Southern Charm fans couldn’t have known how flirty things would get between Venita Aspen and JT Thomas this season. While there was some palpable chemistry when they appeared on Watch What Happens Live together, there wasn’t any public indication of anything more.
Now, viewers can see what really happened (or didn’t) between the Southern Charm stars. In the most recent episode, the duo met for a flirty meal at Venita’s only for the real estate professional to reveal that he was seeing someone. However, it seems that they did remain friends.
Venita Aspen felt the friendship with JT was “nice and refreshing”
“I always thought that he was very friendly and sweet with me, but then I was just like, ‘Oh, whatever.’ I felt like he was doing that because he had to,” Venita exclusively told People. “And then I learned that he was doing that because he actually wanted to, which was nice and refreshing, especially coming from this group.”
Referring back to their joint appearance on WWHL, Venita did not explore the connection because she was dating Manny Houston at the time.
“JT and I, when we first did Watch What Happens Live, I think that’s when I could actually see that the friendship that we had was blossoming,” she explained. “We got close over the summer, and it’s been quite the journey getting to know the real JT. It’s been nice and refreshing.”
On the recent episode of Southern Charm, Leva Bonaparte spoke to Venita about the visible “chemistry” between the two costars.
“He’s a marriage guy,” the Southern Hospitality star said.
“Yeah, I have a crush on Mr. JT,” Venita told Leva. “He’s just like, funny and charming. He works out every day, you know, he has a great relationship with his mom. I’m like, oh, okay, he’s kind of like me, but a boy. I like that.”
Venita planned a dinner for JT to discuss their flirtation
The fashion influencer acknowledged her feelings and invited JT for dinner to “talk it out.”
“When I’m interested in a guy, I’m not going to wait for him to make the call,” Venita shared. “I’m going to be the first one to say, ‘Hey, how you doing? So today at 12:30 I expect you to pick me up.’”
Venita prepared a proper spread of vegetables and branzino. JT felt “very spoiled” and called the meal “very nice.” Also, “sweet and spicy, kind of like us.”
JT opened the conversation to the chemistry between them. He said, “You know that there’s something, right? Like, you know that there’s chemistry here. I do.”
Venita responded, “I had a feeling it was there, but I didn’t think that you would actually like, say it.”
“Do I know we have chemistry? Am I extremely attracted to you? Yes and yes. But it’s just, I’m just being real, like, I’m seeing someone, so…,” he continued.
In a confessional interview, JT explained that he’d “been just getting out of the gates.” The girl in question is named Ally.
“I’ve got to give myself a little bit of credit because I don’t cheat, and that’s a slippery slope,” he said.
JT described himself as “flippant”
Venita reacted to the shocking news in a confessional interview.
“I won’t say that I knew he had a girlfriend. I could say that I knew he was talking to someone, but it wasn’t like a ‘this is who I’m dating,’” she told producers.
Coyly, she told JT, “Don’t act like you don’t want this just as bad as I do.” The former Southern Charm star wanted to “play this out” with the fashion influencer.
“Say that it’s an alternative universe that it was me and you, but you knew that I had the propensity to see new opportunities and be flippant,” JT said. “You wouldn’t want to be with somebody like that. Then you would always wonder in the back of your mind, is he going to do the same thing to me?”
Venita responded, “I’m not a home-wrecker and I don’t want to be.”
But after thinking the situation over, she felt “equally parts angry and equally parts sad.”
“How long have we been flirting? And you’ve had a girlfriend this whole time?” Venita told producers.
As it turns out, JT quit the show. And Venita told People that she “wishes him well, if this is what’s it’s going to be.”
“I think JT gets in his own way a lot of the time, and this is a prime example of that,” she added.
Catch Southern Charm Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO VENITA AND JT’S DINNER? ARE YOU SURPRISED HE WAS DATING SOMEONE?
