Credit: BFA, Bravo
Paige DeSorbo nearly settled for a job at a television station in her hometown of Albany, New York, after college in 2015. But a decade later, she’s living in New York City and pursuing her dreams after deciding she wanted more.
As she continues to star on Summer House, Paige, 32, has landed partnerships with the likes of DSW and TRESemmé, starred alongside bestie Hannah Berner, 33, in a highly successful Giggly Squad podcast tour, and hosted Vanity Fair’s iconic Oscars after-party, all while writing a satirical self-help book and bucking the system of what some believe are social norms for women.
In an April 6 interview with the New York Times, titled “The Ultimate Millennial Multihyphenate,” Paige looked back on her decision to forgo life in Albany for life in the Big Apple.
“I remember just getting the biggest pit in my stomach of like — no, that’s not my life. No way,” Paige recalled.
After convincing her parents to pay her rent in NYC for six months, Paige landed a job as an executive assistant at ABC and was later cast on Summer House.
“I called my dad crying when they offered it to me because I was like, ‘I think I’m actually too sensitive to do this,’” Paige shared. “And I remember him saying: ‘Do it for the first summer, and if you hate it, we’ll get you out of it. You never have to go back. And if you love it, you’ll never wonder, Oh, imagine if I didn’t do this.’ And honestly, after the second weekend, I was like, ‘I love it.’”
In addition to appearing on seven seasons of Summer House, Paige has also been featured on Winter House and Southern Charm, the latter of which has recently focused on the end of her three-year relationship with Craig Conover, 36.
“No one did anything,” Paige insisted about the breakup. “It wasn’t a bad thing. I think we both were just being really mature and saying what we want and what we didn’t want, and 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.”
On recent episodes of Summer House and Southern Charm, Paige’s busy schedule has caused a divide between her and Craig, who would have loved for her to move to Charleston to be with him and start a family.
“It makes me feel like if I get more and more successful, it’s a bad thing. Like, if I don’t make you the No. 1 priority, I’m going to feel guilty,” Paige said on one recent episode of Summer House.
Looking back on her decision to cut ties with Craig, Paige admitted to feeling “proud.”
“I’m proud of myself for making a tough decision even though the public was like, ‘You’re wrong, you’ll never find another person again,’” she explained. “[And] I am really thankful for the women that supported me and saw what I was going through.”
“It really is true that there is nothing better than your best friend in moments like that,” she continued, giving a nod to Hannah. “I feel like I was processing the breakup so differently because I had those months where she allowed me to say every single thought that came into my brain about relationships, being someone’s wife, being someone’s mother. Like I had said everything I could, even I could think in those months. And so then once, like the public found out, I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be fine.’”
“I definitely feel driven and focused,” she added. “I wanted something, so I’m working toward it.”
As she moves forward as a single woman, Paige is looking forward to the April 15 release of the new book she wrote with Hannah, How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.
“I was like, ‘I can’t wait to tell all of my English teachers from Grade 3 to 12 that they were wrong and I do know punctuation,’” Paige noted. “It’s for the casual reader. I really pictured the girls like, going on vacation, grabbing this book, throwing it in their bag. Maybe they pick it up on vacation — but maybe they don’t even open it.”
Either way, Paige is thrilled to be working alongside Hannah.
“Hitting these milestones in your career is so exciting, but hitting them with your best friend is like a different level of happiness,” she added.
Summer House season nine airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
