Southern Charm’s Venita Aspen and Craig Conover have never been close, but their friendship took a turn for the worse in March 2025 following back-to-back appearances on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Venita made the first jab when she revealed on WWHL that she was “Team Paige,” meaning Paige DeSorbo, following her and Craig’s 2024 split.
When asked about Venita’s comments on his own WWHL appearance that month, Craig declared that he no longer wanted to be “associated” with Venita. Craig also alleged it wasn’t because of her support for Paige, but rather other remarks Venita allegedly said about him.
As season 11 of Southern Charm — which premiered in fall 2025 — began to air, fans got more insight into Venita and Craig’s fractured relationship. During the season 11 reunion in March 2026, Venita and Craig attempted to hash out their drama as their costars looked on.
Scroll down for a complete timeline of Venita and Craig’s feud — and everything they’ve said about where they stand:
Venita Aspen Sparks Drama Picking Paige DeSorbo Over Craig Conover
In March 2025, Venita Aspen appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and revealed she contacted Paige DeSorbo after her split from Craig Conover in late 2024. “I have a closer relationship with Paige than I do [with] Craig.”
Venita later revealed that her connection to Paige is because of their mutual friend, Summer House’s Ciara Miller.
“Ciara and I are very close. That means I was close with Paige, not super, super close, but close enough,” Venita explained on a December 2025 appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast. “Obviously I’m gonna stand up for Paige, take her side. I see her more. I talk to her more.”
Venita claimed, “Craig never really made any effort to be my friend. So it’s like, why am I now supposed to just be like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re right.’ I don’t talk to you. I don’t know. It’s just weird.”
Craig Conover Declares He’s Not Friends With Venita Aspen on Live TV
After Venita Aspen went on WWHL in March 2025 and backed Paige DeSorbo in Craig Conover’s breakup — and also claimed he was “milking” their split — Craig clapped back.
“If I’m being honest, I won’t be associated with her because as I get older, my [friendship] circle gets tighter and tighter,” Craig told Andy Cohen on his March 2025 WWHL appearance.
He alleged, “It wasn’t about being on Paige’s side, you can be Paige’s friend,” adding that he believes Venita “regurgitated” gossip about him.
“I’m not friends with her. I wish her well, but no one’s entitled to my friendship, and she definitely isn’t anymore,” Craig declared.
Venita Aspen Responds to Craig Conover’s ‘WWHL’ Declaration
Venita Aspen told Deadline in April 2025 that she was “disappointed” after learning Craig Conover no longer wanted to be “associated” with her.
“I don’t operate like that from a friendship level, even if it’s a new friend, an old friend, or a friend that I’ve had back and forth with,” she explained. “I think that I would have preferred him to be the quarterback that he is and lead his teammates in whatever direction he wanted us to go versus deeming people who go against whatever he wants unworthy of friendship. We don’t talk, so what was I supposed to do?”
Venita Aspen and Craig Conover Keep Their Distance at BravoCon
Venita Aspen claimed in November 2025 that Craig Conover “won’t even look in my direction” as the pair attended events at BravoCon in Las Vegas for Southern Charm.
“I wouldn’t look at someone else either, with greasy hair like that, it’s fine. Sorry, I did it,” Venita cheekily told Us Weekly at the time. “Other than that, I liked his outfit last night [at The Bravos]. I just was not feeling [the] hair. He had a beautiful bow tie on, but the hair.”
Season 11 of ‘Southern Charm’ Gives Insight Into Venita Aspen and Craig Conover’s Dynamic
During the season 11 premiere, which aired in November 2025, Venita Aspen and Craig Conover were not friends. While they both attended costar Madison LeCroy’s baby shower, neither one wanted to mend fences.
“I am absolutely terrified of Craig’s temper. I’ve seen Craig yell at Naomie [Olindo]. I saw him yell at Leva [Bonaparte]. I’ve seen him yell at JT [Thomas],” Venita told the cameras. “Craig is a certified a**hole so he’s not someone I’m willing to go bat to bat with.”
Craig, meanwhile, told pal Rodrigo Reyes, “I don’t like her. I don’t f*** with her,” refusing to discuss their issues at the shower.
Ciara Miller Defends Venita Aspen
As season 11 of Southern Charm began airing, Venita Aspen received some backlash for not being her usual charming and appeasing self.
“Imagine being the only Black girl on a predominantly white cast in the SOUTH,” Ciara Miller wrote via the comments section on a December 2025 TikTok video about Venita’s story arc on Southern Charm. “No one ever sees Venita’s side.”
After the TikToker mused, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Venita took Craig [Conover] saying that [he didn’t want to associate with her] as him trying to push her off the show or ice her out from the group and that’s the actual issue.”
Ciara seemingly confirmed the user’s suspicions, claiming in the comments section, “If a main cast ‘refuses’ to film with another main cast member; that’s code for trying to push them out. So yes, your entire analysis of [this] situation is correct.”
