All eyes are on Naomie Olindo and Craig Conover when Southern Charm returns for season 8 after the exes hooked up before the cameras started rolling.
“I was surprised at how much emphasis was put on it in the episode because I think other people made it a much bigger deal than it was to me and Craig,” Naomie, 29, exclusively tells Us Weekly ahead of the season 8 premiere. “It was sort of like a time and place thing where it’s like, ‘OK, I know you, I trust you, we were both like fresh off breakups.’ This is a really long time ago now, but it was never like, ‘Oh, we need to get back together, blah, blah.’ It was just like a comfort thing — a very temporary comfort thing.”
Last month, Craig’s current girlfriend, Paige DeSorbo, confirmed rumors that the Sewing Down South creator slept with his ex-girlfriend in Las Vegas before the Winter House costars were exclusive.
“I think the world of Paige, I think she’s great,” Naomie continued to Us. “I think they seem very happy together and I am so happy for him and I was surprised to see people, like, trying to pin me in Paige against each other, because it really doesn’t have to be like that. I think that any, like, misunderstandings that you’ll see throughout the season were so unnecessary because of people in other people’s ears and stuff. I think if you just left it to me and Paige, like, we would be great friends.”
The L’Abeye designer dated Craig on and off during seasons 3 and 4 of Southern Charm, calling it quits in 2017. Naomie hooked up with Craig following her messy split from Metul Shah in July 2021. Paige and the What’s Wrong With My Sewing? author, meanwhile, have been dating since May 2021, but didn’t make their relationship official until early fall.
“We’re friendly,” Naomie told Us of the Summer House star. “We don’t like, you know, hang out on the weekends or anything, but I love following her on Instagram. I think she’s got great style. I love the things she posts. I think she’s great. It’s kind of one of those things, like, there are boundaries, but all good things.”
Fans will also see Paige and Naomie’s dynamic on the upcoming season of Southern Charm, including their first meeting at Kathryn Dennis’ birthday party in the premiere.
“She was so lovely and it wasn’t awkward at all,” she told Us. “I think as a season progresses, you’ll see Paige and I have a few conversations where it’s, like, we’re not understanding each other because like I said, just a lot of different people in people’s ears and one person was saying one thing, another person was saying the other. And so some of it was just a misunderstanding. You’ll have to watch.”
Southern Charm returns to Bravo Thursday, June 23, at 9 p.m. ET.
