Craig Conover Opens Up About Alcohol Addiction: 'Paige Helped Me Conquer This Demon'

Craig Conover and Austen Kroll may just be besties again.

In the March 6 episode of Southern Charm, Craig, 36, and Austen, 37, sat down on the beach in the Bahamas and unpacked their fractured friendship.

“I just want you to loosen the reins a little bit,” Austen said to Craig, referring to what he believed to be the Sewing Down South founder cultivating a squeaky-clean image.

Craig didn’t think he could do that “because I don't have any leash on myself,” he told Austen. “That's any addict. I was like f---, me trying not to be an alcoholic is now affecting my friendship with Austen and that’s where I was coming from. You know? Like I have tears in my eyes because it’s real. I was in the trenches in myself trying to better my life and like, then you were like, ‘Oh you’re never with me anymore.’”

Craig went on to explain that he thought he needed to stay home “because if I leave my couch I’m gonna drink a bottle of Jäger and do dumb s---.”

“The word addict, you've never used with me,” Austen replied.

Craig acknowledged that he hadn’t. “No, I’ve never said it out loud..." he said.

Earlier in the cast’s trip to the Bahamas to visit Sienna Evans, who cast member Shep Rose believed to be his girlfriend, Shep got kicked out of the hotel casino due to his excessive drinking and slept on the beach.  

“I should’ve known, maybe the Adderall thing, you were struggling,” Austen said to Craig, referencing the Pillow Talk’s author’s use of the ADHD drug early in his time on Southern Charm. “I am very sorry for not understanding what you were going through. You and Paige [DeSorbo], strong as hell and you’re fine with the distance and you're not sitting at your house and just being alone and like battling, or no?”

Craig said the Summer House star, 32, “was right with me this entire time” while he managed his relationship with alcohol. “There's a reason me and Paige are so close,” Craig continued. “I just could not imagine being closer to someone. Like, I’m so lucky that she chose to be like, I see someone there. She helped me beat this demon. It’s been a struggle and it’s been a fight and I guess I shouldn't have internalized it, but that's what's been going on.”

Paige announced on her Giggly Squad podcast in late December that she and Craig had broken up after three years together. She later clarified that they called it quits over Thanksgiving weekend and Craig described the split as not “mutual” on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. He said it "came out of nowhere."

Austen told Craig in the Mach 6 episode of Southern Charm that his addiction explained “a lot” of his recent behavior.

“Craig’s addiction doesn’t excuse him from being an asshole, it doesn’t excuse him from being an angry f---ing person. It doesn't excuse a lot of things, but it is the starting point and it definitely is not what I expected him to say,” Austen said in a confessional interview. “And I have to give him grace, finally, for being as open and vulnerable with me as he is right now.”

Craig apologized to Austen for not telling him sooner, especially since that led to the Trop Hop beer founder thinking “I just didn't f---ng like you.”

“That’s between us, no one else,” Craig said to Austen. “I was… wasn't in a great spot, dude.”

The Pillows and Beer podcast hosts hugged it out and exchanged “I love yous.” Austen even teared up at the fact that his friendship with Craig seemed to be back on track.

“Man is it freeing to just be transparent,” Craig told the cameras. “If we would've just had this conversation sooner, it would have saved us a lot of heartache and grief and frustration.”

Craig previously told PEOPLE ahead of Southern Charm's season 10 premiere that he "pretty much stopped drinking" in anticipation of starting a family with Paige.

“I talked to my dad and I was like, ‘Well, nothing bad's happening.’ And he's like, "Yeah, you're right. You're not blacking out. You're not drinking in excess like that anymore, but nothing good's happening either. You're living a very stagnant life and it's very repetitive.’ And that was a great point,” Craig said.

The Bravolebrity used the Reframe app that aims to help users build healthier drinking habits to help him stay on track. “I didn't know any better. I was just filling my time," Craig said. "Every activity to me was a drinking activity, and I never knew the world outside of it. That was always my priority, and I've found value in other things. It's been a real blessing.”

Southern Charm airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.