Bravo’s Southern Hospitality Season 3 returns this week and it seems to be another exciting season revolving around fun and drama, but at work and outside of it as well.

Prior to the reality series’ season premiere, Blavity’s Shadow and Act talked to OG cast member Bradley Carter about his tenure on the show so far and being a Black man on Bravo.

He also spoke about some of the season’s storylines, including his renewed friendship with Maddi Reese as shown in the premiere and being caught between Joe Bradley and TJ Dinch. He also teases, as best as possible without spoiling, what is really going on with what seems to be the nexus of the season’s drama– more allegations that Will Kulp cheated on Emmy Sharrett.

Lessons from Reality TV: ‘It’s like a pressure cooker‘

For Carter, reality TV has been an intense but rewarding experience. “I’ve learned a lot. A lot of growth, a lot of growth,” he shared. “It’s honestly pretty surreal that it’s been three years. It feels like time has floated by and three years of being actually on Bravo and on TV and then four years of filming it overall. And it’s been a lot. A lot of things have happened—definitely a lot of shifts.”

One of the biggest lessons has been navigating conflict. “It’s forced me to have difficult conversations quicker. I think that’s the number one thing that I’ve learned. And be as open and honest and live your truth as loudly as you possibly can,” Carter explained.

He described how filming accelerates emotional confrontations. “Oftentimes things that happen on the show, it’s like a pressure cooker type situation. Something that might necessarily be drawn out in the outside, not in front of a camera, might take something in four months, it happens in a week. And that brings a lot of emotions to the forefront,” he said.

Carter also noted the challenge of conveying his emotions to viewers. “It makes you exercise your demons, and you have to be vocal about it because there’s no other way of explaining it. Body language is one thing, but that’s not coming across to the viewer. You’re trying to get the viewer to understand where you’re coming from.”

Rebuilding with friendship with Maddi Reese: ‘Time for a clean slate‘

Carter’s feud with Maddi Reese last season was one of the most dramatic storylines, but the pair are working to repair their bond. “I think that me and Maddi have had our beef before,” Carter admitted. “But the thing is, before all of this, before even cameras were coming out, Maddi and I had a great relationship. She was one of my first clients as a personal trainer. She was one of my really close friends. We hung out probably at least four to five times a week, not just at work but outside of work too.”

Their longstanding connection made the fallout particularly painful. “We had a longstanding relationship that just got shattered through lies and deception,” Carter said. “And I’m glad that we were both amicable after the reunion. We’ve had multiple conversations. We were like going into this next summer, I think it’s time for us to move on. Both of us have been hurt, and it’s just time to close that chapter. “She’s no longer dating Trevor. That was a big issue. She’s no longer coming up with things. And then I’m not having clients meeting up with her ex-boyfriend. So it works out that we’re both ready to move on and close that chapter and start with a fresh, clean slate,” Carter explained.

He promised viewers would get to see their renewed connection unfold. “I think you’ll see as a viewer throughout the rest of the summer, our relationship develop and this be something really cool that everyone gets to see it—us becoming friends again.”

Being caught between Joe Bradley and TJ Dinch

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY -- Pictured: (l-r) Bradley Carter, TJ Dinch -- — Photo by: Paul Cheney/Bravo

As a close friend of both Joe Bradley and TJ Dinch, Carter found himself in the middle of their feud, which was shown a bit in the Season 2 reunion and is in full force in the Season 3 premiere.

“I really had a very interesting position. Me, TJ, and Joe have a really tight friendship. Will was gone for law school, so he missed out on a lot of this. And so a lot of things that were happening, the development of that relationship when it tore apart, I felt like I carried a lot of that,” Carter said.

He didn’t shy away from addressing his feelings about Bradley. “I had a lot of resentment towards Joe, honestly, because of some of the things he said to TJ. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘I’m also Joe’s best friend too, and he’s saying this to TJ. He said the same thing. What’s the difference between him saying something on me like that?’ And I didn’t like the way that he handled it.”

