Craig Conover Responds to Paige DeSorbo’s Request for a Dog Through Us

Craig Conover and his girlfriend, Paige DeSorbo, are in talks to get a new pet — and Us Weekly is their go-between.

Conover, 35, and DeSorbo, 31, exclusively spoke with Us days apart this week, and De Sorbo asked Us to pass along a message to the Southern Charm star.

“I see his backyard deserves a dog, and he’s, like, very against it,” De Sorbo said. “He’s very conscious of his schedule, which is probably the right way to be, but I’m like, ‘You can hire help, right? You can hire a nanny [for] a dog’. … I would love to know when he’s ready to get a dog down there [in Charleston].”

Despite DeSorbo’s claims that her boyfriend is hesitant to become a dog dad, Conover told Us on Wednesday, September 25, that he thinks it’s “a great idea.”

“I think Daphne would love a brother,” he said, referring to the cat DeSorbo adopted this summer.

Conover noted that his reluctance with diving into pet ownership comes down to his and DeSorbo’s lifestyle. Not only are the pair long-distance — Conover is based in South Carolina while DeSorbo lives in New York City — but they’re both often out of town.

“The thing a lot of people forget is, we’re traveling for work every week. I’m in Nashville for our new store, we’re in Missouri for a new project I’m doing, and then we’re in Portland a lot. … I’m on the road already, and then Paige’s on this crazy, amazing [Giggly Squad Podcast Live] tour,” he said. “When we figure out how to narrow it down to just two places, Charleston and New York, maybe [we can get a dog].”

Despite his doubts about how another pet would fit into his and DeSorbo’s hectic schedules, Conover admitted that Daphne does “great” with all the traveling.

“I didn’t see the vision here with Daphne, so I’ll take Paige’s lead with the dog,” he said. “I’m all about growing our little animal family.”

One of the many responsibilities Conover already has on his plate is his new restaurant and bar concept, By the Way, which is opening in Charleston this fall. He and his friend and business partner Austen Kroll got the idea for the restaurant after realizing that something was missing from the city’s nightlife scene.

“No matter what age you are, it still feels like you’re in college when you’re there, and we were just kind of missing a calmer vibe that was still fun — and your body was still moving because of the music — but that you could hear each other talk,” Conover explained. “We were running into this issue where we’d have so many nice dinners with people visiting and customers and clients, and after the dinner there wasn’t really anywhere to go.”

Conover teased that By the Way should be open by November.

“The vibe, hopefully, will be [that] you go in there before dinner, and a lot of people — we think — will end up missing their dinner reservations,” he said. “They’ll be like, ‘Let’s just stay here.’”

Conover already co-owns the New York City restaurant Carriage House with Kroll, 37, and the duo put a lot of thought into their newest business venture.

“Austen and I traveled a long time together, and we went to a lot of places around the country,” Conover said. “So, we basically took our list of favorite things that we’ve run into in bars and put it into this place.”

With reporting by Amanda Williams and Sarah Hearon