Andy Cohen gathers the Charleston Charmers for an emotional, two-part reunion for season 8 of 'Southern Charm.'
Ba ba do... tune in for this one! Southern Charm season 8 comes to a close with an explosive and emotional reunion -- and ET has your exclusive first look at the two-part sit-down special.
Andy Cohen gathers most of the cast in New York -- Venita Aspen, Madison LeCroy, Shep Rose, Olivia Flowers, Craig Conover, Naomie Olindo, Austen Kroll, Taylor Ann Green, Kathryn Dennis and Leva Bonaparte -- to unpack the season that was and, hopefully, set the stage for season 9. As Austen's quick to note in the trailer, the guys are outnumbered "seven to three," with some of their co-stars not even present for the taping. Most notably, Kathryn's ex, Chleb Ravenell, Whitney Sudler-Smith and Shep's cousin, Marcie Hobbs, are MIA.
Things start off lighthearted enough, with Craig ripping his pants and Andy digging into the possibly homoerotic undertones of the Sewing Down South founder's bromance with Austen, as he catches the Kings Calling Brewing Co. creator attempting to grab a glimpse at the hole in a commando Craig's crotch.
"Why do you want to see Craig's dick?" Andy ponders, which leads Craig to jokingly ask the Watch What Happens Live MC if he’ll help them “explore our love." Andy offers back an enthusiastic, “Yes! I would love to facilitate that.”
The conversation then opens up to the incestuous relationships that permeate this group, the chat shifting in tone after Madison makes a poorly received comment (and seemingly, a joke) about Olivia once hooking up with a former cast member/the father of Kathryn's children, Thomas Ravenel.
“Did you just pull that out of your fake a** or what?!" the newcomer exclaims.
“No, the a** is actually real," Madison fires back. Watch it all play out here:
From there, the reunion turns into a dramatic spiral through the more insidious issues of this crew. Andy pokes at whether exes Craig and Naomie are still in love, while Madison flings out a few "f**k yous," two of which are directed at Venita and Leva. The latter of the two then faces her feud with Craig, which came to a head at the yet-to-air finale. Soon after, Leva finds herself in Kathryn's crosshairs after attempting to mediate an argument between Kat and Naomie.
The emotional roller coaster reaches its crescendo, though, when Shep and Taylor take the proverbial hot seat and address their breakup. The feelings are obviously still very fresh, with Taylor bursting into tears and unleashing on her ex, calling him out for "f**king another person in Texas" soon after their split, confronting him for being unfaithful.
"It's been two months since we've broken up!" she cries. "He's f**ked -- allegedly -- over 300 whores! I was the whore that stuck around for long enough."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Shep tells Taylor, who goes on to confess she's so heated because she still "f**king loves" Shep, a sentiment he actually returns. The sweet exchange is undercut, though, when Madison adds in her two cents, suggesting they won't ever work out because one's an atheist (Shep) while the other's a "bible beater" (Taylor).
"It went so much farther than what I knew," Leva tells ET of the reunion's revelations. "There was like a lot of crying at the reunion. There's a lot of-- I think this might be one of those reunions where it's less screaming and it's more, like, really raw emotion."
"Despite what people think -- I think people think that the cast is bigger [this season] and it's not real friendships and I'm like, no no, no -- this is really real, which is also why people are tip-toeing around feelings," she continues, "because we really care that much. It's not for the camera, you know what I mean? ... It's kind of the opposite, I think, of what people are thinking. People are protecting their friends and their partners, or whatever, so it was a tough season and a lot happened. A lot happened at the reunion, it was very raw."
Southern Charm's season 8 reunion kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo, with part 2 airing the following Thursday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. The finale debuts this Thursday night at the 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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