Craig Conover said he, Paige DeSorbo ‘were supposed to get married’ before the split

Craig Conover was ready to marry Paige DeSorbo.

The Sewing Down South founder, 35, opened up about the couple’s future just weeks before DeSorbo revealed they had split after three years of dating.

“We’re playing the long game. It would be easy to go for instant gratification, but the foundation that we’re building is that we die together one day, not just make it fun,” he said of DeSorbo to People in early December.

“We know we’re going to get married one day and when it happens it’s going to be a lot of fun, but when that is, who knows?” he continued.

“When you take yourself out of that pressure cooker and have a little perspective and travel, life is a little more simple. There’s no need to put pressure on it. I think people want a lot more of our lives to see , because we take our time, than if we had to rush it.”

DeSorbo, 32, confirmed their split during her and Hannah Berner’s “Giggly Squad” podcast on Monday. The exes often talked about their living situation, with him living in Charleston while DeSorbo stayed in New York City.

“It’s strange, it’s very strange. I didn’t expect this,” she said Monday, noting that they “have decided to no longer be together.”

“Obviously, when we first started dating, you don’t think, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen?’ We’re getting married, aren’t we?’ You are like in this relationship. Not to sound traditional and old-fashioned, it’s not a situation where I have a 50-part series of ‘Who the hell did I date?'” joked the “Summer House” star. “Couldn’t be more opposite.”

“I have so much love and respect for Craig. I think he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my entire life,” she continued. “I will remain his biggest fan and want the best for him and he really wants the best because he is the best. But that being said, I think it was the right decision for both of us to move forward in our lives and the direction in our lives that we didn’t force.”

“I love him, I think he loves me,” she continued. “I think we’ll stay friends. Nobody did anything. It wasn’t a bad thing. I think we were both just really mature and said what we wanted and what we didn’t want, and I think , it is extremely powerful to be able to express how you feel in real time and what you want for your future.”

DeSorbo and Conover first met on a Season 4 episode of “Summer House” in the summer of 2019 when they attended Kyle Cooke’s birthday party.

Years later, Conover told People that he and DeSorbo both “were in love” after the Hamptons bash.

In October 2021, he confirmed to People that they were officially an item.

Last year, DeSorbo admitted to the outlet that their long-distance relationship wasn’t always “an easy thing to do.”

“But I will say, I think Craig and I are handling it very well. I really love my life the way it is,” she explained.

That April, however, she cried about possibly moving into a trailer for “Summer House” Season 7. “I wanted to change my whole life,” she said. “I don’t have any friends in Charleston. My whole career is in (New York).”