Craig Conover and Naomie Olindo split in 2017 after a build-up of relationship strain. Olindo later described them as “two very different people that couldn’t get along,” and said that as they grew up, questions such as work ethic and other adult priorities mattered more to her. Conover said they tried to work things out, eventually accepted that the relationship was not working, and that neither of them cheated. Each explanation is a participant’s own retrospective account. Neither the reporting nor the public record establishes a single cause that both agreed on or that was independently verified.
How the relationship and the split unfolded
- 2015: The pair began dating in 2015, according to a retrospective timeline published by Us Weekly on October 12, 2022.
- Season four: The couple had discussed being near a breaking point on the show and had attended couples counseling. At the season-four reunion, they described having made progress.
- September 2017: Olindo publicly confirmed that they were no longer together and said they remained friends. Her confirmation was reported by E! News on September 23, 2017.
- Spring 2018: The breakup’s aftermath appeared on-screen in season five, which aired in spring 2018, months after the real-life split had been confirmed.
- March and April 2018: Conover and Olindo each discussed the breakup in interviews with Bravo’s Daily Dish. Conover’s interview was in March 2018 and Olindo’s in April 2018. Us Weekly later quoted both.
The sequence matters for reading the explanations. The split was public before the season-five storyline aired, and both people’s detailed accounts came after that, so neither one was a contemporaneous statement of motive.
Olindo’s explanation: accumulated differences
Olindo’s account centers on compatibility rather than a single incident. She described the breakup as the result of many things adding up. She said that when she started dating Conover at 22, attraction and shared interests seemed like enough. As they got older, she said, work ethic and other adult considerations became more important to her.
In her words, as reported by Us Weekly from her April 2018 interview with Bravo’s Daily Dish:
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“I think it was just a culmination of things that at the end of it, we were just two very different people that couldn’t get along.”
Conover’s explanation: an effort to repair, then acceptance
Conover’s account focuses on the attempt to save the relationship. He said he and Olindo had good intentions and were trying to work it out, but that after a while they had to accept reality. He described the end as sad and disappointing, and said he wished things had been different.
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“Naomie and I, we had the best of intentions. We were trying to work it out, but after a while we had to accept reality, and I wished things were different. I think we both did.”
He was also asked whether either partner had been unfaithful. His answer, from his March 2018 Bravo interview as quoted by Us Weekly:
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“No one stepped out or cheated or anything.”
Infidelity is not part of either person’s explanation for the split, and the reporting does not suggest it was.
The sewing question
Readers often ask whether the split was about Conover’s sewing. Olindo’s account does not support that framing. She said she did not object to sewing as a hobby. Her stated concern was that she believed he used sewing to put off work and other responsibilities. In her words:
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“It had nothing to do with me not wanting a boyfriend who sews. I don’t care at all about that.”
On her account, the hobby was a visible symptom of a broader disagreement about priorities, not the cause in itself. Conover’s account does not identify sewing as a cause either.
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How the two accounts compare
| Point | Naomie Olindo | Craig Conover |
|---|---|---|
| Where and when she spoke | Bravo’s Daily Dish, April 2018, as quoted by Us Weekly | Bravo’s Daily Dish, March 2018, as quoted by Us Weekly |
| Main explanation | Accumulated differences; they could not get along; adult priorities such as work ethic | Good intentions, an attempt to repair the relationship, and eventually accepting that it was not working |
| Sewing | Objected to what she saw as procrastination on work, not to the hobby | Not presented as a cause of the split |
| Cheating | Not addressed in the quoted interview | Said neither person cheated or “stepped out” |
What the accounts establish and what they do not
- Established by the public record: The couple began dating in 2015, had couples counseling and publicly acknowledged strain on the show, Olindo confirmed the split in September 2017, and the season-five on-screen fallout aired in spring 2018.
- Established only as each person’s account: The reasons for the split. Olindo’s explanation is about incompatibility and priorities. Conover’s is about trying to repair the relationship and accepting its end.
- Not established: A single definitive cause, or any finding that one person was more responsible than the other.
- Conover’s memoir: His book, Pillow Talk: What’s Wrong With My Sewing?, discusses the breakup and includes his account, according to Us Weekly. It is a source for his perspective, not independent corroboration of either person’s explanation.
Readers who want the most direct primary material should start with the interviews quoted in Us Weekly’s timeline and E! News’s September 2017 report, and treat the two later interviews as personal recollections given years after the events.
Quick Recap
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