In life, there are a few certainties: death, taxes, and the ongoing feud between Austen Kroll and Craig Conover on Southern Charm. For three seasons, Rodrigo Reyes has watched their dynamic closely, noting that the two men simply cannot seem to stay away from conflict. As he puts it, these “grown men can’t quit each other.”

Though Kroll and Conover appeared to have reconciled by the conclusion of Season 10, it took only three episodes into the 11th season for their rivalry to reignite. Their simmering tensions surfaced once more at a literary-themed party hosted by new cast member Whitner Slagsvol. In a playful twist, Kroll, dressed as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, took a jab at Conover’s drinking habits. Meanwhile, Conover, sporting a Rufio costume from Hook, suggested that Kroll was envious of his single lifestyle.

Reyes shared his insights with DECIDER during a Zoom interview, saying, “I think they’re both obsessed with each other. Neither will admit it, but that’s the truth. They can’t seem to quit each other. It’s like our own little Brokeback Mountain.”

This season, Conover’s disagreements extend beyond Kroll. Following his split with Paige DeSorbo, Venita Aspen publicly sided with the Summer House alum, leading Conover to declare on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that he would no longer “associate” with Aspen—a comment that deeply offended her.

Reyes offered his perspective, saying, “I think she could have remained neutral, but she’s good friends with Ciara [Miller], who is close to Paige. There was no malicious intent behind Aspen’s comments, but Conover took it personally. At the time, he was hurt and reacted accordingly.”

When DECIDER caught up with Reyes, he also spoke about Shep Rose and Whitney Sudler-Smith‘s viral rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep,” how he really feels about Salley Carson going after both Conover and Kroll, and what it was like to eat Doritos and cottage cheese next to a dead mouse at Molly O’Connell‘s house. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: I’m so excited to talk to you about Season 11! But first, I need to know where you are in your wedding planning. Do you think everyone on your cast will be scoring an invite?

RODRIGO REYES: This is the hot question. I think wedding planning is kind of stalled because right now, the biggest thing that we’re planning on is our kitchen renovation. I know the wedding is big and important. But I’d rather have a nice kitchen. We bought our house and we didn’t really do anything to it. I try to stay away from Reddit or Twitter. I don’t go on there, but Tyler seems to have the time to go on there. And he’s like, “People are like, ‘Look at Rod’s kitchen. He’s an interior designer?’” I was like, “I didn’t design this kitchen. We bought this house with this kitchen.” So I want to get that tackled first. But I think we’re looking at maybe like a spring wedding. 

Listen, the kitchen will last longer than the wedding!

Oh, for sure. I mean, the resale value. I’m thinking of the resale value of my house here. Who’s invited? I said this at BravoCon. I think that in my mind, everyone is invited. I feel like I’m in a good place with everybody. I never try to sit there and have too deep of arguments with people. I butt heads with Austen a good bit off camera. But he’s one of my best friends. He’s literally at the bar right now. I’m at the Delta Lounge right now in Boston. 

I love your friendship with Venita. She obviously has some drama with Craig and I think some people have been wondering why she’s so upset with him for saying they weren’t friends on WWHL after she had been siding with his ex in her interviews. As someone who knows both of them well, what can you say about that? 

I feel like she kind of stepped in a little bit. I think she could have said nothing about it. But she’s really good friends with Ciara [Miller], who’s good friends with Paige. I think that she could have not impeded herself in that. But I don’t know how the questions were asked to her. Was it just somebody asked her and she spoke on it kind of thing? I don’t think she was going out of her way to be nasty to Craig. But, obviously, I think he took it that way. I think at the time he was hurt and he kind of reacted that way. I don’t really think that she had any malicious intent. But I think that’s exactly how he took it. And that’s where the rest really just completely opened up. 

I think that [they’re all] very public people. I think that at that moment, I think he just wanted to kind of heal in private and not have everyone talking on his behalf. But at the same time, I don’t really think Venita said anything that warranted that sort of sharp response. She’s not a mean, nasty person. That’s not who she is. 

In last week’s episode, you were very visibly rolling your eyes when Salley was talking about Craig on the phone with Venita. Do you not ship Salley and Craig? Why?

I just think that you know where Venita and Sally are in their friendship, Venita is very clear that he doesn’t trust Craig, she doesn’t like Craig. Then you have one of your closest friends there cozying up to this person that you don’t like. For me, rolling my eyes was more about Salley saying that she wasn’t going to pursue something with him or she didn’t want anything to like with him. But the moment the opportunity arises, that’s where you see, she’s like, “OK.” She’s a little man-eater over here. She wants a little slice of the Conover.

What about Salley and Austen? We saw them share a moment in the trailer!

Yeah, I think that moment they share, I’m literally standing right there and again, rolling my eyes beyond belief. I was like, “Oh, my God, what the hell are you guys doing?”  I just have a different opinion when it came to that because I was very close to Audrey. Tyler and I really, really loved Audrey [and] still do. It just felt, on our end, it’s kind of hard to watch. You have good friends, they break up and then you watch one move on. That’s just kind of how life is. But at the same time, Tyler and I were like, “Oh, God, this is not good.” But they’re adults and you’ll see it all unfold later in the season. 

