Craig Conover is in his single gardener era, promising Southern Charm fans a taste of his new chapter come next season.
“Season 11’s a monster season. Everyone’s going to be really excited,” Craig, 36, told Interview magazine in a story published on Wednesday, July 23. “I haven’t felt like this in a couple years.”
The reality star teased, “You get to see a lot of new chapters in people’s lives and some fresh faces.”
Craig, who has been part of the series since its 2014 premiere, noted that fans will be “really happy” with what unfolds.
“Austen [Kroll] and I are opening a wedding venue in Charleston, even though we can’t stop fighting with each other all the time,” he said, hinting that their old married-couple-style friendship will be back in full force.
Craig called the new space “slightly more affordable” than other venues, joking, “Maybe I’ll get my officiant’s license.”
In addition to working with Austen, 38, Craig said his friendship with Shep Rose is also intact moving into season 11.
“Shep and I are in a great place, so it’s fun to do it together,” he told the magazine. “It’s a unique way of being vulnerable because the only way you can really be around this long is to really just let people completely in and know you have zero control over their opinions or perspectives, and you just have to be OK with that.”
While Craig’s business ventures have been highlighted on the Bravo series before — like his Sewing Down South store — it’s his gardening that he is most excited to share. (Last season, fans saw Craig and then-girlfriend Paige DeSorbo visit a farm to buy bees, which now have a space in his backyard.)
“I’ve been fascinated with grounding recently. Not just theoretically, but also in real life — just touching grass,” Craig shared. “We’re filming right now, and it’s incredible, but one of the new girls, I tell her, ‘You have to touch grass every once in a while.’”
For Craig, he takes the “touch grass” mantra literally — especially after splitting his time between Charleston and New York while dating Paige, 32. (The pair split following Thanksgiving 2024 after dating three years. Us Weekly confirmed earlier this month that Paige is now dating Joe D’Amelio.)
“I love gardening, and I’m barefoot in my backyard all the time,” Craig said. “I loved my chapters that I got to spend in New York City, but I went a while without touching the ground sometimes.”
The By the Way bar co-owner admitted he’s becoming a “hippie” after really diving into gardening — which has also helped his dating game.
“I think strawberries are really sexy,” Craig said, confessing, “I use my garden to flirt with people [laughs].”
He explained that when the Southern Charm cast started filming season 11 his strawberries were in bloom, and he used it to his advantage.
“If I had a crush on a girl, I would take her into my garden and pick a strawberry for her and have her try it,” Craig revealed. “And then I have blackberries all over my fence line and blueberry bushes by them, so you go and pick some blueberries and blackberries. I think fruit is very sexy.”
Craig, who confirmed in June that he and Natalie Buffett had split after a few months of dating, pointed to the art of growing something as a sexy act.
“If you can grow any type of fruit that you can pick off the plant and eat it right there, I think it’s an incredible way to flirt with someone,” he explained. “There’s something sexy about eating fruit. I don’t know why, but maybe we sexualized it.”
As Craig focuses on his next chapter, he said he’s learned a lot from being one with nature.
“The plants don’t care if you have a messy week. They just want you to show up for them,” he concluded. “I talk to myself enough during the day and now I talk to bees and plants too. The plants don’t judge you.”
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