Venita Aspen suggested JT Thomas “played” her on Southern Charm, revealed why she split with ex-boyfriend Manny, and shared insight into Craig Conover’s drama with Austen Kroll and Shep Rose on the new season.
In a season 10 trailer, Austen and Shep hinted at issues with their friend Craig, who recently stopped drinking as much amid his success in his pillow business.
The trailer also revealed an intense scene in which JT confessed his attraction to Venita and asked if she felt the same. She nodded her head in response. Other clips have suggested that their romance grows. But leading up to the season premiere, JT announced he was resigning from the show.
Speaking to ET, Venita shared that JT’s declaration of love was “real.”
“It’s not misleading,” she said. “That was JT really letting me know that he had feelings for me … the tension is high this season.”
Though their transition from friendship to romance was a “natural occurrence,” she was “a little shocked” when he made his “straightforward” declaration.
Venita then addressed claims from several other women, which came after the trailer dropped, that they were seeing JT around the time of his declaration. Later, JT seemingly hard-launched a relationship with a woman, calling the situation “complicated.”
“That was a lot,” recalled Venita. “I don’t think anyone was expecting that at all. And it was kind of like, ‘Ok what the f**k is actually happening?’ And, ‘did I just get played?’ … I think I just got played.”
“He’s kind of gone rogue and silent and he’s not speaking to anyone, [and] has made the sad decision to step away. So hopefully he shows up to the reunion to kind of clear up this mess,” she said. “And if he doesn’t, God rest his soul … It’s easy to resign when nobody wanted you there in the first place. And you only had one person who actually did, and then you lost that.”
According to Venita, JT will have the most to answer for at the reunion. She also cryptically shared that the Bahamas trip was a “red flag.”
The star then addressed her breakup with past boyfriend Manny, hinting that she had to let him go despite her love for him.
“I was with someone that had a dream outside of me, and I felt like asking him to stay back and to split time and to do the life in Charleston was very unfair to him,” she explained. “I had to let what I loved go. And that was not an easy decision … I didn’t want to hold him back.”
She suggested, however, that she shouldn’t have moved on so quickly “to the next man.”
As for Craig, Austen, and Shep’s friendship drama, Venita suggested that Austen and Shep are not growing up “as fast” as Craig, which is “scaring them.”
“Cause Craig doesn’t want to hang out at the bars anymore like they do,” she said.
But Venita claimed fans this season will see Shep as a “loverboy” who’s “steering the ship” of a new romance – unlike his treatment of his ex Taylor last season.
Southern Charm season 10 premieres Thursday, December 5, on Bravo.
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