Southern Charm is in between seasons at the moment, but Kathryn Dennis still has drama to contend with. Back in March, not long after the controversial Season 7 reunion special aired, it came to light that Dennis had lost custody of her two children to their father, Thomas Ravenel. Of late, she's been speaking out publicly on her struggle with the arrangement, particularly how being without her kids is supposedly “normal.”
Kathryn Dennis had shared previously on Southern Charm that she and Thomas Ravenel had 50/50 custody of their kids, Saint and Kensie. But The Sun confirmed that a swift court ruling at the beginning of this year changed things so that Ravenel received full custody once again, with Dennis getting supervised weekend visitations. Yesterday on her Instagram stories, Dennis provided more insight on the situation when a fan asked her how she coped without her kids. She wrote:
There will be a lot more difficult times than good times when you are without your kids. It's normal. It's normal if it's only difficult at first. It's going to be that way, it's going to be hard..you gotta accept that's just the way it is and pivot. Just like everything in parenting. I like to visualize a tunnel and the light at the end being my children. Focus on the light even if it seems dim at first. Kids are resilient and the bigger picture is not as bad as the smaller picture feels.
Reportedly, the most recent custody dispute was due to Thomas Ravenel accusing Kathryn Dennis of drug use and neglect of their kids. Dennis’ struggles with sobriety and custody have in fact been well-documented in the past seven seasons of Southern Charm. However, her seemingly drastic change of appearance from Season 7 to the reunion show shocked many Bravo viewers, who believed it to be a health concern.
Despite the loss of equal custody, Kathryn Dennis still frequently shares posts of herself with her kids on social media. On her recent Instagram Stories, she even detailed what she does to ease the pain of her absence in their lives while she and Thomas Ravenel co-parent. She said:
I started doing a little projects like setting up Kensie's dolls for her and telling them they had been playing while she was gone, moving the Pokémon action figures and saying they were battling while they were gone! I also get through with a lot of DIY projects or prep for them and doing their Lego sets LOL just some food for thought that I thought I could add
Fans are eagerly anticipating Southern Charm’s eighth season, which Radar Online reported would start filming in September. Most of the same crew is expected back, including Kathryn Dennis, Shep Rose, Craig Conover and Austin Kroll, among others, with some mysterious new additions to supposedly even things out as well. But it's Kroll’s ex-girlfriend Madison LeCroy who is most endeared to come back and share more about those alleged A-Rod rumors that came about at the reunion.
Kathryn Dennis faced a dififcult Southern Charm season last year, as her controversial race comments engendered a backlash from some of her co-stars. It's looking like this year will likely be the same, as the show delves deeper into the contentious custody battle yet again.
