Breaking Down The ‘Southern Charm’ Custody Situation Between Thomas Ravenel & Kathryn Dennis

Last night’s Hilton Head episode of Southern Charm largely focused on the custody arrangement and parenting of cast members Kathryn Dennis and Thomas Ravenel. But many of the accusations seemed nonsensical as they came from Ravenel’s current girlfriend of two months who wasn’t around when the agreement was hammered out. The main criticism seemed to surround aspects of a former nanny and when and where Kathryn spends time with her children, Kensie and Saint.

Last June, after a full year of battles, Kathryn and Thomas hashed out a plan that would gradually increase the amount of time Dennis got to spend with their children, phasing out the second nanny, Deirdre, who was deemed unprofessional by the children’s mother, reports FitsNews. Ravenel is now on his third nanny for the children as the first employee, Nanny Dawn, has accused Thomas of violently raping her when she looked after the Ravenel children.

The executed parenting agreement phased in custody for Kathryn Dennis that would lead to joint custody of the Ravenel children this summer as long as Kathryn passed routine drug tests, which she has consistently, while Ravenel has not been required by the court to do the same.

FitsNews said that Thomas Ravenel stated that he planned to work within the agreement so that he didn’t need to go back to court with Kathryn.

“I’m glad all the acrimony a custody battle can bring has ceased as this case is settled and I fully intend to honor the agreement so as not to revive this messy business.”

But on last night’s Southern Charm trip to Hilton Head, Ravenel’s most recent girlfriend kept referencing the custody agreement, and the fact that soon enough, Ravenel would no longer be in control of the time Kathryn spent with the two kids, and the plus one seemed more upset about the changes and loss of control than Ravenel.

In the first episode of the current season of the hit Bravo show, fans noticed the bruises covering Kathryn’s arms, and she told cast member Danni that Ravenel can require her to have a drug test at the drop of a hat, sometimes more than once a week. Each time, Kathryn undergoes testing that involves a blood test, a urine test, and the testing of her hair, despite the fact that it had been done a week or sometimes days before. It was suggested that some of the tests were a result of spite rather than genuine concern.

Ravenel’s girlfriend berated Kathryn at their Daufuskie dinner about not being at the hospital when her son, Saint, had his adenoids out, asking why the baby’s mother wasn’t at the hospital. Per the agreement shared by FitsNews, Kathryn is not allowed to be with the children on a day controlled by Ravenel (as seen on Southern Charm when Kensie has pleaded to stay with her mother). Dennis wanted to go to the hospital when she heard about the surgery but was banned. What the current girlfriend didn’t mention was that Ravenel was not at the hospital for the surgery, and instead sent the toddler alone with the nanny to have a procedure that involved general anesthesia. It was obvious that Dennis was devastated by the suggestion that she would have skipped even a doctor’s appointment for her kids.

Ravenel’s girlfriend ranted at Kathryn that it was her fault that Deirdre Politelli and her daughter Paige could no longer watch the Ravenel children if Dennis continued to progress in her recovery. On the custody agreement, this was one thing that Kathryn would not allow to continue, as she thought Deirdre was less than professional, having the children refer to her as their mother, and allegedly allowing her underage daughter to drink alcohol in front of the children on a Thanksgiving video, according to the Inquisitr. Kathryn was sent the video taken at a restaurant and replied on social media.

“Downtown at this hour is not for children. I run a tight schedule and it doesn’t include surrounding them with alcohol.”

There were also accusations that Deirdre’s teen daughter would sleep in the main house with Ravenel while the nanny and the Ravenel children slept in the guest house or children’s house.

So when Shep said that Ravenel’s girlfriend wasn’t there and didn’t know what she was talking about, he was referring to the relationship history that came before her August move to Charleston from California.