Millionaire star of Southern Charm, 51, splits from 22-year-old mother of his year-old daughter saying ‘age gap was too much’ – and is pictured kissing another woman
Even by the torrid standards of reality television, their relationship was tempestuous.
As viewers of Bravo’s ‘Southern Charm’ are all too aware, millionaire Thomas Ravenel, 51, and Kathryn Calhoun Dennis, 22, have had their ups and downs.
Having a daughter together was supposed to seal their love for each other and fans of the Bravo TV show were thrilled by the arrival of baby Kensington.
A preview of the second season of the show last night suggested strongly that the couple were still together, featuring scenes of them at home with their baby. In one Dennis was described as ‘a hillbilly femme fatale’.
But any happiness for the mismatched pair was short lived as Daily Mail Online can reveal they are no longer a couple.
The split was confirmed by 51-year-old Ravenel who said the 29-year age gap with his flame-haired girlfriend was a deciding factor.
Kiss: Pictured locking lips with a mystery girl. this picture was ‘when I was no longer with Kathryn’, Thomas Ravenel told Radar Online.
Ravenel confirmed he and 22-year-old Dennis have irrevocably gone their separate ways.
He said the split was amicable and they shared custody of their daughter, Kensington, who will soon turn one.
‘Kathryn and I have been on and off for quite a while, but now we are off,’ said Ravenel.
‘I still love her to bits, but we are no longer together. We share a child we both adore and still get along. Our focus is bringing up Kensington.
‘In the end I think the age gap was just too much. Twenty nine years is a big gap and in ten years time I will be in my sixties but Kathryn would just be out of her twenties.
‘That is a big difference to bridge and it was just not possible. Who knows, one day we might get back together.’
Rumors of a permanent split have circulated among the wealthy young set of Charleston in South Carolina where the TV reality series ‘Southern Charms’ is filmed.
The show depicts the lives of wealthy young men and their Southern belles set amid the plantations and mansions of Charleston.
Season One of the series attracted over one million viewers leading Bravo to commission the second season. It begins next week, on March 16.
Fans of Southern Charm were left in no doubt that Ravenel, whose father is the former congressman Arthur Ravenel Jr, and Dennis were very much an item.
A pregnancy scare for Dennis was a pivotal event in season one of the hit show. Ravenel accompanied her to her doctor’s office for a test – though at the time, it wasn’t clear whether the potential father was Ravenel or another ‘Southern Charm’ leading man.
When the cameras stopped rolling, Ravenel and Dennis stole away to Florida for a romantic tryst that resulted in Dennis becoming pregnant.
Having shown off their baby daughter Kensington in a reunion show last year the scene was set for cameras to follow the new parents on their life as a family.
Cracks in the relationship became a talking point in Charleston after a photograph of Ravenel kissing a mystery woman at a club surfaced on social media.
The picture was posted to his Instagram account and quickly deleted but has been seen by Daily Mail Online.
Ravenel told Daily Mail Online he can’t remember when the photograph was taken but insisted it was after he split with Dennis.
One of the photos posted to Instagram shows Ravenel’s lips locked with the dark haired girl whose identity remains unclear.
Meesage: Ravenel announced a split previously but then oatched things up. He confirmed to Daily Mail Online that they had split again – and that it was final
A comment underneath has an apparent swipe at Ravenel’s womanizing, saying: ‘Have another drink Thomas. Just grow UP. People want to like you but you always mess that idea up. Again grow up.’
Ravenel said he was unaware the photos had been posted until contacted by Daily Mail Online – although they were on the Instagram account he maintains – but after viewing them said: ‘I might be a lot of things, but I am not a cheater.
‘I did not cheat on Kathryn with another woman. And she has not cheated on me. When that photograph was taken I was no longer with Kathryn.
‘We had gone out separate ways. We were no longer a couple.
‘I do not know if she has seen any other person but she would be perfectly entitled to. What she gets up to his her own business.
‘Kathryn is the craziest but also the sanest person I have ever met.’
The couple’s turbulent relationship played out in Season One of the TV show.
The hook-up between millionaire Ravenel, who had a failed bid for the US Senate last year, and a woman less than half his age was one of the main attention grabbers of the show.
Viewers were left in no doubt about the fragile state of their close friendship with allegations of infidelity by Dennis.
The birth of their daughter 11 months ago was supposed to seal their relationship and fans of the series got their first glimpse of their baby girl in a Reunion show with the other four cast members Craig Conover, Cameroan Eubanks, Shep Rose and Whitney Sudler-Smith.
They also posed happily for pictures as Kensington was baptized and previously viewers had seen him meet her parents and share prayer with them at their own southern mansion.
Any differences Ravenel and Dennis had appeared to have patched up at Christmas when the 22-year-old posted photos of them together during a short break in New York city.
But in fact, on returning to Charleston they went their separate ways.
Ravenel lives on his plantation estate in Edisto Island, about 40 miles from Charleston, while Dennis divides her time between her parents’ home and friends’ houses in the city. He also has a mansion in the city.
Family members of Dennis confirmed Daily Mail Online the show of togetherness over Christmas was only temporary.
‘They are not together anymore,’ said Kathryn’s father Luke.
Other family members are pleased Ravenel is no longer in Kathryn’s life.
‘To me he is a jerk and I’m glad to see the back of him,’ said one family member who asked to remain anonymous.
‘There are many in the family who have never like him and are not sorry they have split up.’
Kathryn refused to comment when contacted by Daily Mail.com.
‘I’m sorry but I am not allowed to say anything. You have to contact Bravo.’
Much of the second series of the reality show focus on Ravenel’s attempt to win the Senate seat for South Carolina.
He ran against Lindsay Graham but ended up finishing third. The Senate bid was an attempt to re-start his political career following his spectacular fall from favor in 2007 when he was State Treasurer
Ravenel was arrested on drugs offences and later jailed for 10 months.
A court heard he began taking drugs aged 18 and was seen using cocaine at numerous parties held in the Charleston area. One of his sisters called him ‘the golden boy that so suddenly fell from grace’.
Ravenel attempted to re-build his reputation by running against Graham. But his political aspirations were dealt a devastating blow in October when he was accused of assaulting his then girlfriend’s hairdresser at his home in downtown Charleston.
Lauren Mosser claimed Ravenel slammed a door in her face causing her to fall down.
She also said he fell into a swimming pool while carrying his then six month old daughter.
Police investigated the allegations but found no evidence to bring charges.
