Joe Bradley and Maddi Reese’s connection on Southern Hospitality was obvious from the start — but it wasn’t until season 3 that their friendship turned romantic.
“I really have had feelings for her for years, but we were also best friends,” Bradley exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2024. “One day I would wake up and be like, ‘I have a chance with a girl in my dreams’ and the next day I’ll be like, ‘This will never happen.’ And most of our friends told me it would never happen.”
While Bradley and Reese started out as best friends when season 1 of Southern Hospitality premiered in 2022, Bradley harbored romantic feelings for her behind closed doors. Once Reese was single at the start of 2024, Bradley finally made his move.
The pair’s romance went public after Us Weekly exclusively debuted the show’s season 3 trailer in November 2024. During the video, Bradley and Reese seemingly got hitched in Las Vegas.
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“I think everything in our life is spur of the moment, so it’s pretty on brand for us,” Bradley told Us that December, hinting that the Sin City nuptials might be real. “We’re spontaneous crazy people in the best way possible, but it felt right.”
Scroll down to see Bradley and Reese’s love story from the beginning:
November 2022
Fans were introduced to Bradley and Reese — as well as their Republic Garden & Lounge coworkers — during the Southern Charm spinoff, Southern Hospitality. At the time, Bradley and Reese were both VIP servers. Reese was also a DJ who often performed at the Charleston bar.
January 2023
During season 1, episode 8, Bradley revealed he had romantic feelings for Reese amid her on-again, off-again relationship with Trevor Stokes. The revelation led to a showdown between Bradley and Stokes. Bradley was also yelled at by Reese and coworker Mia Alario, since he was getting cozy with her around the same time.
February 2023
Bradley called Reese his “work wife” via Instagram, sharing a photo of the pair at Republic.
December 2023
Reese exclusively told Us that she was single after breaking up with Stokes. Her ups and downs with Stokes — which included two cheating scandals — played out during season 2 of Southern Hospitality, which aired from December 2023 to February 2024.
“I am focusing on myself,” Reese explained to Us in December 2023. “I need no drama for a couple of months.” She noted at the time that she wanted a “stable home” so she was trying to “manifest that in my life.”
January 2024
After crossing paths at BravoCon in November 2023, Bradley sparked a romance with Summer House star Danielle Olivera. He raised eyebrows in January 2024 when Us broke the news that Bradely was spotted getting cozy with Luann De Lesseps at a New York City hotel. (Bradley denied anything happened between him and De Lesseps, but eventually confirmed they’d kissed.)
That same month, Bradley exclusively told Us that he was “kind of pressing the breaks a little bit” with Olivera. Olivera, meanwhile, confirmed in February 2024 that they were no longer dating.
February 2024
Following the Southern Hospitality season 2 reunion, Bradley and Reese “started hanging out,” according to Bradley. He exclusively told Us months later, “I have not been with anyone or kissed anyone since last winter around February.”
April 2024
Bradley confirmed to Us that he and Reese “started being boyfriend and girlfriend in the middle of April,” which was “a little bit before the cameras came around” for season 3 of the Bravo series.
Reese added, “We just started dating weeks before we started filming, so I feel like we’re figuring it all out.” She confessed to Us, “I am still uneasy about getting into another relationship or dating or even putting myself out there, so I just feel like it’s going to be really interesting watching that play out and everything.”
July 2024
Reese shared photos from her DJ performance in Las Vegas via Instagram, revealing that the Southern Hospitality cast was there to cheer her on. The performance occurred on what appeared to be the same weekend when Bradley and Reese “got married” by an Elvis impersonator.
“I feel like you’re going to have to tune in to find out [if it’s real],” Reese teased during a joint interview with Bradley in December 2024, telling Us, “I feel like you watch our whole journey from [when] we just started dating to talking about getting serious and taking that kind of big next step. You’ll see that play out and I’m excited because we’re in Vegas when it happens, and that trip is awesome.”
Bradley called the wedding an “epic moment” that he chose to participate in to “show my love for her and prove all the haters wrong.”
December 2024
“We’re very happy right now,” Bradley gushed to Us about his romance with Reese, noting that he had to “give her time and space to make that safe decision” that she wanted to date him.
Reese, meanwhile, told Us that “timing was everything” when it came to the start of her relationship with Bradley. “I always had feelings for Joe, but I just didn’t know if it was past a friendship or now,” she said, adding that taking that leap of faith was “definitely worth taking that risk.”
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January 2025
During the season 3 premiere of Southern Hospitality, both Reese and Bradley confirmed their relationship status. As the season continued, Reese confessed that their friend TJ Dinch spreading rumors about Bradley’s sexuality delayed the couple’s romance.
“Three years ago, everyone was talking about the rumor. So, of course, I kinda believed TJ when he told me Joe is flirty, or fruity, or what’s the word? Gay,” Reese shared during the January 9 episode. “That was the reason why I did not hook up with Joe for a long time.”
Weeks later, Bradley shared his own hesitations about their budding romance, telling the cameras, “A little part of me fears she gets so big she outgrows Charleston” and would leave him behind.
“I already feel she feels like cabin fever living in this small town. I love it here,” he said during the January 30 episode, confessing that, “At the end of the day I want to be her home base.”
Bradley later expressed his fears to Reese, telling her that his “ultimate dream” is to “have a family” with Reese someday. She revealed, “I do want kids. Marriage. I do.”