“For some ‘odd’ reason, Black women/people are held to such an insanely high standard, we are rewarded less grace, and we must always be the bigger person in every situation, wronged or not,” Ciara further alleged. “While our white counterparts can be as diabolical and disgusting and still remain fan favorites and don’t have to encounter 1/4 of the hate that we get simple for existing.”
Venita, meanwhile, opened up about Ciara’s claim that Craig was in fact trying to get her off the show, claiming on a December 2025 episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast that Craig “literally was refusing to film with me.”
“That means I don’t have a job. That means I can’t hang out with my friends. That means I don’t have a platform to show up to, like, I would lose so many things,” Venita said, noting she was getting “choked up” just thinking about it.
Salley Carson Friction Explained
At the start of season 11 of Southern Charm, Salley Carson and Venita Aspen were “thick as thieves,” according to Venita. However, fans quickly saw their friendship hit some turbulence as Salley pursued a romance with Craig Conover amid his drama with Venita.
“It was just like, ‘OK, I’ve seen her, like, date a couple people’. And I was just like, ‘I don’t want her to fall for someone that I know is … a bad egg,’” Venita told “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast host Amanda Hirsch in December 2025 when asked why she was so against Salley hooking up with Craig. “I was upset that she was wanting to go after a man that, like, was so happy to go [and] publicly be like, ‘I could never be friends with someone like that.’”
Venita explained, “At the end of the day, unfortunately, I was just like, whatever. I’m just gonna ignore that. I still don’t want this girl to be hurt by somebody that doesn’t deserve her time.”
Salley, for her part, started to see cracks in her and Venita’s friendship on the show when she continually picked spending time with Craig over her friend. Even still, the women have remained in one another’s lives — but they had ups and downs throughout season 11.
Venita Aspen Will ‘Always’ Be the ‘Bigger Person’
“I’m always the bigger person,” Venita Aspen said on her December 2025 episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast, referring to her decision to attend Craig Conover’s Memorial Day pool party that was shown on the Bravo series that month. “I was the bigger person that came to the party and I brought a gift. I brought towels for everybody. I was just like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do it, and I’m gonna show up and have things for everybody at this party.’”
Craig Conover Allegedly Blocked Venita Aspen — And Her Assistant
While taping her December 2025 “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast appearance, Venita Aspen claimed she got a text from her assistant saying she was just blocked by Craig Conover on Instagram.
“I think he blocked me too. At one point I had him blocked and I unblocked him,” Venita told the listeners. “I was like, ‘Let me grow up, you know, like, let me still try to be the bigger person,’ but I think he blocked me.”
No Discussion Was Had in 2025
“Oh, my God, it was devastating,” Venita Aspen said of Craig Conover publicly saying he didn’t want to be her friend, noting a “text message is so quick” to remedy the situation.
She pointed out on the December 2025 “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast episode, all Craig had to do was say, “Hey, I don’t like the things that you’ve been saying. Do you mind if we chat about it?”
Venita then claimed, “I feel like I tried to get one on one time with him throughout the season to chat about, and he just wasn’t into it.”
Craig and Venita Make Nice — Sort Of — at Season 11 Reunion
Craig Conover and Venita Aspen faced off during the Southern Charm season 11 reunion, which aired in March 2026. The pair rehashed their drama, with Craig claiming that Venita “didn’t know” Paige DeSorbo when Venita backed his ex publicly after their split.
“I thought it was a little bit of a bandwagon [action],” Craig said of Venita claiming in interviews that he was “enjoying” his breakup from Paige without coming to him and seeing how he was really doing.
Venita argued, “I think you were talking about it more than others,” insinuating that he was happy to talk about the split to whoever would listen. “Again I don’t agree with what you said and I think that’s fair to say,” Craig replied.
As the pair continued to disagree about the crux of their falling out, Venita claimed that Craig had an issue with her years prior to her backing Paige.
“I’m not going to sit here and allow you to act like you want to be my friend when we’re not sitting in this group,” Venita said before accusing Craig of overstepping and speaking “past the time that anyone else is given.”
Craig fired back, saying, “You burned the bridge and then asked why I don’t visit. … We don’t know each other. We don’t have a relationship — we never have.”
Venita then claimed that Craig is always “talking [over] and interrupting” her and refusing to admit he’s wrong. Craig, however, brought up the fact that Venita had been saying “really nasty” things about him, which has caused even more tension.
“I am sorry for saying those things,” Venita told Craig.
Later in the reunion, Craig said he was in the wrong when he snapped at Venita on a group trip to Mexico. (Craig got upset that Venita advised Austen Kroll to stand up for himself amid his own issues with Craig.)
“In the moment, the message I was getting relayed was, ‘Venita really talks about you a lot.’ So at the dinner [I went off],” Craig confessed, telling Venita, “I could’ve come to you and asked why are you meddling. I guess I avoided it.”
The pair ended the reunion on better terms, with Venita admitting, “I’m not going to lie and say we’re at 100, but I’m positive for things to [have] a better outcome.”
Venita teased that she’s waiting for an invite to Craig’s hot tub, and he responded, “I’m ready when Venita is.”
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