There is a lot to unpack from Jeff Charleston’s argument with his wife Reagan Charleston during the last episode of Southern Charm New Orleans. First of all, they were both wasted, which is fine, but that didn’t exactly aid their communication. Then there was this surface level argument about random women being at guys night, but that wasn’t the real problem.
They both exchanged some low insults and Reagan even threw it in Jeff’s face that she is working and her retired NFL player husband is not- even though we saw earlier in the episode that he is helping her launch her accessories business. And behind the scenes of all that, they were both devastated that Jeff’s parents stole his money and cut off communication. The argument wasn’t contained to the car though. Jeff stormed out of the vehicle and just wandered around New Orleans….drunk…. in the middle of the night.
Jeff reflected on the drama in a Bravo blog post. Jeff explained, “That night in the car with Reagan, I was in a really bad place emotionally. Everything that had happened with my family and my mom really took its toll on our relationship. Things just got heated. Obviously, we had both had way too much to drink and neither one of us had dinner.”
Jeff explained that there was more emotion behind their argument than the events that went down that night: “I was really devastated by my family deceiving and betraying me, and I was a shell of myself. Reagan and I had many conversations at home about the source of my depression. We both worry about the physical impact years of football can take, but we both acknowledged that I had gone through a really traumatic experience. What happened to me happens to professional athletes all the time— but you never think it’s going to happen to you.”
Aside from the concern over possible brain trauma, Jeff still had the family drama on his mind. He admitted, “You never want to believe the people you trust and love can hurt you. I was deeply depressed at that time. I’m not a big drinker, so for Reagan to see me drinking like that at the paint party, she was really worried. But Reagan is no shrinking violet and she will tell you, she can definitely be gentler with her approach.” Clearly.
He shared, “I worked really hard to take care of everyone and say and do the right thing, and my nest egg had been wiped out, and my whole family just cut all communication off with me. There was no one to even project my feelings on to because they cut me out of their lives. Blocked my number.” And on top of that, there is bound to be fall out from Jeff calling out his parents on a reality TV show.
Jeff confessed, “I felt betrayed and deeply hurt that they could turn their back on me, and what you see in the car is a result of a year of upset, stress, sadness, and anger stemming from that. If things were normal, we would have picked up some fast food or take out, and laughed about it all in bed. It could have been a little tiff, but there was so much beneath the surface.”
Charleston revealed, “Reagan tried to tell me for years that she was worried something shady was going on with them, but I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to believe it. And I spent a lot of time being mad at her because she was right all along.”
Bringing it back to that episode, Jeff shared, “I was depressed and had way too much to drink. I had suppressed all of these emotions, and they erupted that night. I didn’t just lose my nest egg, I lost my whole family. It was awful.”
He shared, “And at that time, there was so much talk about brain trauma and contact sports. I had started to worry that the depression I was feeling wasn’t just related to what was going on with my family in Oregon. I was worried that it could be physical and not just emotional. I’ve always been big on taking preventative measures, but there is always that nagging concern. Reagan and I had just had a conversation at home about some article that said alcohol could advance the effects of brain trauma, and it had been weighing on me. So when she brought it up, I just blew up. All of those things I was feeling at that time: hurt, upset, worry… It all came out in the car that night and I just wanted to get away.”
RELATED: Southern Charm New Orleans Recap: Concussion Discussion
Tonight is an all new episode of Southern Charm New Orleans. Join us below to snark through the show at 9/8c!
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SOUTHERN CHARM NEW ORLEANS SO FAR?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
