‘Southern Charm’s Venita Aspen Reveals Where She Stands With JT Thomas: ‘I Can’t Protect Him Anymore’ (Exclusive)

Southern Charm‘s Venita Aspen is opening up about her relationship with JT Thomas after his shocking decision to drop out of filming midway through Season 10. Aspen spoke candidly to PopCulture.com ahead of the Thursday, Dec. 5 premiere of the Bravo show, revealing that she’s “in the dark” with her former friend after their attempted romance this season.

Coming out of a breakup with boyfriend Manny, Aspen said she felt her friendship with Thomas “blossom” into something a bit more as they grew closer. “It kind of just naturally happened. There was not one moment in particular that kind of made me go, ‘Oh wow, this is someone I actually like,’” she told PopCulture. “It just kind of naturally happened, which they always say is the best way to have that type of thing happen. So I was just like, ‘OK, let’s see where this goes.’”

Adding a new dynamic to her friendship with Thomas was “daunting,” as she revealed that the rest of the Charleston crew – which includes Leva Bonaparte, Craig Conover, Taylor Ann Green, Austen Kroll, Madison LeCroy, Rodrigo Reyes, and Shep Rose – has “qualms” with Thomas. “I was risking a lot of friendships in order to say, ‘Hey, I want to have him around. Let’s invite him,’” Aspen confessed.

After sticking her neck out for Thomas throughout the season, the influencer said she was absolutely stunned to learn he had decided to drop out of filming midway through the season. “I had no idea,” she revealed. “And as his best friend, you know, I feel like I’m usually in the know on these things.”

Aspen admitted she’s been “in the dark” with Thomas since the Season 10 trailer – and his new relationship – dropped, confessing, “I have no idea where his head is, what he’s doing, what he’s trying to do. And I just… I wish him the best.”

While the Bravolebrity might not know what’s going on with her former castmate, she did tell PopCulture she doesn’t think his decision not to film the Season 10 reunion was a wise one. “He has always been kind of wary of what to do with the group, what to do with the certain things that people are saying about him, and I’ve always been the person in the background telling him, ‘Hey, you gotta show up. Don’t let them win. Don’t let them take it over. Don’t let them think they have control,’” she theorized. “And I think at this point, he let those thoughts take control and he lost it.”

As Aspen mourns the loss of her “best friend,” she shrugged, “I just kind of have to let him do his thing at this point. I can’t protect him anymore.”

Southern Charm Season 10 premieres on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.