‘Southern Charm’ Stars Madison LeCroy and Venita Aspen Dish On All Of The Season 8 Drama

Southern Charm Season 8 is off to a rip-roaring start, with battles brewing between Kathryn Dennis and Naomie Olindo, Kathryn and her (now ex-) boyfriend Chleb Ravenell, and even some non-Kathryn related skirmishes. Two people who have (mostly!) stayed out of the fray so far are Madison LeCroy, who was on the receiving end of a “villain” cut in SoCharm Season 7, and Venita Aspen, who viewers will recognize from past seasons but is now an official cast member. These two have an off-camera friendship that dates back over a decade, and recently made the trek to Decider HQ for a spirited conversation about last season’s disastrous reunion, the current state of Madison’s relationship with Austen Kroll, Venita’s lovely mother, and the “toxic” relationship between Naomie and her ex-Craig Conover.

DECIDER: Let’s start where the last season of Southern Charm left off — that borderline disastrous reunion. Madison, did you have any sense of what was going to happen that day? I mean, you did do laminating in advance, so you knew a little bit about where it might go…

MADISON: I still have PTSD from that. I’m working my way to get the courage to even show up this year, but I think I can do it. Walking into reunions, you don’t know what’s going to be asked or really how the other castmates are going to react, so you just kind of wing it. I feel like I bit my tongue a little more than I would’ve liked, because my head was…I felt like I could’ve seen my heart beating out of my chest.

Well, you were on the end of some particularly vicious attacks. Even Andy Cohen told Craig to “Calm down, dude.” [laughs] How did that affect you in the moment, and then in the days and weeks after it aired on TV? 

MADISON: You know, I will say Andy having my back on that was really what I needed. I think it was just going back and listening to Craig say, “My job is to make sure that she walks out of here crying,” and I say, “Well, damn. He really doesn’t know me does he? Cause it’s going to take more than that to get me crying.” But it was vicious. I’m just glad the last time we hung out, he wasn’t drinking bourbon.

Venita, did you watch the reunion last season? Did you have any apprehension about joining this crazy circus? 

VENITA: Yeah I did. Yeah, I was like, if Craig could just attack Madison like that and have no remorse, there is no way I’m going to be able to be in this group of people [laughs]. ‘Cause you know, I thought they were thick as thieves, but the joke was on me for thinking that.

So, I’m curious when did you two first meet? In one of the recent episodes, you two were enjoying some champagne and some deviled eggs together, but can you tell me a little about how your friendship got started? 

VENITA: Uh, I met Madison..Jesus, I think that might have been like season two or three of Southern Charm, cause you did my hair and makeup for a fashion show that was happening at the Gadsden House.

MADISON: Yeah, we both were like,  very fresh on like, everything that we were doing.

VENITA: Everything.

MADISON: I mean, what was it like, 2012?

VENITA: Longer than that.

MADISON: 2010.

VENITA: Yeah.

MADISON: So it was like a long..a long time. So, I got Venita ready for a photoshoot, and then we just, you know,..

VENITA: Kind of clicked right after that.

MADISON: Yeah, stayed in touch.

I couldn’t believe Madison that you had to explain what BDE is to Venita. 

VENITA: Hey, listen now I’m a …

MADISON: She knows what BDE is.

VENITA: In the moment, I was a little, you know,..things just sometimes go over the hair, you know. There’s a lot of it, so it takes a while for me to soak it all in.

MADISON: And plus, we had already talked. She knew. [laughs]

Madison, in the first episode of the season, you and Paige really seem to be hitting it off at Kathryn’s “Great Katsby” 30th birthday party. You’ve known Craig for a really long time, also. Could you talk a little bit about how you think his relationship with Paige has affected him?

MADISON: I will say knowing Craig for as long I have that this is probably the best I’ve ever seen him. I feel that he has this, like, level of confidence that I’ve never seen him have before. And I know that it’s probably because he is in a relationship where there is respect, and it’s not toxic. I’m rooting for them. I love it. I love to see it.

And Venita, sort of the same question but on the flipside. I know you’ve been tight with Naomie, I think going back to high school even. Can you talk a little bit about Naomie and Craig’s relationship, and how she is sort of now that she’s on the other side of that breakup, as well as her breakup with Metul? 

VENITA: I think Naomie and Craig’s relationship was like that builder relationship, you know, the one before you find the person you’re supposed to be with. And they like, pull you through the wringer and they like, make you feel like you’re worthless. That was that relationship. And I’m very happy that they’re past it, and I think that for Naomie, that was her situation with Metul. Like she was head over heels for this boy that really didn’t give her the time or day or respect her and it was really sad. But, I think she’s doing much better now that she’s out of that and you know, doing her own thing and like, taking it one day at a time.

MADISON: I would’ve dumped him after he told me I couldn’t eat a Rice Krispie treat.

