REALITY TV'Southern Charm' Star Craig Conover Admits He's an Alcoholic in Candid Conversation With Austen Kroll: 'I've Never Said It Out Loud'
Craig Conover admitted his addiction to alcohol after Austen Kroll shamed him for not going out anymore.
Craig Conover has revealed the reason he stopped drinking.
In a candid sit-down with pal Austen Kroll on the Thursday, March 6, episode of Southern Charm, the Sewing Down South founder admitted to being an addict when the Trop Hop creator confronted him about the rift in their friendship.
Craig Conover said he can't go out to bars, because if he does, he'll 'drink a bottle of Jäger and do dumb s---.'
Kroll candidly asked Conover to “loosen the reins a little bit” when it came to staying home instead of joining his friends out on the town.
“But I can’t because I don’t have any leash on myself — that’s any addict,” the OG Southern Charm star replied. “I was like, f---, me trying not to be an alcoholic is now affecting my friendship with Austen.”
The pair, both 37, got emotional as Conover said he’s been “in the trenches” while “trying to better” his life.
“And then you were like, ‘Oh, you’re never with me anymore,'” he added as tears fell down his cheeks. “I’m like, ‘Dude, I can’t. I gotta stay on my couch because if I leave my couch, I’m gonna drink a bottle of Jäger and do dumb s---.'”
Craig Conover said he was 'in the trenches' while fighting his alcohol addiction.
Kroll also got teary-eyed and noted he’s never heard Conover say he was an “addict.”
“No, I’ve never said it out loud,” he confessed. “I’m really lucky, dude. I’m lucky I got out of it.”
Conover credited his journey with sobriety to his then-girlfriend, Paige DeSorbo.
“She was right with me this entire time,” he explained. “There’s a reason that me and Paige are so close. I just could not imagine being closer to someone. Like, I’m so lucky that she chose to be like, ‘I see someone there.’ She helped me beat this demon.”
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Craig Conover said ex Paige DeSorbo helped him through his addiction to alcohol before their 2024 split.
The Summer House star and Conover made headlines at the end of 2024 when she revealed they had split on her “Giggly Squad” podcast.
After hearing Conover spill his heart out, Kroll noted the new information “explains a lot,” especially with the business owner’s past struggle with abusing Adderall.
“Craig’s addiction doesn’t excuse him from being an a------,” Kroll said in his confessional. “It doesn’t excuse him from being an angry f------ person.”
“It doesn’t excuse a lot of things, but it is a starting point, and it definitely is not what I expected him to say, and I have to give him grace for finally being as open and vulnerable as he is with me right now,” he added.
'I have to give him grace for finally being open and vulnerable,' Austen Kroll said in his confessional after Craig Conover admitted he was an addict.
The duo — who recently opened a bar called By the Way together — hugged and expressed their love for one another despite their recent conflicts.
“Man, is it freeing just to be transparent,” Conover said in his confessional. “If we would’ve just had this conversation sooner, it would’ve saved us a lot of heartache and grief and frustration.”
Conover previously shared that he no longer drinks liquor but still consumes beer and wine. He later amended his statement, noting he “pretty much stopped drinking” altogether.
