Entertainment

Just How Loaded Are The 'Southern Charm'ers?

by Sara Steinfeld

The way I see it, Season 2 of Southern Charm is Bravo's very own mega train wreck. The characters are somewhat intolerable, the First World Problems they face are nonsensical, and the whole idea of class and hierarchy in Southern society is totally icky, but I just can't stop watching. But as these folks drink their $2,000 dollar wine (or bring their own bartenders when only regular people wine is available, Patricia), I can't help but wonder just how much money this Southern Charm cast is really working with.

Southern Charm, much like the entire Real Housewives franchise, won't let us get through an episode without bringing up money, so can we really be blamed for wondering how the heck these Southern Charm-ers acquired all of that money in the first place? In the name of better reality TV understanding, I've taken it upon myself to research the financial backgrounds of the Southern Charm cast members, half out of curiosity and half because there is no way Kathryn Dennis can keep her hair that vibrant shade of red without some seriously expensive hair stylists.

Sure it's a little gauche to rank these folks by what kind of heat their bank accounts are packing, but so is a lot of what goes on on Southern Charm so I'm going with it:

1. Landon Clements

According to Celebrity NetWorth (which isn't exactly the most reliable source out there, though it sure is the only one) SC's newest lady has got some SERIOUS money in the bank: An estimated $3 million, to be exact, but I don't know if I buy that. In addition to whatever money she makes a bravolebrity, Landon's an interior designer, and according to Chron, interior designers earn an average yearly salary of $47,620. They also report that the designers in top 10 percent of the industry earn about $86,430 per year. Assuming that Landon's clientele are among Charleston's elite, I think it's relatively fair to assume that she's in the top 10 percent. If she's been in the business since graduating 12 years ago, she's probably doing pretty well for herself and if the Celeb NetWorth numbers are correct, it's possible she got a hefty divorce settlement from her "James Bond Brit" ex.

2. Whitney Sudler-Smith

First things first: His mother drinks $2,000 wine and if that's not an indication of serious wealth, then I don't know what is. Whitney himself is a filmmaker, an Executive Producer on Southern Charm, and is the child of a socialite and a Wall Street man. With his family money and Hollywood success, I'm putting his net worth in the multiple millions. How else could he be the way he is? You win this round, Patricia.

3. Thomas Ravenel

With his mildly successful scandal-ridden political career, real estate business, and all of the money made from Southern Charm, Ravenel's gotta have some serious money. The average state treasurer salary is about $88,000, and can go as high as $207,000. Considering he only held that position for a year, his money probably came from smart investments in his own business and family money (his father was a congressman). But he's not bringing his own bartender everywhere, so I'm going to bet he's not as well off as party "boy" Whitney.

4. Kathryn Dennis

Other than being a mother to Thomas Ravenel's child, Kathryn doesn't really have too much going on professionally. She is, however, a descendant of several high-profile government men, including John C. Calhoun. She's definitely got some serious Southern family money coming her way — her clothes were fabulous long before she starting getting into it with Thomas Ravenel, after all.

5. Shep Rose

First things first, Shep comes from oooooooold Southern money. That said, according to his Bravo bio, Shep has recently opened his own restaurant, Palace Hill, in Charleston. According to the Chron, the average restaurant owner makes about $79,000 per year—if Shep were only surviving on his income alone, then I would bring his net worth into to about $100,000. However, as previously noted, he's from old Southern money, and more likely than not has a few trust funds in his name. He's doing pretty well for himself by all accounts.

6. Cameran Eubanks

Bravo just looooves their real estate agents, but there's no way Cameran could be doing so hot money-wise on her job alone. Charleston is one of the worst cities to be a real estate agent in the U.S., and the average median salary is just over $35,000 per year. We know that Cameran was recently married, she came from an upper-class Southern family, and she's a reality TV veteran (she starred on The Real World: San Diego) so it's possible that she's working with some decent dough.

7. Craig Conover

Craig's a confusing one. As far as we know from watching the show and his Bravo bio, he's taken time off after law school to study for the bar exam, which he still hasn't taken. I find it hard to believe that he could be a first year associate and still have all the time he does to go out, but his Instagram suggests that he's been doing some modeling on the side since the show first aired. He's more likely than not making a halfway decent wage working a low level position at a law firm and bringing in extra cash modeling — but it probably doesn't help that (from what we can tell about this season) Craig doesn't keep his law firm gig for all that long.

Images: Jeff Gentner, Robert Ascroft/Bravo