Southern Hospitality star Joe Bradley really likes Summer House’s Danielle Olivera, but he’s taking their romance slow.
“I was kind of telling my friends and my mom earlier, I adore Danielle and I’ve never hit it off with someone so fast to the point where she’s been to Charleston twice,” Joe, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 23, while discussing the latest season of Southern Hospitality. “This is my third time up here [in New York City] and even if I wasn’t here for Watch What Happens [With Andy Cohen], I would’ve come up to visit her this week. But, I think we moved a little too fast.”
Joe and Danielle, 35, sparked a connection at BravoCon in November 2023 despite a seven-year age gap.
“Age doesn’t matter, but I think what stage in your life matters,” he told Us. “My career is just getting started in [the] food and bev [industry], and I think, hopefully, I’m going to own my own business [one day]. She already owns her own app.”
Joe can acknowledge the “plus side” to their age gap and Danielle’s success with her Donne fashion app. “She has free time. I can come in here during the week, come up here and she can kind of beat her own drum and she calls a shot,” he added.
Despite a strong connection, Joe explained to Us that he’s “kind of pressing the brakes a little bit.”
“I just want to make sure we’re in the right place before I’m officially, like, ‘I’m your boyfriend, you’re my girlfriend.’ I don’t want to get hurt,” he said on Tuesday. “But more importantly, I don’t want to see her get hurt, and I just want to be in the best place possible before we make a hard launch.”
Joe Bradley, Danielle Olivera Mindy Small/Getty Images(2)
Despite uncertainty about their next steps, Joe can admit that the pair have a great bond and told Us that he “gravitated toward” her personality, career motivations and seeing how much “she loves her family and her friends.”
“She [has] this amazing work ethic and she can turn it off and she can go toe-to-toe with me and drink me under the table,” he quipped. “So, if you can balance that work ethic and that party life that I like to try to balance. That’s why I think I get along with the Summer House people well.”
Danielle is “the only person” that Joe is currently seeing despite not yet making things official.
“That’s what I think we’re figuring out right now,” he said. “So we’re still a little confused, but the one thing we’re not confused about is that we have feelings for each other.”
Reality TV brings people together! Us Weekly has gathered the many reality stars who have mingled with other reality stars and ended in a relationship. Bravolebrities, for example, are no strangers to crossover hookups. In August 2019, Craig Conover, Shep Rose and Austen Kroll visited the cast of Summer House at their Hamptons home. During […]
Joe further noted that Danielle was the one who “ignited that conversation” about taking the next step, which he is wary to do considering his own interpersonal struggles.
“I think I just need to be more disciplined myself, be a better communicator,” Joe said. “If I’m going to call her my girlfriend, I need to communicate like she deserves. I need to communicate [as] a boyfriend, and I just don’t know if I’m there yet. I’m getting pulled from all angles at the club. I just have a lot going on and I just need to make sure I’m at a place where I can prioritize her.”
Joe works as the VIP manager at Southern Charm cast member Leva Bonaparte’s Republic Lounge & Garden. Leva and her employees landed a spinoff series, called Southern Hospitality, in 2022.
“I just think this season is bigger and crazier than it’s ever been,” Joe said about season 2, which is currently airing on Bravo. “And I think we’re all just kind of getting our footing. We’re also still a lot closer and a lot more has happened in our friend group and with the dynamic and the tides change in the friend group, it just is a whole different dynamic.”
Throughout seasons 1 and 2, fans have seen Joe and his coworkers go toe-to-toe and fuel plenty of drama.
“I think even though we all work together and a lot of us have made amends since we filmed, rewatching it definitely reignites some of the bad flames and new flames,” he told Us. “So, I didn’t know that me hanging out with this new guy Oisin [O’Neill] really ruffled some feathers [and] watching them talk about it behind my back and how they felt about me.”
While Joe acknowledged that it meant his Southern Hospitality costars “[cared] about me,” it was “interesting” to watch back.
“It was kind of nice, but at the same time, it’s kind of interesting because when you’re sitting in the studio doing your interviews and your confessionals, no one else is around. It’s just you,” he said. “I’ve never kind of rewatched my friends talk s–t about me, but I’m guilty of it too. I’ve talked s–t about them too.”
Joe, meanwhile, doesn’t regret befriending Oisin since he tries to be the “king of hospitality” and empathize with other Charleston newcomers.
“I’ve always kind of been the glue and kind of the connector,” he added. “But no, I don’t regret becoming friends with him. I have more fun with him anyway.”
Southern Hospitality airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi