The Big Picture
- Olivia and Taylor's friendship is officially over after the Southern Charm season 9 reunion.
- Olivia refuses to be friends with Taylor, as she feels betrayed and lied to.
- Both Olivia and Taylor faced personal tragedies during filming, but their friendship couldn't withstand the turmoil.
Southern Charm season 9 came to an end on January 18 with the second part of the reunion on Bravo. Hosted by Andy Cohen, the main cast gathered to recap the season and air out leftover grievances. The biggest storyline of the season was the friendship breakup between Taylor Ann Green and Olivia Flowers. The two women joined the main cast in season 8 while Taylor was dating Shep Rose and Olivia had a short relationship with Austen Kroll. After both relationships ended, Oliva and Taylor became closer than ever. Things soured after it was revealed that Taylor and Austen hooked up. Despite Taylor's best efforts to mend her friendship with Olivia, the two ended the season more distant than ever.
Taylor and Austen's hookup happened before filming and the two tried to sweep it under the rug until new cast member JT Thomas called Austen out for it in front of Shep. Even after being directly questioned about it by both Olivia and Shep, Taylor and Austen continued to deny the allegations, lying to their friends' faces. Eventually, the two admitted to having made out, but denied doing more. Hurt by the lies and betrayal, Olivia and Shep have to decide how to proceed with their friendship.
Southern Charm
TV-14Reality-TVA look at five families living in a protected Southern California enclave, and the real-life housewives who reside in one of the wealthiest planned communities in the country.
Release Date March 3, 2014 Creator Bryan Kestner, Whitney Smith Cast Craig Conover , Shep Rose , Kathryn Dennis , Austen Kroll Main Genre Reality-TV Seasons 9Olivia Has Made It Clear She Is Not Taylor's Friend
Any hope that the two would mend fences after filming was squashed after the reunion. Both ladies wore red dresses, but that was about the only thing they were on the same page about. Taylor shared that she almost didn't get on the plane to attend the reunion, but ultimately decided to in hopes of fixing her friendship with Olivia. Throughout the reunion, Taylor remained soft-spoken, fairly quiet, and somber. It was easy to feel her pain through the screen. Olivia, on the other hand, was quick to speak up, express her anger through facial expressions, and appeared to still struggle to be in the same room as Taylor.
When it became clear things wouldn't be resolved during the reunion, Taylor expressed hope that their friendship would reconvene in the future. Olivia's final words about their relationship were, "I will not be friends with you."
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Although Olivia has no desire to have Taylor in her life, she's kept her ex, Austen, nearby. The two have an up-and-down friendship that fans can't quite wrap their heads around. During the reunion, Olivia shared that she was dating a man named Alex from Dallas. Olivia's current beau met Austen when the three went on vacation together with a group of mutual friends. Alex and Austen became friendly on the trip. Fans have been quick to question Olivia's decision to stay friends with Austen, but not Taylor, despite them both betraying her in the same way. Oliva defended her decision on the reunion, saying that Taylor lied to her face, but Austen stepped up for her when she was vulnerable and broken. Throughout the season, Olivia made it clear that the hardest thing to overcome was being lied to. If Taylor had been honest with Olivia immediately after hooking up with Austen, it's believable to think Olivia could have taken a short break from the friendship before forgiving Taylor and remaining close friends.
Unimaginable Losses Could Have Bonded Olivia and Taylor
There have been tons of breakups on Southern Charm, but what makes this one so painful to watch is that it's a friendship. There's no arguing that romantic relationships don't hurt, but anyone who has suffered a friendship breakup knows that it's a unique pain that can take years to heal. People fight on reality shows all the time, but Oliva and Taylor's friendship transcended the cameras. They were brought together because they were dating men who were close friends, but they developed their own real friendship. Neither of their relationships worked out, and it seemed like the reason they both went through painful romantic relationships was so they could meet and be in each other's lives for the long haul.
The end of their friendship wasn't the only thing they both had to face during the season. Olivia's life was turned sideways after she found out about Taylor's betrayal, but it turned completely upside down when her brother suddenly passed away during filming. Suddenly, the hookup storyline took a backseat and the cast focused on making sure Olivia and her family were supported. Austen stepped up for Olivia, sadly having his own personal experience with losing a sibling. Taylor tried to do the same and invited Olivia to her parents' house in the mountains for a weekend. Olivia went, and the two had a long conversation about their friendship, but when no progress was made, Olivia left feeling like it was the end of their friendship.
What was already a sad ending to a friendship became even more upsetting during the reunion when it was revealed that Taylor's brother passed away after filming. Olivia and Taylor both suffered the loss of their brothers just months apart. Being able to support each other through such a unique and unfathomable loss would have benefited both of them, but given the tumultuous state of their friendship, that didn't happen.
What About the Men in the 'Southern Charm' Friendship Debacle?
Although not as dramatic a split as Oliva and Taylor, Austen and Shep's friendship had some bad moments too. Shep denied being upset about his friend Austen hooking up with his ex, Taylor, but after Craig Conover encouraged Shep to allow himself to be mad, Shep did express frustration with Austen. On his own path to happiness, Shep revealed during the reunion that he's readjusting his relationship with alcohol after blacking out for the entirety of BravoCon. He also admitted to wondering if Taylor was the "one who got away" after Andy asked him if he was still in love with her. Taylor is now dating Gaston Rojas from Southern Hospitality.
Southern Charm season 10 hasn't been officially announced by Bravo yet. Fans can catch up on past seasons of Southern Charm on Bravo and Peacock. Watch on Peacock
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