Joe Bradley and Maddi Reese’s connection on Southern Hospitality was obvious from the start — but it wasn’t until season 3 that their friendship turned romantic.
“I really have had feelings for her for years, but we were also best friends,” Joe exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2024. “One day I would wake up and be like, ‘I have a chance with a girl in my dreams’ and the next day I’ll be like, ‘This will never happen.’ And most of our friends told me it would never happen.”
While Joe and Maddi started out as best friends when season 1 of Southern Hospitality premiered in 2022, Joe harbored romantic feelings for her behind closed doors. Once Maddi was single at the start of 2024, he finally made his move.
The pair’s romance went public after Us Weekly exclusively debuted the show’s season 3 trailer in November 2024. In the video, Maddi and Joe seemingly got hitched in Las Vegas.
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“I think everything in our life is spur of the moment, so it’s pretty on brand for us,” Joe told Us that December, before later revealing the Sin City nuptials weren’t legal. Married or not, the couple are still going strong — even after a few season 4 hiccups.
Scroll down to see Joe and Maddi’s love story from the beginning:
November 2022
Fans were introduced to Maddi and Joe — as well as their Republic Garden & Lounge coworkers — during the Southern Charm spinoff, Southern Hospitality. At the time, Joe and Maddi were both VIP servers. Maddi was also a DJ who often performed at the Charleston bar.
January 2023
During season 1, episode 8, Joe revealed he had romantic feelings for Maddi amid her on-again, off-again relationship with Trevor Stokes. The revelation led to a showdown between Joe and Trevor. Joe was also yelled at by Maddi and coworker Mia Alario, since he was getting cozy with her around the same time.
February 2023
Joe called Maddi his “work wife” via Instagram, sharing a photo of the pair at Republic.
December 2023
Maddi exclusively told Us that she was single after breaking up with Trevor Stokes. Her ups and downs with Trevor — which included two cheating scandals — played out during season 2 of Southern Hospitality, which aired from December 2023 to February 2024.
“I am focusing on myself,” Maddi explained to Us in December 2023. “I need no drama for a couple of months.” She noted at the time that she wanted a “stable home” so she was trying to “manifest that in my life.”
January 2024
After crossing paths at BravoCon in November 2023, Joe sparked a romance with Summer House star Danielle Olivera. He raised eyebrows in January 2024 when Us broke the news that Joe was spotted getting cozy with Luann De Lesseps at a New York City hotel. (Joe denied anything happened between him and Luann, but eventually confirmed they’d kissed.)
That same month, Joe exclusively told Us that he was “kind of pressing the breaks a little bit” with Danielle. Danielle, meanwhile, confirmed in February 2024 that they were no longer dating.
February 2024
Following the Southern Hospitality season 2 reunion, Joe and Maddi “started hanging out,” according to Joe. He exclusively told Us months later, “I have not been with anyone or kissed anyone since last winter around February.”
April 2024
Joe confirmed to Us that he and Maddi “started being boyfriend and girlfriend in the middle of April,” which was “a little bit before the cameras came around” for season 3 of the Bravo series.
Maddi added, “We just started dating weeks before we started filming, so I feel like we’re figuring it all out.” She confessed to Us, “I am still uneasy about getting into another relationship or dating or even putting myself out there, so I just feel like it’s going to be really interesting watching that play out and everything.”
July 2024
Maddi shared photos from her DJ performance in Las Vegas via Instagram, revealing that the Southern Hospitality cast was there to cheer her on. The performance occurred on what appeared to be the same weekend when Joe and Maddi “got married” by an Elvis impersonator. (The wedding was not legal.)
“I feel like you’re going to have to tune in to find out [if it’s real],” Maddi teased during a joint interview with Joe in December 2024, telling Us, “I feel like you watch our whole journey from [when] we just started dating to talking about getting serious and taking that kind of big next step. You’ll see that play out and I’m excited because we’re in Vegas when it happens, and that trip is awesome.”