VENITA: Eat a cookie. [Madison overlaps: Bye, you’re out of here.] No, he said that she couldn’t eat a cookie. Like, what are you doing?! Like, why can’t the girl eat a cookie?

MADISON: Yeah, poor thing.

Venita, early on this season, you and Olivia get into a little bit of a tussle, and then pretty quickly you came back and you apologized. Can you break down a little bit about what that moment meant to you and how you were processing that in the moment? 

VENITA: In the moment, it was more so that I couldn’t really understand why she was coming to someone’s defense when they weren’t there and kind of just choosing a side. I had to take a moment and step back and be like, okay like I’ve done that before, and I would want someone to apologize to me after something like that has happened. So, I took it upon myself to be the only person in that moment to just apologize to her and let her know that I heard her, but I also wanted to get my point across but it shouldn’t have come across the way that it did.

Venita, it’s interesting cause you’ve been on the show for a number of seasons, and particularly heavily in Season 7, but this is the first season where you’re a fully fledged cast member. What sort of pressures does that bring, and what was your mindset going into filming?

I wanted to be as much as myself as I could stepping into it, and I think I’m doing a pretty decent job [laughs] at that. But the pressure is definitely there, because, you know, the girls don’t really like me so..

MADISON: You can blame me for that.

VENITA: Right. [laughs}

MADISON: But..I was kidding, like what hell? [laughs]

VENITA: No, that’s what they do. They always say, “Well, you hang out with Madison, so we don’t like you.” And I’m like “Oh, so I can’t be my own person?” Got it.

MADISON: What’s so funny is they’re all so nice to my face and then the second I walk away, it’s like (does chatter box hand movement).

That’s nasty and wrong. Not cool at all.

BOTH: Yeah!

VENITA: But we’re the mean girls? Got it.

MADISON: If only I told them what I thought about them…

Well speaking of mean girls, Madison, what were your first impressions of meeting Olivia? I’m sure there’s more fireworks to come…

You know, I know I made a joke on social media with the “homely” comment, but I do think, obviously she’s a very attractive girl. She’s tall, thin, comes from money and that’s exactly what [Austen] said he was looking for. So, I think he’s got himself a sugar mama or maybe her daddy’s money. I don’t know. I think it works out.

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VENITA: Somebody’s money. [laughs]

MADISON: Somebody’s cause we know he doesn’t have any. So, good for him.

You buried the hatchet with Craig, but where are you and Austen right now?

MADISON: Um, well, I haven’t spoken to Austen since like the last filming. I saw…of course, I get sent every interview that they do and talk. I think that he was kind of nice from the last little thing I saw, but I don’t trust him as far as I could throw him. So, no telling.

Venita, one of the things that we, as viewers, are getting to know about you is the incredible relationship you have with your mom.

VENITA: That woman is my soul.

Are we going to get to see any of her on the show at all this year, on camera?

VENITA: Yeah, you actually do get to see my mom which is great. I feel like she is a big pillar of my life and everything that I do, so it would’ve been weird for me to not include her in this portion of my life. So, I’m excited for the audience and the fans to get to know my mom better,

Did she have any trepidation about going on camera for the first time?

VENITA: Have you seen me? No, she loves it. [laughs] She was like, “I need my hair and makeup done. What time are you picking me up? Is there a car?” Like, she eats it up.

MADISON: Yeah, adorable.

Speaking of mothers and mom-type figures, Madison, I know you’ve got a really important relationship with Queen Patricia. What is it about your relationship that she connects so much with you, whereas some of the other female cast members over the years, Patricia has maybe been a little standoffish? With you, she seems to have loved you almost from the jump. 

MADISON: Well, Patricia and I go back about 12 years. I think at this point, we know too much about each other to ever not be friends. I’ll keep it that way as well. But, you know, we are very similar in a lot of ways, and I’m honest and real with Patricia versus a lot of people I think suck up and are intimidated. I’m just her friend and, you know, I’m just honest and we shoot the shit and I love it.

Madison, at this time last year, you were in a crazy whirlwind of all sorts of stuff, covers of People Magazine and US Weekly. Is there anything you would have done differently during that time of your life looking back at it now?

MADISON: I never thought that I would walk into a grocery store and see my face on Star magazine or whatever. But, there they were. And, it was very interesting. But to meet those type of people and be kind of, like, involved in an A-listers world when we’re just a bunch of D-listers? I would say maybe not for me. I was like who, what, what is happening? Like I just never expected any of that.

You’re both A-listers with us.

VENITA: Yeah, I was about to say. D-lister, honey? I’m definitely like B-minus at least…[laughs]

MADISON: You know what I mean.

VENITA: I know what you mean.

MADISON: I’m talking, like, we know what we get paid.

New episodes of Southern Charm air on Bravo at 9pm ET on Thursday nights, and are available to stream on Peacock the following day.