Craig Conover opened up to Austen Kroll on the latest episode of Southern Charm about his alcohol addiction, revealing Paige DeSorbo was his rock while getting sober.
“She was right with me this entire time,” Craig, 36, told Austen, 37, of his then-girlfriend during the Thursday, March 6, episode of the Bravo series.
Craig explained that Paige, 32 — whom he dated for three years before their November 2024 split — was his confidant after he cut out liquor. (Craig previously struggled with Adderall addiction, which was documented on Southern Charm in 2014.)
“There’s a reason that me and Paige are so close,” Craig explained during his Bahamas heart-to-heart with Austen. “I just could not imagine being closer to someone.”
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The Sewing Down South founder added, “I’m so lucky that she chose to be like, ‘I see someone there.’ She helped me, like, beat this demon.”
Craig previously spoke about his alcohol ups and downs during the season 9 reunion, which aired in January 2024. “I haven’t drank liquor in two years but I had to make a massive change this summer. I’m an addict to that stuff,” he told host Andy Cohen.
During season 10, Craig explained that part of his positive lifestyle shift was because of Paige.
“When we first started dating, we were out and about all the time,” Craig said during a December 2024 episode, which was filmed before their breakup. “We’ve just grown with each other where we’d rather spend the time at home relaxing than out partying. I built this sanctuary [at my house] for us to be away from the world and be able to relax and connect.”
Following their split, Paige and Craig have traded public jabs about the end of their relationship. Paige was accused of cheating on Craig, which she denied. (Craig also claimed he wasn’t the one spreading that rumor).
Paige, meanwhile, alleged during an episode of Summer House in February that Craig was texting other women while they were together. Craig refuted those claims and alleged he never cheated on the fashion correspondent.
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Despite their back and forth, Paige’s Summer House costar Ciara Miller pointed out that Craig has positively transformed throughout their time together. “We’re not gonna sit here and act like Craig is just like the ultimate peach,” Ciara quipped during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in February. “I’m sorry, but she did a lot of work to get him to this point where he’s at now.”
Ciara, 29, noted, “And whether he’ll give her credit or not. The Craig that we know now is not the Craig, you know, that we were dealing with three years ago.”
Craig, for his part, explained during Thursday’s episode that he was “lucky” to overcome his demons with alcohol, which took place while in a relationship with Paige. His revelation was a much-needed breakthrough for his friendship with Austen, which had become fractured in recent years.
Throughout season 10 of Southern Charm, Craig and Austen butted heads in part because Austen felt like Craig never wanted to spend time together. Craig, meanwhile, claimed it was because Austen only wanted to go out drinking.
“You’re one of my best friends. I was never trying to do stuff to better myself to get away from other people,” Craig told Austen on the latest episode. “I didn’t know that it would ever change the level of our friendship. I want to get back to a place of love.”
Austen revealed, “I feel like where all the disconnect has come because you’ve created this wonderful image that you are terrified of disappointing someone or something that now in order to maintain this I need to sit at my house and not see me with a beer or something.”
When Austen suggested that Craig just needed to “loosen the reins a little bit,” Craig confessed, “I can’t because I don’t have any lease on myself. That’s any addict.”
“I was like, ‘F—. Me, like, trying not to be an alcoholic is now affecting my friendship with Austen.’ That’s where I was coming from,” Craig continued. “I have tears in my eyes because it’s real. I was in the trenches by myself trying to better myself.”
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Craig revealed that even though Austen wanted to hang out, he knew, “I gotta stay on my couch. I leave my couch, I’m going to drink a bottle of Jaeger and do dumb s—.”
Austen, meanwhile, pointed out that it’s the first time Craig ever used the word “addict” around him. “I am very sorry for not understanding what you were going through,” the beermaker said.
Austen later told the cameras that Craig’s addiction “doesn’t excuse him from being an a—hole” but it does make him want to give his longtime friend some “grace.”
“I’m sorry that I never told you. I’m sorry that you thought I just didn’t f—ing like you. I should’ve told you. I love you,” Craig told his “Pillows & Beer” podcast cohost. As the two hugged, Austen playfully replied, “I love you, dude. Doesn’t mean that I don’t think you’re a bitch.”
Southern Charm airs on Bravo Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
