Friends don’t let friends leave reality shows! Craig Conover plans to try and get Cameran Eubanks to return to Southern Charm following her departure earlier this year.
“I know that she enjoyed doing it with us, you know, me and her and Shep [Rose] had been together since the beginning,” Craig, 31, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, October 23. “So that was tough, but I have a sneaky feeling that I would be able to get her back next year, but we’ll see what happens.”
The Sewing Down South designer said he was “blindsided” and “heartbroken” by Cameran’s exit from the Bravo series.
The real estate agent, 36, announced in May that she wouldn’t be on season 7 of the show, amid rumors that her husband, Jason Wimberly, allegedly had a mistress. Cameran shut down the cheating speculation, saying she decided “months ago” to leave and it had “absolutely nothing to do with ridiculous and fake rumors about my marriage.”
The Real World alum, who married Wimberly in 2014 and shares 2-year-old daughter Palmer with the doctor, got real about life in front of the camera.
“You must protect what is sacred to you. Some things aren’t worth a big paycheck,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “What upsets me the most is that my husband, who is the most sincere and faithful human I know is being falsely dragged into this. It disgusts me.”
Cameran continued: “He always supported me filming the show even though he wanted no part of the spotlight. I can’t get too upset though because this is what you sign up for when you put your life on reality TV … and why I’m getting out of it now.”
Us confirmed the same month that both Naomi Olindo and Chelsea Meissner were also leaving the show, which wasn’t surprising to Craig.
“You know, things move on. Naomi and Chelsea, love him to death, but you know, their time on the show is just over,” he told Us. “In order to do this, you have to be completely transparent and it’s the only way it works. And it’s a choice for everyone to make.”
He said that Chelsea, 35, “wasn’t going to open up her life” to viewers any more than she already had so “she didn’t bring anything to the show” at this point.
The Delaware native also commented on his ex-girlfriend Naomi’s exit, saying she “has her plate full with stuff” and noted that she too “wasn’t going to share with everyone.”
Craig pointed out that he’s “happy” for the two women now that they’re “moving on with their lives” but revealed that he doesn’t think it “hurt” the show.
When it comes to the reasoning behind Cameran’s step back, Craig again said he was “blindsided” by the quick change and by the rumors that Kathryn Dennis allegedly brought to light about Cameran’s husband.
“Yeah. I mean, you know, up until a day before filming, she was going to be filming with me and then all of a sudden she wasn’t, so I don’t know what happened, but something happened,” Craig said.
He explained that Cameran “loves” doing the show “so something happened and then she didn’t feel [it]” and wasn’t on set.
“Then, you know, Kathryn dropped that bomb on me, that was the craziest feeling that I’ve ever had on the show and maybe in life. I mean, it felt like I got punched in the stomach,” he said of the cheating allegations. “There was just so much to unpack when she said that to me.”
Southern Charm season 7 premieres on Bravo Thursday, October 29, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
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