Too much, too soon? Southern Charm‘s Leva Bonaparte thinks her costar Austen Kroll may have rushed into a relationship with newcomer Olivia Flowers.
“They actually met at [Olivia’s and my] birthday and he rolled up in her DMs,” the restaurant owner revealed. “I think I posted a picture of her because she was coming back to town. He was like, ‘Who is your friend?’ and I was like, ‘Austen, you need therapy right now. You need to date nobody, including my friend. You need to figure your stuff out.”
Kroll was known for his tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with Madison LeCroy, as the ups and downs of their love life played out on the show. The pair began dating in 2018 and Kroll confirmed to Us Weekly exclusively in December 2020 that he and LeCroy had called it quits for good.
After the Kings Calling Brewing founder mingled with his Summer House and Winter House costars Ciara Miller and Lindsay Hubbard, he confirmed with Us on May 16 that Olivia was his official girlfriend.
Bonaparte noted that Flowers, who was also added to the Southern Charm cast for season 8, is going to “set the bar” for Kroll in terms of meaningful relationships. “This is a good girl. This is a nice girl,” the restaurant owner stated. “So don’t go in, like, messy and broken and weird.”
The mom-of-two revealed that in addition to moving on with a new girlfriend, Kroll was “kind of chill” about his ex LeCroy’s engagement to Brett Randle in October 2021 — albeit a little “shocked.”
“I think everyone was shocked,” she shared. “But then I think [Kroll] was kind of graceful about it. He was like, ‘I wish her the best.’ And he said to me, ‘She has a son and I just want them to be happy, you know?’”
Therapy or not, things seem to be going well for Kroll and his new lady. “I’m just so excited for people to meet her,” the North Carolina native told Us at the NBCUniversal upfront presentation while promoting the new season. “She truly, in my opinion, brings the charming back to our show.”
The pair were first linked in late 2021 after they appeared on cast mate Taylor Ann Green’s social media profile in December. At the time, the group, which also included Green’s beau, Southern Charm OG Shep Rose, were filming season 8 of the reality series.
Kroll gushed more about his new leading lady to Us, adding, “She is the exact type of person that we should have around, like, we want to be around her. So it was so exciting [to have her on board].”