You were pretty close with Taylor Ann Green when she was on the show, and there’s been a lot going on between her and Salley on social media this week. What do you make of that whole thing? Do you think it’s fair for people to compare Taylor to Salley?

No, they’re two completely different people. I love Taylor. I think Taylor’s probably one of the sweetest, kindest souls that I’ve ever met. I don’t think that necessarily she wanted to get dragged into the reality world lifestyle, but, I mean, you can’t start dating Shep Rose and not expect to have the mud splash in your face. It’s kind of funny. I just feel like Shep is a man about town. I think that’s the easiest way you can say that. I think that Taylor bit off more than she could chew when it came to Shep. I think that life experience kind of jaded her more than she needed to be, unfortunately. It’s hard because you know these guys a lot. It’s their world, and we’re all just in it. 

I have to ask about your solo scene with Shep in this week’s episode. You were the one to break it to him that Craig was into Charley. How butt-hurt do you think he was when he heard that? And what kind of woman do you think Shep needs?

Like, listen, buddy, you got to look at reality here. I think Charley is a little more aligned with Craig age wise. She’s a little closer in age. Charley and Craig are 10 years apart, and I think Charley and Shep are almost 20 years apart. So, I’m like, “OK, buddy. Find someone more age appropriate.” Like I said, someone at least old enough to rent a car. I think he understands. But again, this is Shep. We live in Charleston. Every single semester there’s a new crop of freshman girls. So he’s going to be okay. 

When Austen and Madison were on WWHL, Andy joked that Austen is obsessed with Craig. What do you think?

I think they’re both obsessed with each other. I think that’s the problem. It’s like that Spider-Man meme where they’re pointing at each other. The call is coming from inside the house. You guys are both obsessed with each other, so it’s OK. I don’t think either will admit that freely. But, I mean, that’s what it is. They can’t quit each other. It’s like our own little Brokeback Mountain. 

Paige recently threw some shade at Ms. Patricia, and Leva came to Paige’s defense. What did you think of Paige’s shade? And Leva’s comment?

I agree. There’s no Summer House, Southern Charm battle. In fact, like everyone that I’ve personally met from that show has been absolutely fantastic. Like West at BravoCon, I thought he was just an awesome dude. Completely funny. We were taking shots in the airport leaving Vegas. We were all a giant mess. Everyone’s so nice. Even Jesse. I met him randomly at a bar, and he was actually a really nice, engaging guy. Everyone on their show is very nice, and I don’t think there’s anything going completely wrong. And then when it comes to throwing shade at Patricia … I think Patricia, first off, is a legend. How many people on Bravo can say that they’ve been in Architectural Digest like three or four times? She’s a legend. She’s an icon. I’m not [going] to get in the ring and disrespect the queen. That’s not for me. I’m not going to get in women’s issues. This one. Other other issues maybe. But not this one. 

I know you guys all went out to see Molly’s gig the other night. Can I ask you about that video of Shep and Whitney singing “Creep”? It’s been all over my TikTok! What did you think of that? What was it like at that moment? 

Well, it’s so funny because I saw that video that I posted all of a sudden making its rounds on [social media]. Other people I guess were screen recording it and used it. First of all, what an appropriate song for these two lovable creeps. I was actually kind of shocked that Shep knew the lyrics. He was so good. Whitney’s very talented. He knows how to play guitar. Anytime there’s a guitar and Whitney can grab it, he’ll grab it and start playing it. He came over to my house a couple years ago and my friend Bailey was living with us before she bought her house. She had a guitar there. And of course, Whitney sees that and before you know it, he’s just strumming along, having a one man show in my living room. 

They didn’t sound terrible!

I mean, better than I expected. Shep already has that raspy, hoarse voice anyways, so it could have been worse. 

Speaking of Molly, people thought it was so funny to see you sift through Molly’s house in the premiere episode. What’s the strangest thing you found in her home?

She has Doritos and cottage cheese out. She asked my fiance Tyler what snack I like. Something my dad used to give us as kids was Doritos and cottage cheese. It’s fantastic. I highly recommend it. I’m eating that, and I look over and I see that frozen mouse right by the cottage cheese and I was like, “Oh, my God, what the fuck is going on here?”

We love Molly. She’s honestly one of the funniest people. She’s somebody that I go to Orangetheory with all the time. I go to Orangetheory with Craig and Molly. I’ve gotten Austen to start going, too. I want all of us to go. Madison’s going now with me, too. I feel like I want everyone to come together and get a work out. It’s kind of competitive. You can see how many calories you burn. I like that competition. I think we all do. 

You and Madison are very close. Last year, you told me a story about the time you two hung out with Luann de Lesseps. Do you have any other fun stories with Madison that you can share?

Oh, man. I know we’ve been to a barbecue place in Charleston and they basically cut us off because we were too drunk. We’re just being too loud and obnoxious. Madison’s so much fun. Her mother is so delightful, too. Madison had another baby shower at a friend’s house. It was just all of her girls and her gays. So it was me and Tyler and our friend Patrick. Before you know it, Tyler is on all fours, having Madison’s mom sit on his back and he’s, like, writhing on the floor. And then Madison’s like, “Oh, my God, I can’t have you two together. You guys are too much.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Southern Charm airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.