Kelsea Ballerini, Craig Conover. Getty Images(2)
Kelsea Ballerini is setting the record straight about her and Craig Conover’s auction date nearly 10 years after appearing on Southern Charm.
Ballerini, 31, recalled her season 2, episode 11, appearance on the Bravo hit during the Tuesday, February 18, episode of Cosmopolitan’s “Cheap Shots” game. “It haunts me forever,” she confessed.
The country singer revealed on Tuesday that she doesn’t “remember” how much she bid on Conover, 36, during her cameo because she was not in the loop before she was thrust into the auction that day.
On the episode — which aired in May 2015 — Patricia Altschul hosted a charity event where she auctioned off Conover and Southern Charm costar Shep Rose. Ballerini, who was an up-and-coming singer at the time, wasn’t aware she was about to be on the Bravo series. Instead, she said she was just there to sing and promote her music for a radio gig.
“I was on [a] radio tour, and I was doing a show for the radio station on a boat. They were filming Southern Charm on the boat. I didn’t know that,” Ballerini recalled. “I was just there playing, ‘Love Me Like You Meant It.’ Being like, ‘Hey, radio station, please play my song.’”
The Grammy nominee explained that her team had other plans. “Little did I know my label had set up the fact that I was going to bid on a date,’ she continued. “I didn’t know.”
Ballerini remembered getting “pushed into frame” where she bid on Conover and “got the date.” (The musician ultimately bid $5,001 for a date with the Sewing Down South founder.)
She revealed that she never went on the date because they “auctioned it off on the radio station for charity.” Ballerini said that the winner who called in eventually got to hang out with Conover.
After the Cosmopolitan staff joked, “You’re probably better off,” seemingly hinting at Conover’s latest breakup with Summer House star Paige DeSorbo, Ballerini let out a laugh.
“Everything’s great as it turned out,” she concluded.
Leva Bonaparte admits it’s been hard watching Craig Conover’s relationship with now-ex Paige DeSorbo play out on season 10 of Southern Charm — but says their breakup didn’t catch her by surprise. “I think [it was] a month leading up before the breakup that we didn’t see her at the restaurant opening,” Bonaparte, 45, exclusively […]
While Ballerini was surprised to be part of Southern Charm back in season 2, Conover was excited that she made a bid on him at the time.
“I did not expect Kelsea Ballerini to bid on me,” Conover told the cameras in 2015. “I was worried about the auction because I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, I hope it’s not some, like, weirdo or creepy person.”
Once Ballerini “won” Conover at the Wounded Warriors event, the two embraced in the crowd.
“At this moment, I’m dying,” Conover later confessed. “Like, I am so happy on the inside. I’m giddy as hell.”
Rose, 42, for his part, was upset that Conover was the recipient of Ballerini’s bid. “It’s not fair. She’s a singer,” he told the cameras, before teasing that Ballerini would be “underwhelmed” by her date with Conover.
While Conover didn’t actually go out with Ballerini, fans have watched his relationship ups and downs play out on screen over the years.
Kelsea Ballerini is in her healing (and love) era — thanks Chase Stokes — and she’s ready to share all the details. “He’s the most emotionally intelligent man I’ve ever met in my life,” Ballerini, 30, said of her boyfriend during her Wednesday, November 29 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I keep telling […]
Conover dated costar Naomie Olindo from 2015 to 2017 after initially becoming friends in college. The reality star later dated Natalie Hegnauer for one year before calling it quits in 2021.
Conover began dating DeSorbo, 32, in summer 2021. The pair were together for three years before DeSorbo announced in December 2024 that they split over the holidays. The exes have since been making headlines for their quotes about the breakup — especially when it comes to rumors of infidelity that surfaced in January.
Ballerini, meanwhile, has become one of the biggest stars in country music since her brief Southern Charm cameo. Her love life has also become a hot topic in the press.
The “Cowboys Cry Too” singer filed for divorce from fellow country singer Morgan Evans in August 2022 after nearly five years of marriage. She moved on with Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes in January 2023.