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY -- Pictured: (l-r) Bradley Carter, Joe Bradley — Photo by: Paul Cheney/Bravo

Despite the challenges, Carter says that things do get better. “It took some time for everyone to get past it. And I feel like the relationship with Joe has some workings to do, some things to iron out and kind of see how that goes throughout the rest of the season. But it was definitely a very precarious position and a lot of nuance behind that. But in the end, we’re all good now. So it worked out.”

What he can say about the central drama of the season, as evidenced by the trailer: ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire‘

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY -- Pictured: (l-r) Emmy Sharrett, TJ Dinch, Joe Bradley, Bradley Carter — Photo by: Paul Cheney/Bravo

Another major focus of this season is the alleged cheating scandal involving Will Kulp and Emmy Sharrett. Carter shared his candid take. “I think this season… I can’t say too much, but it definitely… moments finally came to a head. And I feel like last year I know for a fact that what was going on wasn’t true. There was a little bit of evidence, but I feel like this season, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Carter questioned how Sharrett handled the situation. “I think at the end of the day, if I had a girlfriend and there were accusations being thrown around about me, I would expect her to do her homework. And I think the problem lies is where Emmy was not willing to do her homework, or at least sit in this and be like, ‘Did this happen?’”

He added, “To my knowledge, and whenever I was in the room around them, I never saw her say or turn to Will and look and be like, ‘Yo, did you do this?’ There was a blind belief in him. And I think that blind belief can be detrimental in a relationship because everyone deserves to be questioned if this many allegations are happening.”

Welcoming new cast members

Season 3 introduces new cast members Molly Moore, Michols Peña, Lake Rucker, and Austin Stephan, all of whom have deep ties to the group. “I think what really made these additions special is that they were already there. They were already a part of what we’ve had going on. They just kind of seamlessly fit in,” Carter said.

He highlighted how natural their inclusion felt. “I think Michols, Lake, and Molly definitely added a lot to our dynamic in a positive way and in a negative way. But you’ll see how that goes on. But it felt organic. And I think that’s the most important part—it didn’t feel like someone [was] cast and then they just showed up. They were there. They’ve been a part of our friendships, they’ve been a part of our friend group. They know what’s going on. They just may have necessarily not been in front of a camera.”

Speaking specifically about Rucker, Carter teased what seems to be a burgeoning relationship in Season 3. He said, “Having her there was definitely fun. And specifically speaking to Lake, having her there was a lot of fun having her mix into the dynamic. And we had a fun summer—I’ll put it like that.”

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY -- Pictured: Lake Rucker -- — Photo by: Bryan Steffy/Bravo

Breaking Bravo stereotypes

Carter shared what it means to be one of the few Black men in a main cast member role on Bravo and the importance of his role in bringing diversity to reality TV. “Being able to be vulnerable and having tough conversations… filming with my mom, I filmed with my brother this season—hopefully that makes the cut,” Carter said. “There were a lot of moments where it was really cool to be able to showcase that because that’s not necessarily common on Bravo.”

He also highlighted the diversity of the new cast members as well. “Adding Lake and Michols is really dope because it’s an unspoken language [having other people of color on the cast]. It’s cool to be able to talk to each other and see that in other people and have them in the mix,” Carter said.

The diversity of the cast also breaks preconceived notions about Charleston. “Yes, we are in the South. Yes, we’re in Charleston. But that does not mean that everyone here is in Lilly Pulitzer and Vera Bradley. This is not your cardboard cutout situation,” he explained.

Carter also praised the show’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ storylines, noting Peña is gay and Rucker is bisexual.

“It’s great to showcase that everything is normal in our friend group. We don’t see each other as labels—it’s not, ‘This is my gay friend,’ or, ‘This is my bisexual friend.’ These are just my friends, period,” Carter added. “And having a gay story being shown on a show I think is amazing. It’s really cool to see that be portrayed and appreciated because that’s real life. We’re not putting some fictitious storyline out there. We’re putting our lives out there for the world to see, and that’s hard to do. It’s brave, and it’s really cool.”

Southern Hospitality

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