Salley Carson suspected her BFF Charley Manley was hiding something in Mexico, and when she finally learned that Charley had shared a kiss with Craig Conover, all hell broke loose. Craig and Charley opened up about why they kept their smooch such a secret during the Southern Charm After Show.
“It just wasn’t something that I wanted to share with [Salley], honestly,” Charley admitted. “I was still trying to figure out how I felt about him. And I just knew that everyone in this friend group was going to have an opinion on it, and I just kinda wanted to keep it to myself for a second.”
If you’ll recall, Salley confessed her own romantic feelings for Craig during Southern Charm‘s Jan. 14 episode, but Craig turned her down, saying they were “just friends.” Around the same time, Charley admitted she was catching her own feelings for Craig, but had held back due to her friendship with Salley. Eventually, Craig and Charley went on a date—and they unsuccessfully tried to keep it on the down low.
“That was the tough part,” Craig explained on the After Show. “It made Charley uncomfortable to tell her friends the reality of our situation. And out of respect, I did that too, because I thought eventually, one day, we wouldn’t have to live in secret. She just was always scared to tell Salley.”
Salley Carson clarifies why she was hurt that Charley hid her kiss with Craig Conover
On the After Show, Salley explained why she felt betrayed by Charley during Southern Charm‘s Feb. 25 episode. “When she has like the smallest feelings for someone, or the smallest things happen with guys, I am the person she’s calling or texting,” Salley said. “And then she has a whole f—king makeout with Craig and doesn’t tell me.”
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For her part, Charley explained on the After Show that she was “navigating a new friendship with Salley, where I don’t tell her every single thing about every part of my entire day… No, my feelings for you in this friendship are not changing, but my actions are, because I gotta start acting like an individual.”
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How Salley affected Craig Conover and Charley’s romance
During the After Show, Charley explained how her friendship with Salley impacted her relationship with Craig. “I think that my friendship with Salley, and like the parameters that I’m putting in my mind, is holding me back from ever giving Craig a chance at all. Because I felt like a bad friend,” she shared.
“As much as she doesn’t mean it, her opinions do affect my opinions,” Charley added.
When Charley didn’t open up to Salley about Craig, “that was me trying to kind of like, draw a boundary,” she explained. “I think subconsciously I was feeling like a bad friend for pursuing something with Craig, knowing that Salley had once liked him.”
Don’t miss who Salley and Andy Cohen believe was in the hot seat during the Southern Charm Season 11 reunion filming.
