Southern Charm began its run on Bravo in 2014, and with seven seasons under its belt, it has become a favorite and a staple for people who love juicy reality television.
The reality show is unscripted and some of the cast members have a lot of money, such as Patricia and her $20 million net worth.
Now that season 7 has come and gone, fans are curious if there is going to be an eighth. There isn't news of a renewal by Bravo yet, but it's still interesting to take a look at what the next season of this popular reality show could look like.
The Cast
Fans have been watching some favorite cast members since season one and there have been some new additions in the past few seasons.
Season 8 saw Madison LeCroy as a full cast member, and John Pringle and Leva Bonaparte also joined. There was a juicy season 7 storyline as John had a crush on Madison. Leva told the story of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her restaurants. She was also an important voice during the Black Lives Matter movement.
According to Bustle, Craig Conover was interviewed by Us Weekly and seemed to say that he could convince Cameran Eubanks, who left before season 7, to join again for season 8. He said, "I know that she enjoyed doing it with us, you know, me and her and Shep [Rose] had been together since the beginning ... but I have a sneaky feeling that I would be able to get her back next year, but we’ll see what happens."
Cameran told Decider that while she wanted to leave the series, she supported her friend Leva. She said that she would rather not hear about the experience, though. Cameran explained, "I had kind of disconnected from the show and when Leva made the decision that she was going to go on it, I said, I support you doing this. I think it’s great. I think you’re going to be great on it. But I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t call me complaining about it, and she respected that. So I still hold Leva very dear to my heart. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I love her dearly."
If Southern Charm came back for season 8, it's possible that it would feature the same beloved gang Shep, Austen, Whitney and Patricia, along with newcomers John, Leva, and Madison.
Storylines
It's also possible that the next season of Southern Charm would also feature long-time cast member Kathryn Dennis.
Kathryn sent a monkey emoji on social media to a Black activist and radio host, which was of course very offensive, and that was the focus of a storyline in season 7 of the show. Dennis said that she has "grown" and that she would like to show that. Kathryn explained to Entertainment Tonight, "I think it would be really cool to see someone who did have to realize that they very much had white privilege and then turn that into the other side. Once you realize that, what do you do with it? That's where I'm at, and I'm working on it."
If the show gets a season 8, perhaps Kathryn will be on it again and she'll talk about what she has learned.
Filming And Ratings
According to Bustle, previous seasons of Southern Charm saw the cast members filming in the fall months, and the show air on TV the following spring. Season 7 did something different and filmed at the beginning of 2020, and had to finish up in the summer months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bustle says that perhaps season 8 would film in 2021 and be ready to air on TV in spring 2022.
That definitely seems like a long time to wait, but chances are the drama will be just as entertaining as ever to watch so it will be worth it.
A big question about whether Bravo will greenlight another season of the show is ratings. According to Bustle, season 6 had more than a million viewers on a regular basis and season 7's ratings were often less than a million.
Cheat Sheet reported that the ratings got better, though, as the season went on: "according to Bravo Ratings, episode 8 was “0.906 million viewers (0.28 18-49 demo) *season high,” and the first part of the finale was “S07E09 – 0.933 million viewers (0.26 18-49 demo) *season-high in total viewers.*"
Fans of Southern Charm are eagerly awaiting news if Bravo will renew the show for an eighth season. In the meantime, fans can follow along with the cast on Instagram and read Shep Rose's upcoming book, Average Expectations: Lessons In Lowering The Bar.
