Salley Carson rang in her 31st birthday on Wednesday with a lively celebration alongside her castmates from the hit show Southern Charm, but notably absent from the festivities was Craig Conover.

Credit: Instagram

The party took place at the upscale Halls Chophouse, where Salley was spotted having a great time with fellow cast members Austen Kroll, 38, Shep Rose, 45, Madison LeCroy, 35, Venita Aspen, 32, Molly O’Connell, 37, Whitner Slagsvol, 36, Whitney Sudler-Smith, 57, and Rodrigo Reyes, 41. Salley documented the evening’s revelry on social media, sharing glimpses of the camaraderie she enjoyed with her friends.

In a spirited Instagram post, she exclaimed, “Look at us getting along for my 31st bday!!” The images captured the essence of the celebration, highlighting the unity among the group.

Craig Conover’s absence was quickly noted by followers, particularly following recent events on the show where he seemingly placed Salley in the friend zone before pursuing their mutual friend and co-star, Charley Manley, 27. This development has piqued the curiosity of fans, adding a layer of intrigue to the dynamics within the Southern Charm circle.

Immediately after the post was shared, several commenters noticed Craig’s absence.

“Where’s Craig?” asked one.

“He was invited!! He was unfortunately out of town,” Salley replied. 

According to a recent post shared to his Instagram Story, Craig was in New York City earlier this week and has since traveled to Indianapolis.

In other Southern Charm news, Salley opened up about Craig going out with Charley after Wednesday’s new episode suggested that she’d made Charley feel bad about it.

“I think that Charley’s feeling bad all on her own. I’m sorry. I’m not texting her being like, ‘Why would you do this to me?’ That is not me. I am asking her, ‘How are things with Craig?’ And then she’s going behind my back being like, ‘I feel so bad,’ or like, and she’s feeling all these emotions, and I’m just like, ‘I don’t know why you’re feeling this way because I’m really not trying to make you feel this way,” Salley clarified on the January 21 episode of the Southern Charm: After Show.

Meanwhile, according to Charley, she was “nervous” because she feared a distance would be formed between her and Salley. As she explained, she felt that she could see “the abandonment as it [was] happening.”

As Charley admitted that she needed to get better at “[speaking] up more” and being independent, Molly suspected that her sweet demeanor and concern about stepping on people’s toes stemmed from her pageant background.

“[She aims to be] very mindful and demure, as they say,” Molly explained.

Still, as Molly suggested, Charley was simply naive; Salley said otherwise

“I think Charley knew exactly what she was doing all summer,” Salley noted.

“I think I just think because she’s like 100 years younger than I am that she is like naive and young and not understanding what she’s doing, and so I was really trying to like, get that out of her to just understand it on a different level,” Molly continued. “I think that was really the whole issue the whole time was just like, say it, say how you feel, say what you want to do and do it.”

In closing,  Salley said that although she was “frustrated” with Charley, it wasn’t about the date itself. 

“I’m like, just, ‘Oh my God, just go, just go do what you want to do,’” she recalled.

Southern Charm season 11 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.