It turns out Charleston's good ol' boys aren't so good after all—at least, they weren't for much of Southern Charm's upcoming eighth season.
Craig Conover and Shep Rose owned up to their self-described bad behavior in a joint interview with E! News, admitting that they both have regrets looking back at the past year or so, some of which can be attributed to their animosity for one another (and co-star Austen Kroll).
The trailer for the new season certainly hints at this, showing everything from Craig putting Austen in a headlock and telling him to apologize to Shep calling Austen a "f--king joke." However, it's not certain what exactly went wrong with the once-close trio.
Until now, that is. For a deep dive on the drama—as well as an update on where their friendship currently stands—read on to hear from Shep and Craig themselves as part of E! News' exclusive Q&A.
E! News: Have either of you watched any of the episodes yet?
Craig Conover: I tried but I turned it off.
E!: Like, during the first episode?
CC: Yeah.
Shep Rose: I watched it, the first.
E!: Right off the bat, there's some tension between you guys. Where did that come from?
SR: Well, I think maybe we all sort of needed to reconcile, because Craig had been gone a lot and I felt like we had grown apart and I wasn't all that happy about it. And I think Austen and Craig had a lot of stuff that was building between them over Summer House and Winter House. So I hate to say it, but Austen and I sort of ganged up on Craig. But it worked, because here we are.
CC: Yeah, I mean we—Shep and I—have always had ebbs and flows. And I went on and I isolated myself and just tried to really take any distractions away, and unfortunately, seeing these guys was a casualty of that. So I think you get to see us trying to figure out how to be friends again this season.
E!: So you're on better terms now?
SR: Yeah, really good terms. Austen took Craig to a Phish concert in New York. First one!
E!: I was going to ask how you and Austen are, Craig.
CC: We're good. You'll get to see us work through some stuff. Austen and I just brushed everything under the rug and we've spent a lot of time together, so there was like two years of just s--t that we were both upset at each other with and we finally kind of hashed it out.
SR: Let the cat out of the bag.
E!: Austen talks quite a bit about you and Naomie [Olindo] hooking up, Craig.
CC: I think Austen was trying to talk about anyone but himself. That was the tactic.
SR: Austen feels like, and maybe rightly so, that his relationship with Madison [LeCroy] was a major talking point. But I mean, he made the bed, you gotta lie in it. But then I think he was happy to be unfettered this season and he was stirring the pot from afar and was kind of having fun.
CC: I mean, he took it personally that I hadn't told him about seeing Naomie. I don't know if he figures it out or not, but what he didn't understand is that was a consequence of him constantly betraying my trust.
SR: The giant therapy session that is Southern Charm.
E!: Do you have any regrets looking back at the past year or so that will be on the show?
SR: Yes.
CC: Yeah. You'll hear me and Shep yell a lot.
SR: Yeah, we're doing damage control here. I mean, we just lose our cool a couple times and it all has to do with booze—which isn't the scapegoat, but that's what we struggle with, or what I struggle with. I get very passionate and worked up sometimes and it just comes out the wrong way.
CC: And for me, I'd spent months really tailoring who was in my day-to-day life. And that's the only reason I was able to get to where I'm at now. Then all of a sudden, you're moving back to Charleston or spending more time back, and you're around your exes and all of these kind of negative things. It just wasn't the healthiest thing for me and I think that's why I was so frustrated the whole time.
SR: We are gonna have our bad moments. I mean, I think you see in the trailer.
CC: Yeah, I'm learning how to talk to people better when I'm frustrated, but it hadn't happened yet for the show.
SR: And furthermore, we don't have a show unless we kind of bring some things to the forefront that maybe you wouldn't know.
CC: Exactly, we handled everything perfectly civil.
SR: Yeah, no punches were thrown.
CC: Well, there was one physical incident, wrestling like little kids.
E!: On a more positive note, what are you most excited for fans to see this season?
CC: For me, the store. No one's really seen Sewing Down South, it hadn't really been on TV yet because a lot of it happened in the last few years. I think you got to see my beginning stages where I couldn't get out of my own way and I was stuck in my dining room, and now you really get to see the business.
SR: For me, it's a relationship, or romance, so to speak, that I cannot wait for the audience to see. And for me to see personally. Surely that's going to be pretty interesting, sort of bombshell-ish. So get ready!
Southern Charm season 8 premieres Thursday, June 23 at 9 p.m. on Bravo. Catch up with past seasons on Peacock.
(E!, Bravo and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)