Shep Rose Says Austen Kroll ‘Should Have Known Better’ Than to Hook Up with Taylor Ann Green (Exclusive)

New season of Southern charm will see Austen Kroll get a little too friendly with his friend Shep Rose’s ex-girlfriend, Taylor Ann Green.

But Kroll, 36, tells PEOPLE, “I don’t think it’s as dry as the trailer or the news [that] what happened between us was leaked.”

Kroll dated Olivia Flowers, but it never turned into a real relationship. “Coming into this season, we weren’t exactly in the best place,” Flowers tells PEOPLE. “We haven’t spoken or seen each other in a while, so there wasn’t much interaction before. You’ll see that throughout the season, you’re just trying to find where we’re going to see each other next as friends.”

‘Southern Charm’ Trailer: Taylor Ann Green’s Relationships With Austen Koll, Shep Rose Cause Chaos (Exclusive)

Flowers, 31, became close with Rose’s ex-girlfriend Green, 28, because he is single.

“I was really excited to have more time with Taylor this season just because we got so close on camera,” she shares. “It was exciting to have time to show Olivia and Taylor, not so much as us being like the Austen and Shep girls.”

Green calls the dynamic between the female stars “really strong” this year and tells PEOPLE that she viewed Kroll as an “older brother” after her breakup with Rose.

“We really leaned on each other and our friendship became stronger,” Green says of his dynamic with Pillows and beer co-host of the podcast enters its 9th season.

‘Southern Charm’ stars Shep Rose and Taylor Ann Green. Taylor Ann Green/Instagram ‘Southern Charm’ Austen Kroll and Taylor Ann Green were ‘thinking about dating’ after ‘kissing’: Source

Green admits that when her friendship with Kroll turned into something more, it “drove a wedge between me and a really good friend [Olivia].”

She continues: “I take full responsibility for everything that happened and how I handled the situation and the things I said and the way I behaved. That was really hard. I think there is a lot of forgiveness to be had. That’s a big thing this year — there’s a lot of forgiveness and tough love.”

Flowers says her friendship with Green continues to be affected.

“We’re certainly not where we were at this time last year,” Flowers admits. “I don’t necessarily know if we’ll ever go back to that place. She recently went through something very tragic and difficult and that’s when I reached out to her because that’s really all that matters, none of the other drama. But here we have a much greater distance.”

‘Southern Charm’ star Olivia Flowers at BravoCon 2022 in New York.

Bryan Bedder/Bravo via Getty

Shep Rose Would Be ‘Happy’ If Taylor Ann Green’s Ex Was Dating Tom Schwartz: ‘I’m Not A Jealous Man’

In Rose’s mind, the blame falls on Kroll.

“It came out and it was hard to swallow,” he said Average expectations author, 43, tells PEOPLE that he found out that Kroll had gotten involved with his ex-girlfriend. ” I couldn’t help but think, to be honest, that Austen should have known better. She was vulnerable, she was hurt, and they were very close friends because of me, and he must know better.”

Cindy Ord/NBC

While Rose has decided he doesn’t want to “throw away” his friendship with Kroll, Rose says, “I wouldn’t trust him very much around a girl I like in the near future, or later.”

Rose hopes Kroll has “learned a lesson” from the situation.

“I hope that he has crossed the threshold of honesty and that he has changed,” says Rose. “And maybe we’ll be closer because of it. At that time we are pretty close, at this point we are. I don’t want to come across as weak if I don’t hold it against him, but you’ll have to watch this season.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Southern charm Season 9 premieres Thursday at 9:00 PM ET on Bravo.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education