'Southern Charm' Season 8 Begins Filming With Brand New Cast Members, Including Kathryn Dennis' New Boyfriend Chleb Ravenell
Sept. 22 2021, Published 2:51 p.m. ET
Southern Charm has begun filming Season 8 with several new cast members, including Kathryn Dennis' new boyfriend.
The Charleston, South Carolina, gang started shooting the upcoming season of the hit Bravo reality show on Tuesday, according to Instagram fan account Best of Bravo.
As RadarOnline.com exclusively reported in late July, Bravoholics were left with questions surrounding the series' fate after filming for Season 7 was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, but insiders assured us that it was "definitely" coming back with a "bigger" and "more fun" cast that included newbies who had been vetted and "approved" by certain OG cast members.
As for who will be joining existing stars Kathryn, Shep Rose, Madison LeCroy, John Pringle, Craig Conover, Austen Kroll and Leva Bonaparte, Best of Bravo confirmed our previous inclination that Leva's friend, Venita Aspen, would be upgraded to full time after viewers met her last season.
Olivia Flowers, who is "friends with everyone already," as well as Marcie Hobbs, Shep's cousin, have also been cast.
Viewers will be virtually reunited with the Charleston crew for the first time since Madison's alleged flings with both Alex Rodriguez (which contributed to his breakup with Jennifer Lopez, who is once again dating Ben Affleck) and Kristin Cavallari's estranged husband, Jay Cutler. We'll also be catching up with Austen since he and Kristin ignited their own romance rumors.
And as we mentioned, Kathryn's new boyfriend, Chleb Ravenell, will be appearing, too – which is interesting considering she is currently in a bitter custody battle with her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Ravenel.
Earlier this year, a judge stripped Kathryn of her joint custody rights and awarded Thomas primary custody of their 7-year-old daughter, Kensington Calhoun Ravenel, and 5-year-old, son Saint Julien Rembert Ravenel. The judge also allowed the kids to move into his home about an hour outside of Charleston.
The decision came about after Thomas told the court that a mutual friend had informed him that Kathryn allegedly allowed cocaine to be around Kensie and Saint while on vacation with Chleb.
Dennis, who has struggled with addiction issues for years, denied the allegations and said she does not use the drug or allow it to be around her minor children.
As Best of Bravo put it, "it's bound to be a helluva season."