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Credit: Instagram

Season 10 of Southern Charm is currently airing, and there is much to discuss regarding both what’s on the screen and how the cast members treat each other in real-time. One of the most talked-about aspects of the show this season has been Jarrett “JT” Thomas, with a part of the drama being over his status with Venita Aspen. Now, she’s opening up about their relationship timeline and his poor treatment of her. 

Regarding JT and Venita, the two became quite close on the show, and it seemed they were heading toward a full-blown relationship. However, he abruptly left the series, and she has said that she was blindsided by him emerging on Instagram and revealing that he was dating someone else. 

Recently, Venita sat down with US Weekly to discuss the show, the reunion, and more. Naturally, the topic of her former “best friend” came up during the conversation. In discussing how their relationship dissolved, she lamented, “I’ve never had someone do me so dirty.”

Venita then discussed their dating timeline because she felt that the way the show was edited made her appear to be a “homewrecker,” given the romantic relationship he later announced. According to her, “We started dating when I got back from New York in September [2024]. It was from September, October, November.”

The Southern Charm star went on, “Trying to figure out, ‘OK, are we doing this? Do we actually like each other? Is it because we’re around each other all the time?’” Still, things took a turn. Venita continued and said that in November of 2024, he “posted that he had a girlfriend on Instagram.”

She then said, “I think it would’ve been nice to just have him be like, ‘Hey, by the way, I’m dating someone else, and I’ve decided to go with her versus you.’ I would not have cared. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I appreciate you so much for saying something, being kind about it.’ But he didn’t do that.”

Regarding the influencer JT was dating, Venita says they “weren’t a thing at the time” of their short-lived romance. She added, “[At least] that I know of. That’s what he was telling me, and I was believing him and trusting him in that. It’s too messy. It’s so messy. And I just wish that he could just come out and be like, ‘Hey, listen, I caused all this. I made things messy. Don’t be mad at either [of] these women. I should have done a better job at communicating with both of them what was going on and what I was doing.’”

Venita also feels that it would be “so simple” for JT to correct public perception and that he should “be the man that you want all the rest of the guys on the cast to be.”

In terms of their relationship timeline, she revealed that he quit the show a week after becoming an Instagram official with his girlfriend. She also talked about him quitting the show, saying, “I actually don’t know why he quit. I can’t put those two things together. It is not making sense.”

She went on, “I’m like, ‘OK, you’re doing this. You’re posting that you have this girlfriend, whatever, but why are you quitting the show? Is it because you were lying about things and that you’re afraid to get caught in those lies?’ That’s the only thing that made sense in my head.”

Venita also used the interview to reflect on what she felt she had with her co-star. She explained, “I think that’s the part that actually hurts me more. I am mourning my best friend. We had such fun together. We used to shoot the s—. We would go golfing and dinners and walks in the morning and breakfast and working moments, and it was just like I lost all of that, and it sucked.”

Following their time together coming to an end, the model and reality star says she feels like “collateral damage.”She says of his current treatment, “Right now, he’s just trying to do anything to tear me down, and I don’t like that. That’s not a friend.” She went on to tease that she confronted JT at the reunion and that she felt “sad” after the taping. Additionally, she was willing to reconcile but has since changed her mind after he refused to defend her in the press. 

In terms of where they stand today, she admitted, “Now the door’s completely shut. Closed and barred. Padlocked. No one’s getting here. I was still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and be like, just communicate with me and talk me through it. … I was willing to give him the chance to be like, ‘This is what happened. I’m so sorry. Can we try this again?’”

She ended with, “That says a lot about who he is. And I cannot be with someone like that.”

Fans can watch Venita on Southern Charm on Thursday nights on Bravo.