Shep Reveals That The 'Southern Charm' Drama Is Only Just Beginning

Shep Rose is one of the gravitational centers of Southern Charm — he’s friendly with everyone, and one just can’t help but be drawn to him. But that doesn’t mean that he wants to be in the middle of everything. In Season 5 of Southern Charm, Shep is staying out of the drama — but even he has his moments in the middle. In an interview with Bustle, Shep says, “I just don’t like hypocrisy and lies. If I see either of those two things, I have to jump in. But if it’s personal and I don’t really know the true story, I would be… it’s hypocritical for me to jump in in and of itself.”

While it’s nice to be a little bit of a moral center, the reason for Shep’s audience status in Season 5 of Southern Charm is because he didn’t care much for being the center of attention last season. “I try to stay out of the fray this season just because last season I was smack-dab in the middle of it all. I didn’t enjoy that, honestly,” he says. “I wish a lot of things had happened differently, and ultimately, you’re in charge of your own actions. Editing is definitely something that can frustrate you, but if you said it, you said it, and if you did it, you did it.”

And among those things that he’d change from Season 4? How he acted with new girl Chelsea, who was already trying to start a relationship with his pal, Austen. Chelsea wasn’t into his advances, and everybody was mad at Shep for his behavior. “I felt bad about that. I tried to explain myself, but it was just kind of hectic, because Cam was trying to get me to get with Chelsea — she was dead set on it. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Austen, they were sort of one foot in, one foot out, and I didn’t know that he took her to meet his parents,” Shep says. “I was learning a lot of things about their relationship while watching the show. I wish I knew some of those things looking back, but what I did, I was like a little spoiled brat. I saw something bright and shiny and wanted a toy, basically, and that’s not really my personality. I was stupid.”

Luckily, Shep is repenting for his own actions, and now a new giant wave of drama is coming for the others in Season 5 of Southern Charm. So far, it’s the guys against the ladies, Naomie against Craig, Naomie against Peyton, Kathryn against Ashley, and, according to Shep, it’s about to get worse (or better, depending on how you look at it). Kathryn’s redemption arc is particularly interesting, but it doesn’t mean it will stick for the duration of the season.

“In this season, [Kathryn has] her ups and downs. She’s really on solid ground currently, and that’s always good to see, because that means that she and Thomas are getting along,” Shep says. “That part is good, but stay tuned, because it’s not always great. It’s sad, but it’s what happened. And I can stand by whatever you think happened actually happened… Yes, we’re all thrown in a bowl together for four months, and it always produces fireworks and insanity, which is a testament to our insanity.”

This drama draws a lot of viewers, especially because there are some new faces taking center stage on Southern Charm. Peyton, from Shep’s spinoff RelationSHEP, is new to town (“She’s doing her own thing, and I applaud her,” Shep says), and Chelsea is now a regular, content with hanging with her girls and drinking wine (same). Naomie, Craig’s ex-girlfriend, is also in the eye of the hurricane in Season 5, because she and Craig broke up and replaying the same fight over and over. Shep’s watching it all unfold, but like Taylor Swift says, Naomie and Craig will never, ever get back together. Like ever.

“No. They’re never gonna get back together,” Shep exclaims. “For a lot of reasons, when [Naomie] talks, I sit there and I nod very rigorously. Yes, yes, yes ... I still love [Craig] and she still loves him, but she’s holding onto something — she’s so resolute on her stance of not getting back together, but there are these little signs that are there. But I can say as of right now, I don’t think that that’s ever going to happen.”

Craig and Naomie may be one Southern Charm relationship that’s completely dunzo, but Ashley and Thomas are still going strong. Shep is as surprised as the rest of us. “You’ll see this season that there are some fireworks, and I would have thought for all the world that that would have been the end of their relationship, and I was wrong,” Shep says.

But can Shep give any hints about what other huge drama is to come to Southern Charm? Not quite. He prefers to play it coy. “You’ll have to watch, because it is outrageous when we get to that episode where things get to go crazy. I don’t even know what to say. Everything seems copacetic currently, but things aren’t always as they appear,” he says.

Speaking of appearing, Shep isn’t too keen on appearing on his own season of RelationSHEP yet again. “I haven’t really talked to the network about it. I need to. But I don’t think I want to. I’ve said what I needed to say, and that’s it. I have no regrets, but it was intense,” Shep says.

Just one of many dating shows on television now, he says he doesn’t want to be redundant, and well, that’s what another dating show would be. “If anything in life, I don’t want to be redundant,” Shep laughs. Instead, he’s thinking of a way to tell more stories himself, including working on a television pilot. “I think a travel show would be right up my alley,” he says. “I do that anyway — I travel around the world and have the most outrageous stories.”

Whether Shep gets another spinoff show or not, his outrageous stories are what keeps viewers and fans coming back. With all the drama he’s teased for the rest of Southern Charm Season 5, there seem to be plenty more stories to tell.