Craig Expresses Fears of a 'Submissive Relationship' with Paige Prior to Breakup: Insights Revealed - lulu

Just months before Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo split, the cracks in their relationship were already beginning to show on Summer House Season 9.

When Craig took Paige to dinner at an Australian restaurant in New York City at the end of Episode 5, the topic quickly turned to babies and settling down, leading the Southern Charm cast member to realize that he didn't have as much say as he might be used to.

"I just never thought I would be in such a submissive relationship," he admitted to Paige, who asked him, "Should I apologize for being strong and independent?"

Though Craig didn’t address her question directly, he replied, "I didn’t realize I would be giving up so much decision making."

Craig Conover thought Paige prioritized work over him

Earlier in the conversation — which Craig dubbed a relationship "health check" — he acknowledged that they'd both gotten "five times busier" in the three years since they started dating and were only getting busier. After all, he'd just opened another Sewing Down South store, and Paige was about to go on a 60-city Giggly Squad podcast tour.

"I think we're so busy that sometimes it feels like we live a single life," he lamented. "Sometimes it's a bummer that we can't do stuff."

Paige, for her part, noted that her career as a podcaster and social media influencer "took a different turn" and she wouldn't have as many days off anymore to travel or go to Charleston "and just chill in the backyard." Even so, she insisted that Craig was still "absolutely a priority."

As Craig saw it, though, Paige would "choose work 10 times out of 10," and though he didn't want her to slow down professionally just yet, he added, "If we were married and we had kids, you can’t choose work all the time."

Craig Conover attends the Souther Charm Season 10 premiere party on October 24, 2023; Paige DeSorbo attends the Summer House Season 9 Premiere Party on February 12, 2025. Photo: Astrid Stawiarz /BRAVO; Noam Galai/BRAVO;

Paige DeSorbo didn’t want a “slow life” with Craig

Still, Paige was convinced that Craig would hold her success against her and that they weren't on the same page about what their future might look like.

"I think that if I said, 'Let's have a baby tomorrow,' you'd be like, 'F--k yeah. Let's settle down, let's just have a kid, let's live in Charleston, let's, like, live a slow life,'" Paige explained. "I don't ever want to live a slow life." 

Craig didn’t necessarily disagree, admitting that that’s the exact lifestyle he wants "one day." As he bluntly told Paige, "If you were this busy for the rest of our lives, I wouldn’t see it working out."

Why did Craig and Paige break up?

Though Paige jokingly asked if Craig was breaking up with her in an Australian restaurant on Summer House Season 9, Episode 5, as we all now know, the actual split didn’t happen until November 2024. When Paige eventually announced their “very sad” breakup on a December Giggly Squad episode, the reasoning sounded an awful lot like their Summer House conversation.

"I think it is the right decision for both of us moving forward in our lives and the direction our lives are going in that we didn't foresee or whatever," she explained on her podcast. “I think we both were being mature and just saying what we want and what we didn't want. . . . I think that's extremely powerful to be able to voice how you're feeling in real time and what you want for your future."

Later, Craig reiterated on the February 6 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that no one major event caused the breakup.

Since then, though, Paige has denied rumors that she cheated on Craig and had already moved on with a new boyfriend. As she asserted on the February 3 Giggly Squad episode: “I never in the three years that I dated my ex-boyfriend, ever physically cheated on him, emotionally cheated on him — can you mentally cheat on him? I don't know, but I didn't."

Don't miss what else Paige had to say about "insane" rumors about her and Craig's breakup and what she's looking for in her next boyfriend.