Exclusive Interview
‘Southern Hospitality’: Justin Assada Teases Mia Alario Romance & Group’s ‘Harsh’ Reaction
What To Know
- Justin Assada is the newest cast member on Southern Hospitality Season 4.
- In an interview with Swooon, he opens up about his love life.
- Assada teases a romance with Mia Alario and reveals that there will be a dramatic fallout this season.
Justin Assada is the new guy on Southern Hospitality, but he’s wasting no time moving in on the ladies in the cast. Earlier this season, we saw a clip of him out with Molly Moore, and then he took her roommate, Jordyn, as his date to a party.
Plus, Justin has also mentioned that he’s crushing on Mia Alario, who is newly single after breaking up with her boyfriend of two years, Troy Radtke. Needless to say, things seem like they could get messy for Justin this season, and he confirmed to Swooon that the situation is going to “explode” as the episodes continue.
Justin said “something fun” will be going down between him and Mia. “When I first met Mia, I was so enamored by her,” Justin dished. “I think she’s stunning. I think her banter is unbelievable. I think, socially, we just kick on so well. When I hear that she’s single, it’s music to my ears. I’m jubilant about it.”
However, he teased that the fallout will get intense when the rest of the cast gets involved. “It was a situation where me and Mia were all for it, but felt the pressures of the group and having to deal with the peanut gallery in that sense … and allegations and rumors and all this. It gets so clouded and so conflicted that it blows up,” the Perfect Match alum explained.
Viewers will get to see whether he and Mia “keep kicking on and keep seeing each other” or if they “succumb to the social pressures of everyone else.” He added, “Pressure is not even the right word for it. These are harsh and heavy words that the group has. The season plays out interestingly, though. You’ll be surprised to see how it all shakes out.”
Scroll down for more scoop on Justin’s love life and what else we can expect as the season continues.
Were you interested in a serious relationship when you moved back to Charleston [from Australia]?
Justin Assada: Definitely not interested in anything serious when I came back. I wanted to have fun. I think I did have fun. It’s tough because you get into a situationship … I’m a lover boy when it comes down to it. I feel like I’m very sympathetic to things and empathetic to people. I guess sometimes it goes a bit deeper than just having fun and I think I found myself in that conundrum a few times down in Charleston. It kind of boils over for me, for sure. It definitely explodes and comes back to bite me in the butt. I’m a lover boy through and through, so I guess you could call it love-bombing.
We saw you out with Molly but then you also went to a party with her roommate, Jordyn … what was going on there?
Justin: Say what you want about me and my love-bombing, but I’m always so transparent on what I think things are and what they will be. Maybe some people have a certain hope for me thinking I’m naive to certain situations, and they can essentially fix me. But I guess you can’t fix me. It felt like it was a weird situation. Watching this back, not to give too much of it away, but it does f**king explode. It gets to a point, I guess I won’t necessarily name names, but it gets to a point where people feel so soured that it feels vengeful on their part, trying to get back at me. I’ve never dealt with anything like that.
I’ve been in situationships before, if I could even deem it that, and you kind of just go your separate ways. I’ve always been someone to think that if someone doesn’t want me then I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to ruin their life or justify something that wasn’t there, but I’m f**king caught in the middle of that. It was stressful, I won’t lie. There were points when we were filming, and it sounds dramatic, but I was like … I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to explain myself over and over again and be deemed public enemy No. 1 just for dating around a bit.
So, just to clarify, you’re saying that things explode because maybe you’re pursuing too many people at once?
Justin: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, probably. But I will vouch for myself and I will always say everybody knew about everything and I was transparent. You don’t want to be second fiddle, so to say. You kind of just want to be in the spotlight, and I guess they were in the spotlight, so…
How did you and Mia meet?
Justin: We met in Vegas, actually, in April, before filming. She was in the relationship at the time, but still, I was crushing pretty hard. I’m probably an idiot, and it’s just my point of view, but I felt like we did have something, whether it was just a great friendship or maybe a little bit more, it always felt like me and Mia just kind of aligned in a certain way, just socially and in regards to our interests and things like that, as well. And she’s beautiful, too. I’ve always been so interested and intrigued with Mia.
Had you seen the show before filming, and what was your impression going into it?
Justin: No, never saw the show. My sisters watched. If anything I tuned into Bravo-wise it was more Real Housewives. I think, too, coming down here I didn’t want to have any preconceived notions about anybody. I didn’t want to watch the show and have sort of a certain disposition on certain people. As much as people would laugh at that because of all the turmoil and things people have done in the past to other people, I really wanted to give other people a chance and decide who I wanted to spend the most of my time with.
How long were you living in Australia and what was that like?
Justin: It was great. I think it was close to seven or eight months. I was there with my girlfriend. I was content with it. Unfortunately, we had a falling out, and I guess I kind of just explain it like a bullfight in a way. It’s like when a bull gets hurt or harmed or injured, it always returns to the place in the ring where it feels most comfortable and most safe. In hindsight, in retrospect, thinking back on it, Charleston was always somewhere that felt like home to me. So as soon as that relationship came to an end, it was kind of like … how fast can I get back to Charleston?
What are your plans for the future? Will you come back to the show if you’re asked?
Justin: I would definitely come back. I have all these goals that I want to achieve within the Republic Hospitality Group. I’m starting to get really into cooking, like, I want to be a chef now. So maybe I’ll get into the kitchen and start working things around and maybe Leva [Bonaparte] will let me revamp a menu item or two. But my roots are in Charleston. I have some great friends here and great people in general. I’m so excited to be back and see where things go.
Southern Hospitality, Season 4, Wednesdays, 9/8c, Bravo
