Conover showed photo evidence of the sparkler following DeSorbo's aired speculation on the 'Summer House' season 9 reunion
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(941x487:943x489):format(webp)/paige-desorbo-craig-conover-Variety-Women-of-Reality-010825-46a926b9e0754d1bbc62fb9f68ea9c30.jpg)
Craig Conover is defending his side of the ring drama with ex Paige DeSorbo.
On Thursday, June 25, the Southern Charm star, 36, appeared on The Toast podcast, where he showed photo evidence of the engagement ring he bought for the podcaster and former Summer House personality.
Since the couple's split in November 2024, there's been a lot of buzz around the bespoke sparkler, including whether or not Conover even bought it in the first place, a rumor sparked by DeSorbo, 32, after she aired her doubts on the Summer House season 9 reunion back in May.
"A custom ring, no one's letting you return it a year later," she said at the time.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Craig-Conover-on-The-Toast-062625-c8897ca8bb3c4011b0d7a67b53d0ba16.jpg)
Craig Conover shows "The Toast" podcast host Jackie Oshry the engagement he bought for Paige DeSorbo.
During the interview, Conover showed a time-stamped photo of the ring, which boasted a 4-carat elongated cushion-cut with a hidden halo, that was taken by him in Charleston, in March. "I had it in my room until April or May." he said.
Conover sourced the ring in New York City's Diamond District in March of last year and called it a "really fun process" that he's "excited" to hopefully experience again. "I don't think this has ruined anything for me," he said.
As for why he held off on proposing after securing the rock, Conover claimed that DeSorbo wanted to wait until they were done filming their respective shows. "I was on her count. I wasn't in a rush. She didn't know, I wanted it to stay a surprise. I had dreamt about proposing because I think it's such a special moment."
The last update Conover gave about the ring was in March, when he revealed that he had returned the diamond to the jeweler the morning of his appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Conover confirmed again to The Toast that he did give back the ring but, because it hasn't resold yet, he hasn't gotten any money for it.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(678x364:680x366):format(webp)/paige-desorbo-craig-conover-103123-3-514880a078194d1887987853cf919070.jpg)
Conover and DeSorbo parted ways last fall after three years of dating. The news was announced in a December episode of Giggly Squad, DeSorbo's podcast with Hannah Berner.
At the time, she admitted that the breakup felt "very weird" and unexpected. In his first statement following the split, Conover said that he was also "shocked." He added: "It takes two people to be in a relationship and you can’t control other people, you can only control how you react to it. Remember to be kind to Paige and me and yourselves and all of that good stuff."
