ladies in the house. “I’m flustered. It was just that one conversation that went off,” she explained to her beau. “Here’s the bottom line, I am not taking sides.”

Things took a positive turn when Venita owned up to her actions and came over to apologize to Olivia. “I don’t want you to feel attacked. I’m sorry,” the influencer said. “We’re not here to attack you. Me and drama don’t get along.”

Credit: Stephanie Diani/Bravo (2)/Christopher Polk/Shutterstock

Austen Stirs the Pot

While Olivia was trying to fix her relationship with the women at the party, Austen chose to add fuel to the fire when it came to Naomie and Craig’s Las Vegas hookup. After hearing from multiple people that the exes hooked up in Charleston as well, Austen confronted Naomie about it and things got intense.

“You guys did not just sleep together once, true or false?” Austen asked Naomie, who which she replied, “Twice. That’s it.” The North Carolina native then called Craig a “good liar,” claiming he only admitted to sleeping with Naomie once.

Austen recalled the alleged way Craig “described” the Vegas hookup, painting his longtime friend in a bad light. “[He] was like, ‘I was right [about her] and she came calling. And then we hung out and yeah, we slept together,’” the businessman claimed. “The way that it was a throwaway. He described that you have some clingy, like, whatever [vibe and] that [you’re] trying to get back with [him].”

Naomie, however, didn’t bite. “I literally don’t believe that he would describe me in that way,” she told Austen before he left the room.

Credit: MJ Photos/Shutterstock; Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Craig Has ‘Nothing But Love’ for Naomie

Unlike the Naomie of seasons past, the designer was quick to confront Craig about Austen’s allegations. In fact, the exes talked it out in the living room before the party came to an end. “Austen was trying to prompt me for things. He’s like, ‘Craig swears it was only one time,’” she said, to which Craig replied, “No I didn’t. It was twice. I told him that. Paige knows that.”

The L’Abeye founder confessed that Austen “tried to hurt” her by saying, “Yeah, well after you and Craig saw each other in Vegas he was like, ‘Ugh, she’s my ex for a reason. It wasn’t all it was chocked up to be.’”

Craig denied ever saying that and agreed that it was “really mean” that Austen put those words in his mouth. The Delaware native assured Naomie that their two hookups were great and he’s happy with their friendship now. “I don’t have any regrets about it. I love you to death,” he added. “You know I will always feel that way about you.”