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The past year has been anything but smooth sailing for Craig Conover. As the founder of Sewing Down South, he ventured into 2025 navigating the waters of singlehood, following a breakup with his girlfriend of three years, Paige DeSorbo. The split happened over the holiday season, and shortly after, DeSorbo was seen with someone new. When Season 11 of Southern Charm began, Conover was a few months into his new chapter as a bachelor. Although he initially enjoyed a wave of sympathy from Bravo fans, it didn’t take long for him to squander that goodwill.
In the wake of their breakup, many fans rushed to Conover’s defense. Questions swirled around why DeSorbo had ended the relationship if she wasn’t ready for marriage and children, which Conover wanted. The criticism of DeSorbo intensified when she was seen with Joe DaMelio not long after the split, leading to speculation of infidelity—claims that DeSorbo has denied.
DeSorbo’s portrayal of Conover in the last season of Summer House wasn’t exactly flattering. He came across as a self-centered boyfriend, struggling to support her professional pursuits due to his own insecurities. However, Conover’s appearance on Andy Cohen’s show and a poignant scene at the end of Southern Charm Season 10 painted him as the unsuspecting victim blindsided by the breakup.
As Season 11 unfolded, Conover embraced his new single status with enthusiasm. Fresh from the breakup saga, he gained a fair amount of public sympathy, which bolstered his confidence even while he continued to process the end of his relationship. Yet, the very traits that DeSorbo had tried to address during their time together soon reemerged, undoing his progress.
Aside from his notorious clashes with Austen Kroll, Conover faced criticism for his confrontations with cast members Venita Aspen and Salley Carson. A notable incident involved him hurling insults at Carson, calling her “dumb” and a “loser.” This outburst was the last straw for Charley Manley, a newcomer whom Conover had been courting off-screen. Turned off by his behavior toward her friend, Manley, who is now dating Justin Assada of Southern Hospitality, ended their brief romantic involvement. The support Conover had enjoyed from fans following his breakup with DeSorbo quickly evaporated.
When the cast came back together for the Season 11 reunion, there was undoubtedly a bit of a gang-up on Conover. Even new cast member Whitner Slagsvol, who has remained rather unproblematic and quiet thus far, had something to say about the Southern Charm veteran’s inexcusable behavior.
Feeling pressure from all ends, Conover questioned whether being on Southern Charm was still “right” for him, which got me thinking … is it time, after more than a decade, for him to pack up his pillows and exit the show altogether? It’s not an unpopular opinion to say that I’m sick of watching Conover and Kroll have the same fight/different font season after season. It should also be noted that it’s never fun to watch a man scream at a woman. Without those two storylines, what is Conover bringing to the show anymore?
For one, I can’t imagine Conover ever actually leaving—at least, not now. Sewing Down South seems to thrive off of the free promotion from Bravo, and it would be a poor business move to lose that bump. As someone who attended BravoCon back in November, I can tell you that the lines to purchase Sewing Down South sweatshirts and/or snap a picture with Conover, who spent much of his time manning his booth in the Bravohood, were always lengthy.
I also should point out that, while Conover certainly has his flaws, we don’t watch reality TV for the morality component. Usually, the best reality stars are messy, chaotic, and blissfully unaware of just how crazy they can seem at times. I don’t agree with calling Conover a narcissist, as that’s a term best saved for the Jax Taylors of Bravo, but I do think that without his occasional diva moments, we probably wouldn’t be talking about this show in the same capacity. Moreover, Conover did take accountability for his actions and apologized by the end of the reunion, and to the point I made about Taylor, he’s not actively trying to ruin anyone’s life. In fact, he’s become one of the best kinds of reality TV villains (if we even want to call him that), because you can love him one minute and want to give him a masterclass on respect the next.
While Southern Charm has undergone many cast switch-ups over the years, Conover and Shep Rose have been the show’s anchors since Season 1, which aired in 2014. With Rose noticeably taking on a smaller part in more recent seasons, perhaps that’s a position Conover might want to think about moving forward. He might not always be on the right side of history, but he and Rose are Southern Charm. Heck, at this point, they are legacy characters. They can get away with simply doing silly things, making funny commentary, and offering the occasional juicy tidbit on their dating lives, while the younger generation takes the reins on drama.
Conover has sacrificed the better part of his adult life for our entertainment, and while I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to take a season off to regroup and do some inner healing, I don’t think this is (or should be) the last we see of him on Southern Charm.
Southern Charm Season 11 is currently streaming on Peacock.