Bravo Leva Bonaparte
Bravo’s newest offering, “Southern Hospitality,” premiered this week and saw “Southern Charm” star and business owner Leva Bonaparte manage her staff and their dramas at her Charleston club Republic.
However, Bonaparte, who has appeared on and off on “Southern Charm” as a guest for the past several seasons but didn’t become a main cast member until season 7, said it took some time for certain co-stars to congratulate her on the spinoff show. “I definitely think that there were, at times, people who maybe were not super thrilled,” she told Us Weekly ahead of her new show’s premiere.
“They’ve all congratulated me, most of them, I wanna say, to date,” she added. Bonaparte then added that Craig Conover, with whom she feuded on the season finale of “Southern Charm,” only congratulated her very recently.
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Leva Bonaparte Explained That It Took Craig Conover Some Time to Congratulate Her But He Did Recently
Bonaparte told Us Weekly that Conover came around and congratulated her recently, explaining, “Craig just congratulated me as of recent. I saw him on a green screen, [he] was really nice about it. So, he definitely came [around].”
The “Southern Charm” star said she knows there were “some tricky feelings” which is only natural. “I mean some of these people were in the business now for several years and I can see that being tricky,” she shared. That said, Bonaparte shared that a lot of her co-stars will make cameos on “Southern Hospitality.”
The restaurant owner said she thinks all of her co-stars have “moved on” and are really supportive of the new show at this point. “I think they’re rooting for it, I think they understand that this is just very different than ‘Southern Charm,'” she said, and they know it won’t replace “Southern Charm” but is instead showing a different side of Charleston.
‘Southern Hospitality’ Will Show the Nightlife of Charleston, Leva Bonaparte Explained
In fact, Bonaparte spilled that “Southern Hospitality” will be showing the “nightclub life” of the city and teased some mayhem. She said viewers will have fun watching the show: “I’m really excited for people to laugh and cry and be confused and maybe wanna come visit Charleston.”
The owner of Republic described the staff of her businesses like a big family and said the staff is very unique as she tries to hire people that will stay and grow with the business. Bonaparte said she encouraged her employees that will be on “Southern Hospitality” to be vulnerable on the show.
In terms of her husband being more present on this new show compared to “Southern Charm,” Bonaparte said the couple was “hesitant” about appearing on screen together. She explained that it wasn’t because they were worried about how they would be portrayed but that she thinks “we’re kind of boring.” The two also have different approaches to managing their businesses, she confessed. “It’s very mom and dad in here,” she told Us.
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