Southern Charm's Danni Baird Shares Why She Felt "Guilty" About Kathryn C. Dennis' Drama with Ashley Jacobs
"I [was] the maddest I [had] ever been in my life," she said of the moment.
Southern Charm fans have long known Danni Baird to be one of the calm, cool, collected, and kind friends among the bunch. Over the years, Danni has mostly stayed out of the Charleston drama, instead opting to support her pals when they needed it most.
But that was not the case during Thursday night's episode of Southern Charm. As things got heated between Kathryn C. Dennis and Ashley Jacobs during the Charmers' Hilton Head trip, Danni stepped in to try to diffuse the situation and also defend Kathryn. "I am the maddest I have ever been in my life and [I] dropped a lot of F bombs that I really wish I wouldn't have. I have come to realize that when I am very fired up, I evidently drop the F bomb a lot, and I don't like that," Danni said during an interview with The Daily Dish over the phone in advance of the episode airing. "I probably counted 35 times that I said it on tonight's episode. Literally cringeworthy. Oh, God. Sorry, Mom! Sorry, Mom! Normally, I warn my mom [about the episode in advance]; I'm just not even doing it tonight."
Danni opened up to The Daily Dish about what got her to that place during the moment with Ashley. "Above all else, it's because Kathryn is like a little sister to me, and I've seen the amount of work and self-focus, like she's really paid attention to being constructive and focusing on her kids and her life. And she's been through an unimaginable amount of BS," she shared. "And to watch somebody just come in and try to barrel over her really kind of struck me."
When Danni first met Ashley, she said that it seemed like she really wanted to try to get along with Kathryn. "I had had some conversations with Ashley before she had met Kathryn, and she had asked me for advice like, 'How should I approach Kathryn?' She seemed very genuine," Danni said. "And I gave her advice because I came from a relationship with an ex-wife and kids. And she didn't take the advice, which is fine, I get it. But for her to do a 180 in Hilton Head, I almost felt guilty for. I wasn't an advocate for Ashley, but I was very supportive of Kathryn giving Ashley a chance. And I almost felt like I was stabbed in the gut when she revealed her true motives. I mean, I felt bad that I put Kathryn in that situation or that I had even trusted Ashley."
So when this other side of Ashley seemed to come out in Hilton Head, it was like "Jekyll and Hyde," according to Danni. "Ashley, like, she kind of came in to Thomas [Ravenel's] life assuming something about Kathryn not knowing her and thought she might just roll in and take her place. And her not knowing that Kathryn had done all of this personal development backfired, and she didn't know how to handle it. I think that's what you see when you see her snap in Hilton Head. Like, she doesn't know how to deal with it," Danni said. "We were all very supportive of her. We included her. Kathryn was just open. She was just very composed. She was never rude to Ashley whatsoever."
Ashley explained why she became so upset with Kathryn that night during the trip in the Southern Charm After Show. "The night that everything went down in Daufuskie Island, there was something that just wasn't vibing," she said. "I think people are more surprised to see that behavior because they see so sweet, so nice, so nice. But if you push me, push me, push me, you don't want me to come back up."
Danni told The Daily Dish that she was glad to see Kathryn maintain her composure during her conversation with Ashley. "I'm really, really proud of her. Her kids are the light of her life, and her focus is really on them, and she's just been able to navigate this dignity and composure that a lot of people wouldn't be able to do in the circumstances that have been thrown in front of her. All I can say is, 'Confidence is silent. Insecurities are loud.' Ashley was a siren with a megaphone and amplifier, and Kathryn just maintained her dignity," she shared. "I think it's a testament to how much progress she really has made. I'm really proud of her, and I think it's really obvious. Viewers, I'm sure, see it. Everybody sees it. And I think it's well deserved. The girl needed a break. Give the girl a break! And she has earned every ounce of positivity that she gets."
Catch up on the Hilton Head drama, below.
