Craig Conover said he and Paige DeSorbo were “supposed to get married” weeks before their split

Weeks before Paige DeSorbo announced they had called it quits, she was planning her future with Craig Conover.

The Southern charm star, 35, spoke to PEOPLE in early December about his decision to quit drinking — a move motivated by a desire to “become more of a husband and father material” in favor of DeSorbo — and was open about his plans to marry Cottage star before she confirmed on December 30 that they had split.

“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, 32, who he began to date in 2021.

He continued: “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 it is, who knows?”

“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 were to rush it.”

He also opened up about their efforts to be “healthier than a lot of other couples you see on your TV” when it came to their relationship, which played out on-screen at Southern charm, Cottage and Winter housewhere they had gone from a friendship to a romantic relationship.

“When people ask about me and Paige, Paige says it well, she says, ‘I get it. When I watch TV shows, I feel like I want to know that I’m a part of it,'” he said. “We share our lives with everyone, but there is a lot of noise.”

Looking to the future, Conover said he was “committed to doing whatever it takes to make it work” with DeSorbo.

“We really don’t know what that looks like. We probably have a couple of years before we start having kids and then we’ll have to figure it out. But I’ve really settled into this normal role now of being a happy wife , happy life,” he said.

He also addressed their status as a long-distance couple, as he lives in Charleston while she lives in New York City.

“The goal is when we start having kids, we want to be able to stay home with them as much as possible,” he shared. “We had to make the decision: do we live a traditional life with someone who isn’t each other and I find someone in Charleston or not? We decided finding your person is the hard part and then we’ll figure it out afterwards.”

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DeSorbo announced that she and Conover had gone their separate ways on a December 30 episode of her podcast, Giggling team. She said she “didn’t expect” the split, calling him “definitely the best boyfriend I’ve ever had”, but confirmed there was no bad blood between them.

“I have so much love and respect for Craig. I think he is one of the best people I have ever met in my entire life. I will remain his biggest fan and want the best for him and he will really get the best because he is the best.” she said. “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 added. “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.”