Season 4 of Southern Hospitality kicked off with a bang, and according to stars Leva Bonaparte and Michols Peña, the drama is just getting started.
“It’s a pretty chaotic season,” Leva, 46, exclusively told Luxury Handbag Shopping while attending the 37th Annual GLAAD Awards in Beverly Hills on Thursday, March 5.
Michols chimed in, telling Us, “This season is going to be very different compared to other ones that you’ve seen before.”
He teased, “I think that there’s a larger divide in the group than ever. I think there’s a lot more conflict than ever, a lot more resolution than ever.”
Michols assured Us that there will also be “a lot of makeups, breakups, tears, laughs, you name it.”
Leva — who starred on Southern Charm before the spinoff series shined a light on her business Republic Garden & Lounge in Charleston — noted that even with the chaos, the cast is “really proud” they’ve made it to season 4.
“We’re proud to tell, like, all the good, inclusive stories,” she added.
Leva, who owns the bar and nightclub with her husband, Lamar Bonaparte, noted that the current season will show “a lot of vulnerability” from several stars.
“You’re gonna see a side [of the staff] and find out things that you’re like, gasping [about],” Leva teased. “So we go deep.”
During the season 4 premiere, which aired on Wednesday, March 4, viewers learned that Molly Moore was fired from Republic and she blamed Michols.
“I knew personal stuff about Michols and he used bulls*** reasons to get me fired,” Molly claimed.
Michols denied playing a part in her exit, telling the cameras, “She got fired because she sucked at her job and somehow I have something to do with it. Girl, I don’t have that much power.”
Leva, meanwhile, confirmed that Molly was let go because her day job as an event planner was messing with her shifts.
While Michols and Molly were feuding — she admitted to talking “s***” about him after he split from his boyfriend — Michols used his power at Republic to throw down a gauntlet.
“Listen, you do not come in here and disrespect my staff. If you are going to act like that I will ban you,” Michols yelled at Molly after she got into an argument with Lake Rucker outside the establishment. “Do you understand me? You will get banned. Walk away!”
Michols and Molly talked it out later in the episode, but it doesn’t appear their truce will last long.
Star Mia Alario exclusively told Us at BravoCon in November 2025 that Michols might not like watching himself back this season.
She noted that although Michols is “Republic’s sweetheart,” he is “young, and when you’re young, you do stupid s***, and you learn life lessons.”
Molly teased at the time that fans will “see a different side of him. I think it’s just more, not necessarily vulnerable, I think it’s a side that just might make him nervous.”
While fans will have to wait for the season to unfold to see who is the biggest pot-stirrer, Leva and Michols told Us they are excited to have been in Los Angeles for the GLAAD Awards after the show won Outstanding Reality Program.
“I think it’s important to me, just because I feel like I grew up in a community where I wasn’t able to share or like necessarily be myself. I think that it was very, like, cookie-cutter,” Michols told Us of the awards show. “You have to be straight. You have to be this way, straight-passing, or whatever the case is. And just to be in an environment where it’s filled with love and queer love and just the LGBTQ+ community … I don’t know. It almost kind of leaves me speechless.
He confessed, “If you told me two years ago that we would be nominated, I wouldn’t, like, believe you, but now we’re here.”
Southern Hospitality airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