Joe called the wedding an “epic moment” that he chose to participate in to “show my love for her and prove all the haters wrong.”
December 2024
“We’re very happy right now,” Joe gushed to Us about his romance with Maddi, noting that he had to “give her time and space to make that safe decision” that she wanted to date him.
Maddi, meanwhile, told Us that “timing was everything” when it came to the start of her relationship with Joe. “I always had feelings for Joe, but I just didn’t know if it was past a friendship or now,” she said, adding that taking that leap of faith was “definitely worth taking that risk.”
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January 2025
During the season 3 premiere of Southern Hospitality, both Maddi and Joe confirmed their relationship status. As the season continued, Maddi confessed that their friend TJ Dinch spreading rumors about Joe’s sexuality delayed the couple’s romance.
“Three years ago, everyone was talking about the rumor. So, of course, I kinda believed TJ when he told me Joe is flirty, or fruity, or what’s the word? Gay,” Maddi shared during the January 9 episode. “That was the reason why I did not hook up with Joe for a long time.”
Weeks later, Joe shared his own hesitations about their budding romance, telling the cameras, “A little part of me fears she gets so big she outgrows Charleston” and would leave him behind.
“I already feel she feels like cabin fever living in this small town. I love it here,” he said during the January 30 episode, confessing that, “At the end of the day I want to be her home base.”
Joe later expressed his fears to Maddi, telling her that his “ultimate dream” is to “have a family” with her someday. She revealed, “I do want kids. Marriage. I do.”
March 2025
“It is a little daunting being a reality TV couple,” Joe exclusively told Us on March 6. “I’ve seen some of my favorite couples on reality TV implode.”
He noted that despite the tendencies for TV pairings to split after sharing the small screen, Joe said he’s “not afraid” that will be the case for him and Maddi. “I think we’re in a good spot. Bring it on,” Joe teased.
“I think we’re a special case because we were best friends before the show, and I think it wasn’t forced,” Joe explained. “Timing was in our favor and it kind of happened organically.”
April 2025
Joe attended his first Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, with Maddie, calling it his “rookie year.” The pair hung out with The Valley’s Scheana Shay and Brock Davies.
July 2025
The couple celebrated Independence Day with a trip to the Hamptons in New York.
December 2025
Maddi and Joe ended the year with a snow-filled getaway to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where they rode horses and hit the slopes.
April 2026
During season 4 of Southern Hospitality, Maddi and Joe butted heads over his drinking and how it was affecting their relationship.
“Joe told me he was working last night,” Maddi told pal Michols Peña during the April 8 episode, which filmed in 2025, noting that when she checked Joe’s location, he was “at another bar” and not at Republic, the bar where he works.
Maddi later confronted Joe about his alleged lie, confessing, “I’m just pissed because I feel like I’m constantly checking your location and you’re not at Republic. You’re out at the bar. I don’t find it that appropriate.”
She explained, “I support you starting a business and you bettering your life. I do not support you saying that you’re doing that but then you’re out drinking and going on a bender.”
Joe clapped back, claiming, “I wasn’t on a bender. I went home at 11 p.m.” He also alleged that he never told Maddi he was going to be at work, she made that up.
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“I think we need space. I think our realities aren’t matching up,” Maddi admitted after claiming that he was “lying” to her about his actions.
Joe alleged, “It’s in your f***ing head” and that she was “spiraling.”
Maddi, who has been sober since she was a teenager, later told the cameras, “This is the first time in any relationship I’ve been more worried about my boyfriend getting wasted than cheating on me. It’s extremely triggering to my sobriety.”
Joe stormed off during his and Maddi’s conversation, claiming it’s “all in your head” and that he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“He’s f***ing gaslighting me,” Maddi yelled as she followed him out to his car, which he denied.
“I feel like he’s going out all the time and getting hammered. I feel like I’m a f***ing enabler,” Maddi told Michols. “I don’t know if I’m mentally and emotionally OK with being with the town drunk. I don’t know what to do.”
