As sweet as the cobblestone streets and pastel houses are, the city of Charleston, South Carolina is full of drama, thanks to Bravo’s Southern Charm. The juicy reality show has now returned for season 8, and we’ll be greeted by familiar faces and new cast members alike.
It’s been over a year and a half since last season’s premiere, which means we have quite a bit to catch up on with the cast (more details on that in a bit!). Since the show wrapped, there’s been an engagement, a couple of new relationships, and friendships that went from solid to on the rocks. Don’t worry, we’ll get to see it all go down (and then some) as season 8 plays out.
Pour yourself a glass of sweet tea (or maybe something a little stronger…) and prepare to see what your favorite Southern socialites are up to in The Palmetto State. Here's everything we know about Southern Charm season 8.
Southern Charm season 8 release date
The first episode of Southern Charm season 8 premiered on Bravo on Thursday, June 23 at 9 pm ET. New episodes will air weekly at the same time in the same place, so the second episode hits Bravo on June 30.
Southern Charm season 8 cast
Craig Conover, Kathryn Dennis, Austen Kroll, Madison LeCroy and Shep Rose have all returned for season 8. Kathryn has a new boo, Chleb Ravenell — although, according to reports and her wiped Instagram photos, the two have since broken up. Leva Bonaparte, Venita Aspen, Taylor Ann Green (Shep’s girlfriend) and John Pringle, who were all new last season, are back as well. The cast is joined by two newbies, Olivia Flowers (Austen’s rumored girlfriend) and Marcie Hobbs (Shep’s younger cousin).
There’s one more person on the cast who is not a returning member from last season, but also isn’t a newbie: Naomie Olindo. She was introduced to Southern Charm in season 3 as Craig’s girlfriend. We last saw her on the Bravo show in season 6. If you’ve been keeping up with the French online fashion line owner, you know that she moved to New York City with her then-boyfriend, Metul Shah, in 2021. Now she’s back in Charleston with her former (and current) castmates.
Southern Charm season 8 plot
Prepare for a web of relationships crossing paths this season. Craig and Naomie are back in the same circle, which might be fine if he wasn’t in a relationship with Paige DeSorbo from Bravo’s Summer House. Paige comes to visit her boyfriend and talks about how “hanging out one-on-one with an ex while you are dating someone is inappropriate.” But maybe Paige does have a reason to worry, because as we see in the trailer, Craig admits that he and Naomie aren’t just exes, they hooked up “recently.”
Shep is still in a relationship with Taylor, and the honeymoon phase might be over because we get a sneak peek at some tears on Taylor’s end. Austen also has a new girl in his life, Olivia, and he could be looking at drama with his ex, Madison, who recently got engaged. It appears that we’ll get a look into Kathryn and Chleb's relationship — and the fights that may have led to their split.
Austen is certainly dealing with friendship drama. In a trailer clip, we see him and Craig getting into a physical altercation, and in another, Shep yells “Austen, you’re a ****ing joke” and “I can’t believe I’m sharing oxygen with you!” We have a sneaky suspicion that the Shep vs. Austen feud has to do with Austen privately talking to Taylor about “just the way he talks to you sometimes.”
Of course, what would Southern Charm be without a couple of dinner parties at Patricia Altschul’s home? Sadly, we won’t get to see Michael the Butler whipping up her signature martini this season, because he suffered a spinal cord stroke earlier in 2021. We will, however, be seeing her son, Whitney Sudler-Smith on the show.
Southern Charm season 8 trailer
There are two things we know for certain about the cast of Southern Charm. For one, they know how to dress in classy, glamorous clothing for fancy events. And two, they know how to put any Southern manners they have aside to bring us some entertaining television.
Birds of a feather…watch #SouthernCharm together! Check out the new trailer for all the drama coming in ONE MONTH! pic.twitter.com/xk2TPL2vt6May 23, 2022
What happened in episode one?
Episode one made one thing clear: a lot has changed in Charleston. Naomie Olindo revealed that she'd hooked up with her ex, Craig, when they met in Las Vegas whilst on separate trips.
A major rift had also opened up between Craig, Shep and Austen, as Shep felt Craig wasn't putting enough effort into their friendship anymore.
Kathryn also marked her 30th birthday with a Gatsby-themed party, one which was interrupted by Kathryn's bust-up with Naomie over what Naomie had posted on Instagram ahead of the event.
Craig, Shep and Austen also sat down at the party to chat about what went on, and Craig aired his own grievances and resolving that they should talk more at a later date.
