According to Leva Bonaparte, Southern Charm season 10 is going to be messy due in part to newcomer Salley Carson’s drama with Taylor Ann Green.
“It does seem like she has it out for Taylor,” Leva, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, December 5.
The reality star noted that Salley — who fans might remember from season 26 of The Bachelor — stirred the pot when she joined Southern Hospitality for season 2 last year. (In addition to Southern Charm, Leva stars on the spinoff, which follows the lives of her employees at Republic Garden and Lounge in Charleston.)
“Salley, I only knew her from working up front [at Republic] and I was like, ‘Oh, is this pretty girl,’” Leva recalled, noting that things turned sour when Salley, 29, started dating her employee Joe Bradley.
Leva remembered “a lot of drama” following Salley’s brief romance with Joe. “I was like, ‘Let’s get her out of here.’ Not that she was fired or anything,” she continued. “I was just like, ‘Not for me here.’”
Salley went on to make a name for herself on season 2 of Southern Hospitality when she kissed Gaston Rojas before going on a date with Joe — and then lied about it. Joe compared Salley’s actions to “a f—ing serial killer move,” which promptly ended their relationship.
Salley proceeded to date Gaston after the incident, but they have since broken up. Taylor, 30, exclusively revealed to Us in October 2023 that Gaston is now her boyfriend, which is going to cause tension between the women on Southern Charm, which premieres on Thursday.
‘Bachelor’ Alum Salley Carson Joins ‘Southern Charm’ Season 10
“I think she’s kind of like that girl that says she doesn’t want drama, but she lives in drama,” Leva told Us of Salley. “I’m like, ‘Well, you got to make different choices if you don’t want the drama.’”
The restaurateur teased that Salley and Taylor’s feud goes back even before Taylor started seeing Gaston. Leva recalled Taylor coming to an event at Republic when she was dating “another guy that Salley now dates.”
At the time, Leva told Taylor, “I was like, ‘That guy’s drama.’ She’s like, ‘No, he seems so nice.’ And then Salley walks in to talk to Joe and Taylor comes up to me and she’s like, ‘Do you know that girl slept with Shep [Rose]?’ And I was like, ‘Joe’s girlfriend?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, she did.’”
Leva explained that there is “so much” between Salley and Taylor, dating back to Salley sleeping with Taylor’s now-ex boyfriend, Shep. (Taylor and Shep, 44, split in summer 2022 after two years.)
Southern Charm fans will learn more about Salley’s new man — the one that Taylor hung out with first — this season. “They’re just tradesies,” Leva said with a laugh, noting that Salley and Taylor’s poor relationship was “inevitable.”
Leva added that although she was “skeptical” of Gaston dating Taylor due to his past as a ladies’ man, she confessed, “I haven’t heard anything negative except from Salley who also dated him for a long time.”
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She explained, “I think [Salley] was very into it, more into it than, maybe, he was. And that’s where the strife begins, not where it ends, but that’s where it begins.”
Madison LeCroy exclusively dished to Us about the Taylor and Salley drama as well, saying, “Salley definitely has it out for Taylor.”
She teased earlier this month that the tension comes from Salley “trying to warn Taylor, but Taylor’s not taking it,” seemingly referring to Gaston.
Southern Charm’s Taylor Talks Shep’s Season 10 Romance, BF Gaston’s Debut
Taylor confessed to Us that she does butt heads with Salley this season — but it doesn’t negatively affect her relationship.
“I’d met her just kind of briefly through the crowd,” Taylor recalled earlier this month. “So having someone come in who I don’t really know and is trying to ruffle the feathers of everyone was a bit frustrating.”
She noted that she kept the drama “separate” from her romance with Gaston, who she claimed “understands the dynamic.”
Taylor insisted Salley’s actions were “not an issue between Gaston and I. It was just kind of like that annoying gnat where you’re like, ‘Just get out of here. Stop. Just stop.’”
Southern Charm airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. Season 3 of Southern Hospitality premieres on Bravo Thursday, January 2, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
