Craig Conover Says He Pulled Back from Drinking to Show Paige DeSorbo He Was 'Husband and Father Material' (Exclusive)

• Craig Conover returns to Southern Charm season 10 after largely cutting back on his alcohol consumption to focus on his business, Sewing Down South, and building a future with girlfriend Paige DeSrobo

• The Pillow Talk author tells PEOPLE that “probably once every two months I'll have a drink or two”

• Regarding the next steps with DeSorbo, Conover says he and his fellow Bravolebrity are “playing the long game” and want to “die together one day”

Craig Conover’s life may look a little different on season 10 of Southern Charm.

“I pretty much stopped drinking,” Conover, 35, tells PEOPLE. “Probably once every two months I'll have a drink or two, but that is drastically better than drinking every night or every other night. I'm having fun finding that middle ground.”

Thinking about settling down with his girlfriend, Summer House’s Paige DeSorbo, caused Conover to make the change.

“I had made a decision months before the season started to become more of a husband and father material than just the fun boyfriend,” he says. “I could see it in Paige's eyes that she saw the person I could be. A lot of the energy I used to put into going out was now being put into my company, so my schedule has increased drastically. I just feel like a regular person now instead of someone that's waiting to film again.”

Related: Southern Charm Stars Reflect on 10 Seasons: What They've Learned, What They Regret and What the Future Holds (Exclusive)

Conover’s dad stopped drinking after he was born, which encouraged the Sewing Down South founder to do the same thing.

“I talked to my dad and I was like, ‘Well, nothing bad's happening.’ And he's like, "Yeah, you're right. You're not blacking out. You're not drinking in excess like that anymore, but nothing good's happening either. You're living a very stagnant life and it's very repetitive.’ And that was a great point,” Conover says. “I always imagined myself doing that [like my dad]. I just didn't realize that you needed to start somewhere.”

Conover used the Reframe app to help him on his journey towards moderation. “I didn't know any better. I was just filling my time. Every activity to me was a drinking activity, and I never knew the world outside of it,” Conover admits. “That was always my priority, and I've found value in other things. It's been a real blessing.”

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Now, Conover puts more energy towards working out, spending quality time with his family, traveling with DeSorbo, 32, and tending to his garden and bees. “Wholesome activities,” he says. “There is a part of me that I haven't necessarily killed off, but I've put away. And I think people who really liked that side of me will have to mourn, which I never considered before.”

Some of those people include his Southern Charm costars.

“I don't want to give away this season, but the issue is if someone that's not ready to evolve a little bit, they don't understand giving up that one thing for everything else,” Conover says. “And they're like, ‘How could you possibly give up all of our good times?’ And you're like, ‘Well, there's a lot else out there.’ But I want people to know that there's a lot of life between seasons and a lot of work you have to put in. It doesn't happen overnight. I've got a long way to go, but I'm better than I was a year ago.”

Shep Rose seemed ready to make a similar change after blacking out at last year’s BravoCon, but Conover didn’t immediately respond to his ask for support. “In my opinion, Shep wasn't ready to do what it takes to actually make a change,” the Pillow Talk author says. “I've heard that story 1,000,000 times from him and 1,000,000 times from myself, so that was just coming from experience with him. But I do know that he genuinely wants something more out of life, and I'm excited for him to find that.”

Conover also feels excited about a future with DeSorbo. The reality stars recently put rumors of a breakup to rest when they posted about spending Thanksgiving together, but the couple understands the intrigue surrounding their relationship that comes with broadcasting their lives on TV.

“When people ask about me and Paige, Paige says it well, she's like, ‘I get it. When I watch TV shows, I feel like I want to know that I'm a part of it,’” Conover says. “We share our lives with everyone, but there's a lot of noise.”

The duo tries to block it out in hopes of being “healthier than a lot of other couples that you see on your TV,” Conover says. “We're playing the long game. It would be easy to go for instant gratification, but the foundation that we're building is so that we die together one day, not just make it fun.”

Despite constant fan speculation, Conover says he and DeSorbo have taken the pressure off of themselves to take the next step in their relationship.

“We know we're going to get married one day, and when it happens, it'll be a lot of fun, but whenever that is, who knows?” he says. “Once you take yourself out of that pressure cooker and have some perspective and travel, life's a little more simple. There's no reason to put pressure on it. I think people will have a lot more of our lives to watch because we're taking our time than if we were to rush it.”

Conover infamously said on last season of Southern Charm that it wouldn’t be “the end of the world” if he and DeSorbo broke up. But now, heading into the 10th season of the Bravo show, “I'm committed to doing what it takes to make it work,” he says. “We really don't know what that looks like. We've got a couple years probably until we start having kids, and then we'll have to figure it out. But I've really taken this normal role now of being a happy wife, happy life.”

Related: Shep Rose Spent BravoCon 2023 in a Black Out: How a Call from Andy Cohen Helped Him Make Changes (Exclusive)

He sees himself starting a family with DeSorbo, too, and eventually living in the same place when that happens.

“The goal is when we do start to have kids, we'll be able to stay home with them as much as possible,” Conover says. “We had to make the decision: do we go live a traditional life with someone that's not each other and I find someone in Charleston or not? We decided finding your person is the hard part and then we'll figure it out after.”

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Southern Charm premieres Thursday, Dec. 5, at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

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