There is new insight to be gleaned from Craig Conover’s relationship with Paige DeSorbo in Southern Charm, months before the couple’s breakup.
Season 10, Episode 14 picked up after the cast returned to Charleston from their trip to the Bahamas, where Craig and Austen Kroll’s heart-to-heart led to a breakthrough in their fractured friendship. The Sewing Down South creator disabused Austen of the notion that he was too busy with business and image to hang out, elaborating he was strictly focused on living a healthier lifestyle and healing from struggles with alcohol.
The new perspective helped Austen reevaluate their friendship, as Craig explained to Paige over breakfast back on the mainland.
“You know, sometimes, I think me getting better holds a mirror up to Austen, and it makes him extremely uncomfortable,” Craig told the Summer House castmate.
But, as he said in his confessional, it was Paige who once acted as a mirror for Craig.
Craig Conover admits Paige Desorbo almost broke up with him much earlier
Craig confessed to changing his relationship with alcohol when seeing how it affected his girlfriend of three years.
“I got to my bottom when I could just see on Paige’s face, [she] just had this look of, like, I wasn’t the guy she had seen herself marrying, and so, Paige was pretty much done,” he confessed.
Reflecting on the darker times, Craig described his destructive behaviors as “cyclical,” adding he would “take it too far.” For Paige, who admitted to biting her tongue “so many times,” it could have been hard for Craig to recognize a problem since both were raised in a generation when many believed a person needed to be non-functional before admitting they needed help.
Paige saw his self-awareness as “drastically different” compared to one year earlier, and she remained “very proud” of Craig’s decision to abstain — even if it meant a little distance from the friend group.
Craig cites Paige as his reason for changing relationship with alcohol
Craig acknowledged he was “really lucky” to have Paige by his side when finally reaching out for help. Paige was the “why” in his recovery when he had to remind himself of his reasons for choosing a different lifestyle.
“It wasn’t until almost losing Paige, for me, to change my behaviors,” Craig told producers. “Paige was my rock.”
He said as much when the pair continued their morning conversation.
“Well, I’ll always be grateful I didn’t lose you when I hit my bottom,” he told her. “I don’t plan on going back there.”
The exchange signaled a time when things were on the straight and narrow for the couple, months before they parted ways.
