The Southern Hospitality cast came in hot during the season 3 premiere — and not everyone was on speaking terms.
“He’s going to f— you over!” TJ Dinch warned Emmy Sharrett during the first few minutes of the Thursday, January 2, premiere, after several of their castmates claimed that her boyfriend, Will Kulp, was unfaithful. “I bet you f—ed that bitch,” TJ yelled at Will.
While the episode did tease a lot of future drama between Emmy and Will, they were not the pairing that was feuding to start the season. In fact, the majority of the episode took place three months before TJ slammed Will over his alleged infidelity.
It was TJ and former best friend Joe Bradley that had the worst relationship during the premiere after Joe said he could no longer “trust” TJ following TJ’s claims that Joe hooked up with Luann de Lesseps while he was briefly dating Summer House’s Danielle Olivera.
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“Joe hooking up with Luann is iconic,” Maddi Reese told the cameras, while Joe maintained that it doesn’t matter whether he actually had sex with the Real Housewives of New York City alum.
“Luann is such a badass. I mean who wouldn’t want to f— her?” costar Grace Lilly chimed in while Emmy teased, “Joe has a thing for MILFs. He loves them.”
While most of Joe’s castmates playfully poked fun at his rumored hookup with Luann, TJ was adamant that he “cheated” on Danielle when he hooked up with Luann in New York City. (Us Weekly broke the news in January that Luann and Joe were “all over each other” at a hotel in NYC after filming an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.)
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That rub caused Joe and TJ to have a massive falling out, which, according to the premiere, was affecting the whole group.
Scroll down to see where every big relationship and friendship stands after the season 3 Southern Hospitality premiere:
Maddi Reese and Joe Bradley
“Yes, I’m dating Joe Bradley,” Maddi revealed during the premiere, noting that the former friends had made things official earlier that year. “I feel like I’ve always liked Joe.”
Maddi confessed, “To make it romantic was just a huge risk. At the same time, I know that this man is in love with me.”
The last time fans saw Maddi she was breaking up with Trevor Stokes after he cheated on her during season 2 of the series. Joe, meanwhile, has always had feelings for Maddie, exclusively telling Us in December 2024 that they became official in April of that year.
“I feel safe, secure. It’s everything I need right now,” Maddi said during the Thursday episode of her relationship with Joe. Even after TJ told her that Joe allegedly “cheated” on all his past girlfriends, Maddi didn’t panic.
Joe, for his part, told the cameras, “Dreams really do come true” after “Maddi Reese finally agreed to love me back.”
Emmy Sharrett and Will Kulp
During season 2, Will denied kissing another woman and Emmy stood by his side. The pair have since had to navigate Will going to law school and living further away from Emmy, which they claimed in the premiere made them stronger.
“I am so happy to have you back,” Emmy said, teasing, “When are you going to put a baby in me and propose? I’m kidding.”
She told the cameras that after facing “doubters” the summer prior, she and Will “couldn’t be doing better.” Emmy explained that after one year of law school, she and Will were “one year closer to getting a ring” and getting married.
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Elsewhere in the episode, some of the Southern Hospitality cast claimed that Will wasn’t being honest with Emmy about their romance. “I just feel bad for her. I know we’ve both heard Will is running around bad mouthing her behind her back,” TJ told Mia Alario, who confirmed she’d heard similar stories.
“Will was out at Republic absolutely obliterated. Talking about how much he hates Emmy and hates his relationship and she’s so annoying,” Mia told the cameras.
TJ added, “I’ve heard that he was like, ‘I just don’t think she’s my person and now that she’s sober she’s not fun anymore.’” Joe also confirmed he’d heard Will say unkind things as well.
Mia Alario and Troy
Mia no longer works at Republic Garden & Lounge, but she is still friends with the cast. She even FaceTimed with TJ from Trinidad and Tobago (where she was training for Miss World) to give an update on her romance with Troy, whom she started seeing during season 2.
“Troy and I are so intensely in love that it’s actually disgusting,” she confessed. “Being away from him for three months has been torturous. But I definitely send a lot of pictures of my breasts. He likes that.”
TJ Dinch and Michols Pena
TJ and newbie Michols are not an item, but they did reveal they attempted to go out once before the cameras started to roll. “I got drunk one night and I kissed him,” TJ told Bradley, noting that after Michols got him a car home, he left him in the vehicle.
While TJ said he was nervous thinking about dating a 21-year-old, he continued to try and get close to Michols throughout the premiere. After TJ brought Michols coffee one day, things got even more awkward.
“I was starting to develop feelings,” Michols said, noting that “out of nowhere” TJ brought him a drink and made him feel like he was “playing games.”
Joe Bradley and TJ Dinch
The one-time besties confessed that they haven’t “spoken at all” over the past four months after TJ accused Joe of lying about his romance with Luann during their season 2 reunion, which aired in February.
“Joe definitely hooked up with Luann. He was dating Danielle when he hooked up with Luann,” TJ alleged, claiming he was “giving Joe the opportunity to tell the truth because everyone already knew.”
Joe never confirmed his hook up with Luann, instead he claimed that “TJ betrayed my trust” with his accusations and “sabotaged” his relationship with Danielle in the process. (Danielle and Joe called it quits in February after getting together in November 2023.)
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TJ said he distanced himself from Joe after he received a bunch of mean texts from Joe in which he was called a “rat.” During the final moments of the premiere, Joe tried to talk with TJ, but he refused to engage.
“I’m just not ready [to talk],” TJ confessed. Joe began walking away, declaring, “I’m done.”
Bradley Carter and Maddi Reese
Bradley and Maddi feuded throughout season 2 after they both claimed that the other ruined one of their past relationships by spreading negative rumors. However, they appeared to bury that hatched by the time season 3 started to film.
“Me and Maddi are good. I’m not going to keep holding onto the past,” Bradley explained, and Maddi agreed. “Brad and I are cool,” she told the cameras.
Maddi Reese and Emmy Sharrett
Maddi and Emmy butted heads during season 2 after Emmy was promoted to assistant general manager over the DJ. Emmy was later demoted, which seemingly helped ease the tension between the women.
Emmy also revealed during the premiere that she was eight months sober, which brought her closer to Maddi, who hasn’t drank alcohol in years. “It feels really nice to be in a good place with Emmy,” Maddi shared.
Emmy added that once Maddi started dating Joe, their friendship improved. “Underneath all the bulls— me and Maddi went through last year, there was a genuine friendship there,” she said.
Maddi and Emmy’s boyfriends — who feuded last year when Joe didn’t defend Will against the cheating allegations — also rekindled their friendship prior to filming. The foursome played pickleball during Thursday’s episode and joked about how far they’ve all come.
Southern Hospitality airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
