Craig Conover appeared to be in engagement planning mode during the Southern Charm finale — but when the cameras picked back up five months later, he and Paige DeSorbo were over.
“[I’m] 99 percent confident that I’m going to propose this year,” Craig, 36, told Austen Kroll during the Thursday, March 20, episode of the Bravo series, while attending a summer kickoff with their friends.
Craig added, “I think that we’re both very excited about it,” referring to then-girlfriend, Paige, 32, who appeared earlier in the episode.
Five months after the Charleston bash, the cameras returned to the southern city to document Craig and Paige’s split. (Paige announced in December 2024 that they called it quits after three years together.)
“Paige and I had a great Thanksgiving together. Everything was normal at her parents. Our chemistry, like, everything,” Craig told pals Austen, 37, and Shep Rose in a discussion filmed in January. “Then a couple weeks later she called me and was like, ‘We gotta talk.’”
Craig revealed he “knew” in that moment what she was going to say. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’”
The Sewing Down South founder recalled the breakup conversation being “really calm” and one sided. “She was like, ‘I need to find myself.’ She’s like, ‘I have to take control of my life again and we need to break up,’” Craig claimed.
He told Shep, 42, and Austen that the moment Paige ended the relationship “the only people I wanted to tell [were], like, you guys,” especially Austen, who despite their ups and downs, were in a good place in fall 2024.
“The truth is I couldn’t let it get out yet and it was a bummer because I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can tell Austen and him not say something,’” Craig confessed.
Shep wondered, “Were you waiting for her to go public with all this?” to which Craig said the ball was in her court.
“I wasn’t going to f—ing say anything because I didn’t want it to be real,” Craig said, claiming, “She asked me to buy her a ring and I did. I went to New York [and] designed this whole ring.”
Craig alleged “before last summer” he purchased the engagement ring, so when he told Austen during the finale soiree that he wanted to propose in 2024, he already had the jewelry.
“Then she was like, ‘Actually hold off.’ Looking back, maybe that was her starting to panic or freak out,” Craig shared, adding, “It’s tough because I offered to move to New York.”
Craig explained that Paige allegedly “asked me to raise kids in Manhattan” and when he was willing to do that, “She’s like, ‘You will resent me forever if you have to live this life in New York.’”
While Craig hinted that wouldn’t be the case, he said Paige’s mind was made up.
“I just think it’s so rare for a love [like this] to come around. We were best friends. We loved each other. We had a great sex life. We just checked so many boxes,” he said, noting he was constantly asking, “How are we giving this up?”
Craig confessed, “It’s weird to, like, mourn someone that’s still alive.”
Southern Charm’s two-part reunion begins on Bravo Thursday, March 27, at 8 p.m. ET.
