Even Austen Kroll didn’t see his reported romance with Taylor Ann Green coming.
During a joint interview with Craig Conover in October 2022, Austen, 35, spoke to Us Weekly about a potential relationship with Taylor, 28, following her split from their castmate Shep Rose.
“I mean — bro code. … If we’re being honest, that really does cross a lot of lines,” Austen said at the time. “I love Taylor to pieces and I cherish her friendship and we’ve gotten very close. … I just think that that would be crossing a whole bunch of lines. … And a bunch of friendships would really be affected by that.”
Austen Kroll, Craig Conover, and Taylor Ann Green. Gregory Pace/Shutterstock (2); Charles Sykes/Bravo
He added that the twosome’s “favorite topics to talk about” were their exes. “She’ll talk to me about Shep and I’ll talk to her about Olivia,” Austen explained, referring to former flame Olivia Flowers. (Both couples were going through rough patches following season 8.)
Five months later, multiple outlets have reported that Austen and Taylor hooked up and the cast found out during production of season 9 of the Bravo show. While the reality stars have yet to publicly comment on the claims, the network hinted at the rumor in a TikTok about Scandoval.
“Bravo HQ while Vanderpump & Southern Charm drama are both happening at once,” the video, which used a sound from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, stated.
The caption read: “We’re literally shook right now.”
Funny enough, Austen and Craig brought up Vanderpump Rules — which is in the news after OG Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ months-long affair ended his longtime relationship with Ariana Madix — while chatting with Us about Taylor in October 2022.
Austen Kroll and Craig Conover. Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
“That would be, like, first season Vanderpump stuff,” Craig, who is dating Summer House’s Paige DeSorbo, said.
Austen agreed, adding: “I’m telling you — that would be a fricking bomb to drop, that is for sure.”
The “Pillows and Beer” podcast cohosts have been friends with Shep for years. While Shep and Craig have been on Southern Charm since its 2014 premiere, Austen joined during season 4.
“I think Shep really appreciates it,” he told Us at the time about his friendship with Taylor. “He knows that we became close, you know, because of him and he sees how we act with each other. He’s never gotten jealous about it. Olivia as well, she’s always been like, ‘I love that you two are close,’ and she’s an important person in my life and I wanna keep it that way.”
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Fans will have to wait and see how Austen and Taylor allegedly got together when Southern Charm returns to Bravo later this year.