“Southern Charm” star Venita Aspen shared new details about her relationship with former co-star Jarrett “JT” Thomas as well as his sudden exit from the show weeks before the season 10 premiere.
In a January 2025 interview on Access Hollywood’s “Housewives Nightcap,” Aspen confirmed that she was dating Thomas by the time the “Southern Charm” trailer dropped last October. “Yeah,” Aspen said. When asked if she was “ghosted” by Thomas, she replied, “No, he popped up with a girlfriend on Instagram.”
“Like, it was like one day like I was supposed to be going to lunch with his mom and him and, like, hang out. The trailer drops and then you know he… falls off the face of the earth,” she shared.
In October, The “Southern Charm” season 10 trailer teased a possible romance between Thomas and Aspen. In the clip released on October 28, Thomas said to Aspen, “Am I extremely attracted to you? Yes. Are we on the same page?” “Mmm hmm,“ Aspen replied as she took a sip from a wine glass.
But less than two weeks after the trailer dropped, Thomas went Instagram official with a new girlfriend, Ali Pereless. “Long overdue,” he captioned a series of photos with his new woman.
Venita Aspen Said A Small Part of Her Was Open to Hearing JT’s Side
Aspen was dating a musician named Manny during season 9. Following their split, she was excited to spend more time with her good friend Thomas while filming the 10th season of “Southern Charm.”
“I was excited to come in with my best friend JT,” she said on the “Housewives Nightcap” podcast. “So, like, that was fun, you know what I mean? I was like, we became thick as thieves over the summer. And I was just like, ‘Okay like we’re doing it. Like, I’m coming in with JT, I’m coming with Madison [LeCroy], Leva [Bonaparte], like the whole crew like Austen [Kroll]and I are buddy-buddy now.’ So, it’s just like, I was ready and then you know, boom, everything crashed down in front of me.”
Aspen admitted that she hasn’t “spoken to JT since the trailer aired” in late October, so she still doesn’t know exactly what happened with him. She also shared that she is open to a conversation with him.
“I’m doing my best to try not necessarily say too much about the situation…because there’s still, unfortunately, I have a very small, I think it’s about this big maybe size of a mustard seed, I want to hear what he has to say,” she shared. “I don’t want to dig too hard in on him, but, like, I know that there the moment will come where I’ll just be able to like just lash out on him, but I can’t do it yet.”
JT Thomas Quit “Southern Charm’ Right Before the Season 10 Premiere
On November 8, Thomas announced his resignation from “Southern Charm,” The short-term cast member posted a message to Instagram to reveal that he informed Bravo he would not be participating in his remaining confessional interviews and that he no longer wished “to participate in any ways moving forward with the show.”
“I will leave it at that for now while I work on next steps to recover both physically and mentally from what has been an extremely challenging and exhausting year,” Thomas wrote.
Aspen told Entertainment Tonight she hoped Thomas would consider returning for the “Southern Charm” reunion taping. “He has made the sad decision to step away so hopefully he shows up to the reunion to kind of clear up this mess,” she said.
On “Housewives Nightcap,” Aspen suggested that at the very least, Thomas should do a podcast to explain his side of what went down. “I think he was nervous to see how he was going to be portrayed this year and like I think the anxiety got the best of him,” she asaid. “I don’t really know.”
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‘Southern Charm’ Star Confirms She Was Dating Co-Star