Bravo has done it again! Southern Hospitality may have started as a spin-off of the uber-successful Southern Charm, but in Season 2, the show has come entirely into its own. Overseen by Leva Bonaparte, the employees of Republic Garden & Lounge on King Street in Charleston work hard and play even harder. Power couple VIP server Emmy Sharrett and bartender Will Kulp have been at the center of much of drama at the beginning of the season. When new VIP server Oisin O’Neill brought cheating allegations against Kulp, the lovebirds didn’t even blink.
“Will and I knew the truth. We knew what happened,” Sharrett explained. “The biggest stressor was convincing others of the truth.” “All relationships have struggles and challenges,” added Kulp. “You don’t want to have hard times in your relationship, but sometimes, it’s necessary to grow.” With Kulp in currently in law school, the two are navigating the new dynamic in their relationship quite well. “Even on a Saturday after work, I get in the car and I drive up to see Will, even if it’s only for 48 hours,” revealed Sharrett. “I’m very lucky,” gushed Kulp.
And who is keeping Sharrett company? That would be bartender TJ Dinch, who Southern Charm fans already know as Taylor Ann Green‘s best friend and confidant. “When Emmy’s not with Will, she’s with me,” said Dinch. Dinch and Sharrett’s close friendship helps them both when things get crazy inside and outside of Republic. “TJ is a great person to have on your side and a really bad person to not have on your side,” confirmed Sharrett.
Decider got the chance to speak in person with the trio about where Sharrett stands with VIP manager Maddi Reese, Dinch’s take on Salley Carson‘s true intentions with Joe Bradley, and the cast’s upcoming Miami trip that promises to be “insane.”
DECIDER: You’re 2 seasons in. There’s fighting. There are cheating rumors. There are difficult inner-friend group relations. Do you think the comparisons to Vanderpump Rules are apt?
EMMY SHARRETT: Um, yes. [laughs]
TJ DINCH: I definitely think there are some comparable aspects, but I don’t know if Southern Hospitality relationships are as incestuous.
ES: At the beginning of their show, the Southern Charm cast members were food and beverage workers just like us now. We also have a very close friend group with the same kind of drama that Vanderpump Rules has. We really do everything together.
WILL KULP: I think it’s an honor to be mentioned in the same light as Vanderpump Rules because it’s been so successful. Though, just because we work at a restaurant in a bar doesn’t make our situation entirely the same. We are young people trying to figure out how to survive in the world when we don’t necessarily have the means. We’re hustling for tips, you know?
Speaking of surviving, Emmy and Will, your relationship has been under a microscope this season. However, you didn’t let false cheating rumors break you up. Did going through this turmoil make you stronger as a couple?
ES: Because our relationship was already so strong, the rumors that may have seemed like a big issue really felt like nothing. Will and I knew the truth. We knew what happened. The biggest stressor was convincing others of the truth.
WK: All relationships have struggles and challenges, and it’s more about getting through them than it is about the challenge itself sometimes. I welcome the challenge. You don’t want to have hard times in your relationship, but sometimes, it’s necessary to grow.
Will, you’re in law school and a bit shielded from the Republic drama now. What does it feel like to get some space?
WK: It’s nice not to be in the thick of it, but it’s much less exciting to be in law school than it is to be at Republic. I like hearing little tidbits about stuff that goes on because it’s a nice distraction from school work. It just a feeling of home, even if Republic is just fucking crazy all the time.
ES: He’s only an hour and thirty minutes away.
What’s it like navigating that bit of distance now?
TD: When Emmy’s not with Will, she’s with me.
WK: TJ is the replacement boyfriend with no physical attraction [laughs].
ES: Even on a Saturday after work, I get in the car and drive up to see Will, even if it’s only for 48 hours. I am flexible. I can always go and see Will. It’s just if his schedule allows for it.
WK: The issue that we’re having right now is that she’ll come up and visit and I’ll be in the library until 10:00 PM. Sometimes she’s just there for a sleepover and then it’s back down to go work at Republic. She’ll cook dinner and do my laundry… I honestly don’t know I what I did to deserve her. I’m very lucky.
ES: That’s really cute of you to say.
Emmy, it’s not a secret you’ve been really frustrated by Maddi this season. How are we going to see that dynamic play out as you rise up the ranks at Republic?
ES: The thing about Maddi is that when we were filming, she kept everything pretty private and tucked away. Until she was literally forced to talk about her issues, she wouldn’t talk about them. I don’t know what she’s said about me in her confessionals, but the conversations she and I had this season were intense. When you guys see Miami, it’s going to be insane.
TD: I’m curious to see the Miami trip myself.
ES: It took a year off my life, at least a year. It’s really intense and unfortunate, what goes down with Maddi.
TD: Yeah, it is very unfortunate. It gets kind of dark.
ES: We were genuinely very close in the past.
WK: At this point in the season, you’ve seen all the cracks in all the friendships in the group and something happens in Miami. I don’t know if it’s just Miami. I fucking hate Miami [laughs]. You get drunk and spend money or fight with people. When we got there, something fractured. The cracks that were in the friend group turned into really big problems that didn’t play out well for most everyone.
ES: You sat everyone down at a table and everyone started talking and then you had to figure out who’s a liar and who’s not. Because when everyone’s there, you can’t lie about what you’re saying to that person…
TD: Screenshots.
Receipts, proof, timeline…
ES: Fucking everything [laughs]!
TD: [Laughs] There is a timeline and there are receipts.
ES: If I go into my camera roll right now, there’s probably about 18-20 screenshots of just text messages from the middle of our Miami trip.
TD: And there’s one person trying to play both sides.
ES: Some people don’t like being held accountable.
After a trip like Miami or after false cheating rumors run rampant or just a bad night out, how do you keep things professional at work?
ES: When I’m at work, I’m at work. My biggest thing about Maddi is that she has no idea how to separate her personal and professional life. That is the biggest pet peeve. Ultimately, I became so frustrated with her because she wasn’t doing her job correctly.
Since we’re on the topics of blondes, TJ, I did want to ask you about Salley. You confronted her during your break about sleeping with your roommate Gaston while leading on Joe Bradley. Were you wary of her from the start?
TD: I thought it was silly that someone who makes between $200K-$250K at her job at the hospital wanted to get paid $20 an hour to host at the front door at Republic. She’s a fan. She’s been in Charleston for a while, and I know that her last relationship ended in a bit of a scandal. She has a past and everyone knows about it, especially now. I don’t know how she thought she could get away with banging Gaston and then pretending that she had feelings for Joe without someone saying something.
TJ, I feel like you hold all the secrets of Republic.
ES: You want to know anything, TJ knows it. Though, he’s really great at keeping secrets. TJ is a great person to have on your side, and a really bad person to not have on your side.
WK: TJ is the bearer of knowledge about everything that happens in Charleston. I’m honestly proud of the way that he handles the responsibility because he could ruin a lot of people’s lives or cause a lot of problems.
ES: He’s the glue that holds us all together.
TD: If I was 10 years younger, I don’t know if I could handle it all. I was a different person then. However, I feel like I have matured a lot in the last couple of years.
So besides the Miami trip, what else can you tease about the rest of the season?
TD: I don’t know. The Miami trip checks all the boxes.
ES: Every single box.
TD: The second half of the season really goes deeply into our relationships, whether positive or negative.
ES: You get to see why there’s so much animosity between some people and why they continue to butt heads. You get answers.
WK: There’s lots of loving, lots of fighting…
TD: Crying.
ES: Lots of crying.
WK: Some friend break-ups, I would say.
ES: Lots of Joe Bradley [laughs].
