On the season finale of Bravo’s Summer House last night, Paige DeSorbo finally got to address her late 2024 breakup with her fellow Bravo reality star Craig Conover. In a post-Hamptons meetup at new mom Lindsay Hubbard’s Manhattan apartment, DeSorbo told Hubbard and fellow castmate Amanda Batula that she was doing great. “Honestly, I feel bad that I feel good,” she added, casually.
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Over the course of the girl chat, DeSorbo revealed that she initiated the breakup on Thanksgiving weekend after realizing that she couldn’t imagine spending holidays with Conover for the rest of her life. Oof. Then, she got to the gossip: She said Conover told her he had already bought an engagement ring (she assumed he was lying). And she also noted that post-breakup, when she asked Conover to defend her against cheating rumors that had gone viral online, he declined. Rude!
Throughout the last season of Summer House, fans watched as DeSorbo hemmed and hawed about the state of her relationship with Conover, who has starred on Southern Charm, also on Bravo, for the past ten seasons. She didn’t quite break the fourth wall in a mid-season conversation with her castmate Ciara Miller, but DeSorbo alluded to the fact that she was worried fans would side with Conover in the event of a breakup. She also repeatedly expressed her frustration that Conover expected her to move to Charleston, where Southern Charm is filmed, despite the fact that she was the “breadwinner” in the relationship and making more money in New York.
But it didn’t really matter what she said in those last few minutes of the season finale — which were classic Paige: breezy, confessional, and authentic — the fans were already with her, ever since she first announced the breakup on her podcast, Giggly Squad, back in December.
DeSorbo has since become a kind of hero to women in their 30s who are choosing to focus on their careers and their friends instead of marriage and babies. Giggly Squad, her podcast with former Summer House castmate Hannah Berner, has never been more popular (the two just guested on Amy Poehler’s podcast, right in between A-listers Jack Black and Paul Rudd).
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When DeSorbo first announced the breakup in December, she was polite. “Craig and I have decided to no longer be together,” she said. “I love him, I think he loves me. I think we will remain friends. No one did anything. It wasn’t a bad thing. I think we both were just being really mature and saying what we want and what we didn’t want, and I think that’s extremely powerful to be able to voice how you’re feeling in real time and what you want for your future.”
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(On the last seasons of Summer House and Southern Charm, Conover was increasingly vocal about his desire to get married and have children ASAP; DeSorbo was hesitant.)
But as Conover publicly responded in a less than gracious manner — claiming he was “blindsided” by the breakup, declining to refute the cheating rumors — DeSorbo got more candid.
In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live! last month, she confirmed that she was indeed the breadwinner in the relationship (nice!) and also cast doubt on Conover’s version of the breakup. When host Andy Cohen asked what part of Conover’s story she wanted to correct, she said, “I mean, all of it. I loved listening to it because I was like, What a fun story.”
She was also relatively chill about dealing with backlash and moving on. “I’m on reality TV,” she said. “It’s kind of part of the operation, and I would take the hate ten times over if it meant I’m at where I am in my life now, so I’m fine with it.”
Technically, Conover moved on first romantically: He is reportedly dating influencer Natalie Buffett (who sadly is not related to Jimmy Buffett). But DeSorbo’s career and star profile are on the up: Her new book with Berner, How to Giggle, became a New York Times best seller and she landed a Times profile in the “Style” section; she’s making appearances on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and at fashion parties with Anna Wintour; and she continues to rack up brand deals with major partners like Tresemmé and Neutrogena.
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Fans — as well as DeSorbo’s castmates — have applauded her for focusing on her career despite societal pressure to settle down and start a family. Her castmates have also alluded to the fact that Conover was perhaps not the ideal candidate to build a future with, anyway.
When asked who she’d like to see DeSorbo date next on an episode of WWHL, Miller said, “I definitely want to see her with someone who’s like a 180 from Craig. And probably someone who’s a little bit more self-aware and doesn’t lie.”
At the Summer House reunion next week, DeSorbo will likely continue to bury Conover with cold, hard facts and devastating eye rolls. “I wish him well,” she said on WWHL. “But in a Gwyneth Paltrow way.”
