Kristin Cavallari was never meant to be a part of the Bravo Cinematic Universe.
And yet, she continues to be a fixture on season six of Summer House despite never having set foot in the Hamptons house inhabited by cast members including Kyle Cooke, Lindsay Hubbard, Paige DeSorbo and, on occasion, Southern Charm's Craig Conover and Austen Kroll, who Kristin befriended in late 2020.
Kristen, Craig and Austen have been subject to romantic speculation ever since, and while Kristin has staunchly denied any rumors in the past, they've since resurfaced on Summer House—something Craig exclusively told E! News he never wanted to happen.
"We had a great relationship and I thought it was really, really unfair that she was thrown into a show that she's not on," Craig said of Kristin, explaining that he was particularly upset with Lindsay for being the one to mention her on camera. "Lindsay did it for TV. Everyone in our lives knew about that."
It's still not explicitly clear what exactly happened between Kristin and Craig, but whatever it was became a point of contention on the Jan. 30 episode of Summer House. Craig and Paige were in the early stages of forming a relationship, and while they weren't exclusive at that point, Paige was upset to learn from Lindsay that he may have been hooking up with Kristin.
"It's one thing to be on that show and be fair game yourself," Craig said, "but to bring outside people and do it, I think, was just unfair. I felt terrible for her."
Lindsay, who also stars alongside Craig on Winter House, is "not in my life anymore," he said. "Not based off that, I don't hold a lot of grudges," but because he's "really happy in the place that I'm in and I really like to lift people up, so I'm never gonna actively go after someone or try to tear them down."
"It comes to a point where you have to cut people out of your life," Craig added.
His relationship with Paige, on the other hand, is doing great in spite of the drama currently playing out on Summer House (which was filmed last year). "We openly dated around until it just got to the point where, you know, you like one person so much that you don't want to do that anymore," Craig told E! News. The couple is now "having a lot of fun and spending more time with each other," he added, "and just happy."
And while Craig does expect their on-screen relationship to be relatively drama-free for the rest of Summer House season six, he's even more excited for Southern Charm to return. Paige is on the show "a decent amount," he said, and "it was neat for her to come and see why Austen and I are as crazy as we are when we film other shows."
In the meantime, Craig is keeping busy with his Sewing Down South business and promoting his memoir, PILLOW TALK: What's Wrong With My Sewing?.
"We only film for a couple of months a year," the author said of Southern Charm, "and we love everything about the show, but I started to notice early on that when I was out and meeting people in person that we had a lot to talk about, and I feel like I really connect to people, almost even better in person than I did with just them watching me on that show. And so this is kind of my way of becoming more intimate with viewers and people that are curious about my story."
Stay tuned for more on Craig's upcoming book. PILLOW TALK: What's Wrong With My Sewing? hits shelves March 29.
Scroll down for a complete timeline of the Kristin-Craig-Paige love triangle.
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Pillow Talk: What's Wrong with My Sewing? by Craig Conover
To learn more about Craig's life, check out his memoir for behind-the-scenes scoop on Southern Charm.