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Southern Charm's Leva Bonaparte Reveals the Real Reason for Her and Craig Conover's Finale Fight

Southern Charm's season eight finale pits Leva Bonaparte and Craig Conover against each other—but why? Hear Leva explain her side of the story in E! News' exclusive interview.

By Allison Crist Sep 28, 2022 2:57 PMTags
Watch: Southern Charm's Leva Teases Hook Ups & Broken Friendships

A Southern Charm showdown is on the horizon.

The trailer for the Bravo series' Sept. 29 season finale teased a blowup between Craig Conover and Leva Bonaparte, and she gave E! News an exclusive sneak peek of what's to come. "I think the finale is a big culmination of a lot of things that the viewer sees—some of it; they don't see all of it," Leva said. "There's just a lot of stuff stewing."

Namely, the tension between Craig and his ex-girlfriend Naomie Olindo. "I've had a friendship with Craig for over a decade," Leva explained. "And Naomie threw my baby shower. I got that close to Naomie when she was dating Craig. It's a very, very true friendship."

Suffice to say, she now "innately gets interwoven" in their drama. However, there's no mistaking which side of the fence she falls on when Craig starts name-calling and yelling at Naomie, which he's done several times this season. 

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Southern Charm Season 8 Reunion Photos

"I don't like to be screamed at and I certainly am not okay when a girlfriend of mine is being screamed at by her ex," Leva said. "I think any girl in that position sort of goes back into a pattern like, 'He's yelling at me. I'm just gonna be quiet and wait for it to go away.' But as a girlfriend, you get protective because you've been there for all of it."

And while she wanted to give Craig—who she said was "managing a lot of emotions" at the time—the benefit of the doubt, she had reached a breaking point by the time the group was filming the finale during his Sewing Down South holiday party. As Leva put it, "I was just like, 'I ain't your girlfriend. I don't know who you think you can talk to that way, but it's not me.' I had a little bit of enough at that point."

Stephanie Diani/Bravo

If that sounds dramatic, just wait 'til you hear what she had to say about the reunion. "It will genuinely be the rawest reunion," Leva teased. "Last year there were a lot jaw-dropping moments but this year, it's just a lot of big feelings. There's a lot of hurt and things that need to be mended. We were just all crying. It was a lot of friends that were hurt and partners that are hurt."

That's not to say there weren't a few surprises. Added Leva, "Even I was shocked by things with people that I'm very close friends with." 

Southern Charm airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.) 

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