After an argument with Salley Carson during Madison LeCroy’s sleepover party in Southern Charm Season 11, Episode 7, Venita Aspen walked out before the night was over. But that’s not the whole story. On the Southern Charm After Show, Venita shed new light on the scary reason she was forced to exit early.
“For one, I was dying of a f—king kidney infection if you want the truth,” she confessed to producers. “I’ll never forget that night. That was so bad.”
She went on to explain her off-camera medical problems leading up to the night at Madison’s new home. “So, I had been struggling with pain, [with] what I was thinking was my stomach, for probably five days up until that moment. And I did everything under the sun. I got an IV bag. I went to the doctor. I was taking a bunch of medicine.”
Venita shared that she tried to power through her pain, but after she left the party, a producer picked her up.
“At 1 a.m., learned I had a kidney infection,” she told Charley Manley on the After Show. “At 3 a.m., I walked from the hospital to Waffle House right after that, because I deserved a f—king treat.”
Venita later told the others what was happening. “I walk out on Salley, and I’m screaming at her, and I’m like mad at her or whatever, but the first person I call when I realize I have to go to the hospital is Salley,” she admitted.
Molly O’Connell called Venita’s kidney infection a “very valid” reason to leave early: “And her being physically in pain probably made her mentally like, less able to deal with the f—kery of it all.”
Venita Aspen and Salley Carson unpack their recent friendship drama
Salley and Venita’s friendship has been repeatedly tested during Southern Charm Season 11 — and much of it centered around Salley’s romantic interest in Craig Conover. (Viewers will remember that Venita and Craig fell out after she defended Summer House’s Paige DeSorbo after Craig and Paige’s relationship ended.)
“You make it very hard being on your side when you’re on the side of someone I don’t like,” Venita told Salley in Episode 5. But in Episode 6, Salley told Venita she wasn’t going to stop hanging out with Craig, despite Venita’s warnings that he’d break her heart.
However, when Salley took her shot with Craig during the Jan. 14 episode, and confessed she was “catching some feelings,” Craig turned her down by saying, “We’re just friends.”
Later, at Madison’s slumber party, Salley told the girls that Craig friend-zoned her, adding, “He was making me feel like my feelings were insane.”
RELATED: Craig Conover Makes a Surprising Declaration on Salley Carson & Where They Stand Today
But instead of giving sympathy, Venita responded, “I told you. Sorry.”
“I just hate that you had to find out the hard way,” Venita added. “I’m not mad at you.”
Salley replied by telling Venita she had “no reason to be” mad at Salley. Venita called the proclamation “crazy,” then got up and left.
Venita later explained to producers why she was upset: “Salley has dismissed my feelings. She’s chosen a guy over me. She doesn’t hear me when I talk. I can’t even at this point.”
But Salley also shared why she was upset with Venita. “I think Venita is being very immature. And I’m not putting up with Venita’s s—t anymore. I’m not. I can’t,” she confessed.
Salley Carson and Venita Aspen reveal where their friendship stands today
On the After Show, Venita and Salley reflected on their fight after getting some distance from the situation.
“I was like equal parts happy and sad,” Venita recalled of learning of Craig friend-zoning Salley. “It was almost like, ‘Yeah, I won.’ But then it was like, ‘Damn, like my best friend liked him, and like here he goes doing exactly what I thought he would do.’”
For Salley’s part, “it very much felt like [an] ‘I told you so’ moment,” she admitted on the After Show. “I am the kind of girlfriend that will say, ‘You know what? I don’t like your boyfriend.’ But, if s—t does hit the fan, and you do see what’s going on, or you do see him for his true colors, I’m gonna be right f—king there.”
As an example, Salley recalled Venita’s rollercoaster relationship with former Southern Charm-er Jarrett “JT” Thomas that ended with JT visiting Venita’s hotel room after the Season 10 reunion, before blocking her.
“When she saw the true colors of JT, I never once went to her house and said, ‘I told you. I told you so,’” Salley said. “My biggest thing is I expect friends to treat me the way that I treat them. And then I get disappointed, because I don’t get it back. And I feel like that’s what was happening with Venita.”
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Still, Venita defended her motives: “I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t grow up with siblings or around siblings, but I feel like when I make friends, and I’m like really close with them, I just kind of get this big sister like, ‘I wanna protect you from anything that seems bad, even if it’s like…a small thing,’” she told After Show producers. “I also want them to just not go through BS if they don’t have to.”
After everything, Salley admitted she’s a little unsure of where she stands with Venita today. “You’re not gonna be the person that I call to bitch about Craig to, when you’ve made this whole thing about you not wanting me to come to you when I see his true colors,” she said. “I know she’ll always be there, but it’s something that you never want your best friend to say to you.”
Don’t miss Salley, Charley, and Craig revealing what really happened in Craig’s hot tub during an exclusive interview.
