Carl Radke has Paige DeSorbo’s back in the wake of her messy split from Craig Conover.
The “Summer House” star, 40, tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” in an exclusive interview where he stands with the former couple after DeSorbo, 32, announced her breakup with Conover, 36, in December.
“I’ve been closer to Paige,” Radke says of supporting his castmate. “I feel sorry for Craig and the whole situation. But I’m friends with Paige and that’s who I care about.”
Despite his allegiance to DeSorbo, the Bravolebrity adds that the split has “been a really hard situation” for both the “Giggly Squad” podcast co-host and the “Southern Charm” star.
Radke goes on to say that he had a “pretty positive” experience with Conover when he visited the “Summer House” crew’s Hamptons rental while filming Season 9 last year.
“I remember him vividly loading the fridge with non-alcoholic beer and I was like, ‘Dude, that’s awesome,’” says Radke, who is proudly sober after conquering his battle with substance abuse.
The Soft Bar + Cafe founder says he was “excited to have a buddy” to skip booze with as Conover had recently ditched drinking, too, during production.
Although Radke had a fine time with Conover, he could sense tension in the latter’s romance with DeSorbo.
“You could tell there were some things behind the surface and I think just from my own personal experience, it gets to a point where you have all this noise round you,” he says, reflecting on the ups and downs in his relationship with his ex-fiancée and co-star Lindsay Hubbard.
“It’s like, ‘When are you going to get married? When are you going to start doing this?’ And it adds to a lot of anxiousness and I’m sure Paige [felt that] you’re going to maybe see.”
Radke says he “didn’t hear much” about the situation himself, but had caught wind that issues were being discussed between DeSorbo and her closest gal pals, Ciara Miller and Amanda Batula.
“I sure heard Ciara and Amanda had a lot of opening up about where she was at,” he tells “Virtual Reali-Tea.” “So I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
Radke was well aware, however, that maintaining a long-distance relationship was proving to be a tough task for DeSorbo, a New York City resident, Conover, who lives in Charleston. S.C. — especially as each of their careers skyrocketed throughout the course of their three-year relationship.
“I was certainly privy to some of the challenges they had, obviously long distance being the major one,” he says.
Radke, who knows the sometimes tricky endeavor of navigating a relationship on national television, also emphasizes that such a feat may have taken a toll on DeSorbo and Conover’s connection.
“It’s really hard to be in a relationship in these houses,” he notes.
DeSorbo detailed her decision to part ways in a Dec. 30 episode of her “Giggly Squad” podcast with co-host Hannah Berner.
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“I think we both were just being really mature and saying what we want and what we didn’t want,” she said at the time. “I think it is the right decision for both of us.”
Conover, for his part, remained silent for two weeks before saying on his Instagram Story that he was “very shocked” by the split.
The Sewing Down South founder later claimed during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” that he was dumped “out of nowhere.” He also failed to shut down baseless speculation that DeSorbo cheated on him.
Subsequently, Conover appeared on “The Tamron Hall Show” to assert that there was no infidelity on either side and that their breakup was amicable.
“Summer House” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
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