Craig Conover finally revealed just how hard he fell for costar Charley Manley after his romance with ex-girlfriend Paige DeSorbo.
“I think we were a lot closer than anyone knew. We’d FaceTime for hours every night. We would talk for hours a day, every day,” Craig, 37, told Salley Carson about his relationship with Charley, 28, during the Wednesday, March 11, Southern Charm season 11 finale.
“She was supposed to come with me and my brother and sister-in-law to France,” he continued. “We had big plans.”
Despite Craig’s strong feelings for Charley, she iced the entrepreneur out throughout the finale episode after she got the ick during their cast trip to Mexico earlier that week.
“I feel like whenever you have an argument — I wish it didn’t turn into a confrontation,” Charley told Craig during the group’s Carolina Day party after actively avoiding him.
Charley noted that it was “upsetting” to watch Craig go off on Salley, 31, in Mexico, for allegedly meddling in his life and their romantic relationship.
“Everyone has bad nights and Salley got into my head,” Craig said before apologizing. “It was awful. I would take it made in a f***ing heartbeat but I can’t.”
Charley explained that she wasn’t “denying” that she and Craig had a “great time” during their brief courtship, but things changed when she watched him yell at her friend.
“I’m saying before I was seriously interested in you. My switch flipped in Mexico. I only see us as friends now,” she confessed.
Craig was defeated, telling the cameras, “I let my guard down with Charley. This isn’t a rebound or something that I’m distracting myself with. So, for it to all be erased in one bad night just sucks.”
When speaking with Charley, Craig admitted that their time together gave him hope he’d find love again after his and Paige’s split. (Paige, 33, and Craig dated three years before she broke up with him after Thanksgiving in 2024.)
“I had a big enough crush on you, I would’ve picked you over my ex,” he claimed. “I didn’t think I would have felt that again.”
Charley was visibly surprised by Craig’s confession, telling him, “I didn’t know that.”
“We never got there,” Craig responded, noting they were growing towards something. “We had a lot of fun.”
Charley insisted, “I’m not going anywhere, friendship wise.” Craig, however, claimed, “We’re never going to be just friends.”
Charley ended the conversation by saying, “We can try.”
Throughout season 11 of Southern Charm, fans watched as Craig tried to navigate his newly-single status. The season was Craig’s first since he and Paige parted (the season was filmed in 2025.)
In addition to trying to woo Charley by taking her on an oyster date and flirting at her place of work, Craig had hot tub hangouts with costar Salley. (Newbie Whitner Slagsvol also took a “shot” at romancing Charley, but was friendzoned. Shep Rose hit on Charley as well during filming, but she was not interested.)
Craig ultimately picked Charley to pursue, but according to the season 11 reunion trailer, which dropped on Wednesday, they had different interpretations of their time together.
Craig claimed in the reunion preview that Charley “promised she wasn’t talking to anyone else the whole time we were together,” despite Salley’s claiming she was in contact with other men.
Charley alleged, “I did not” say that, telling Craig they only went out on “two dates.” Craig was upset, claiming, “I was strung on.”
Part 1 of the Southern Charm reunion airs on Bravo Wednesday, March 18, at 8 p.m. ET.
