‘Southern Charm’ Star Craig Conover Confirms That Naomie Olindo And Whitney Sudler-Smith’s Hookup Wasn’t Just A Showmance

Southern Charm fans were treated to a delicious surprise when it was revealed on last week’s episode that Naomie Olindo and Whitney Sudler-Smith were hooking up on the down-low. While some skeptical fans thought this jaw-dropping revelation was all for the cameras — “fake storyline,” they tweeted — Decider went straight to one of the sources to find out. During a Zoom conversation with Craig Conover earlier this week, Naomie’s ex revealed that he actually had heard about the fling well before the group’s trip to Auldbrass, and that it was by no means a showmance.

“It wasn’t manufactured, it was a real thing,” Conover told Decider. “I don’t think either of them would do something that crazy for for for TV.”

“There were rumors around town,” Conover explained. “People started to see [Naomie and Whitney] at coffee shops in the morning. And obviously Charleston is a very small town. My business partners actually had spotted them together, and a couple other people, too. So the rumors had been going around.”

So when did Craig first get confirmation that his ex was hooking up with one of his friends? “It came up at the dog wedding, actually,” Conover admitted. “But I guess [Bravo] cut it out. I’m not sure if they’ll explain how the relationship started on this week’s episode; I don’t know what direction they’re going. I think you’ll get to see more of their relationship coming up, at least I hope so. You know, there’s one scene I know, that was filmed that will make me watch the show.”

[Editor’s Note: Craig famously doesn’t watch Southern Charm episodes when they air on TV, so this has got to be juicy!]

And did this hookup harm the friendship and/or the working relationship between Craig and Whitney, who is one of the show’s executive producers? “I tell people this a lot, [Whitney] is one of my favorite people in the world,” Conover said. “He really is just absolutely absurd and fascinating. I just remember thinking ‘God, this is gonna be good TV.'”

“Once I made my decision to not pursue Naomie anymore, regardless of my opinion about any code, I’m entitled to zero opinion to what she does,” Conover continued. “So the Whitney Naomie thing is their own business.”

Read the rest of Decider’s juicy Queue And A interview with Craig Conover tomorrow, and be sure to tune-in to a new episode of Southern Charm on Bravo this Thursday night at 9pm ET.