Before Southern Charm became a show that focused on the personal and professional lives of Charleston singles, it was intended to be a male-driven series titled Southern Gentlemen. However, as the show went further into production, the creator and former full-time cast member, Whitney Sudler-Smith, was advised to round out the show with a mix of men and women from Charleston. The show has since become a massive hit on Bravo and is now one of the more successful series on the network.
Southern Charm aired its first season in 2014 with main cast members Craig Conover, Thomas Ravenel, Jenna King, Cameran Eubanks, Shep Rose, and Whitney Sudler-Smith. Kathryn Dennis had a role in season one as well, but as a friend of the cast. As the season went on, the women had more prominent roles in the series, leading Whitney and the rest of the production team to lean towards a cast of equal parts men and women. Kathryn's role grew as the seasons progressed, with her getting promoted to a full-time cast member in season two and maintaining that position through the present day.
A short reel published four years ago on Vimeo shows a glimpse into Whitney's original idea of what he wanted Southern Charm to be. He revealed his original idea was to build a documentary around local politician Thomas Ravenel. The footage shows the beauty of Charleston, as well as some of the locals who live in the area, such as Shep, Thomas, and J.D Madison. J.D. is one of the few men who never became a full-time cast member. Locals from Charleston narrated the clip, offering what they thought their definition of a southern gentleman is. Thomas was the first to be introduced in the video, stating his full name and his hometown of Charleston. He revealed his family has been living in Charleston since the late 1680s and that the city is scattered with his family members. After Thomas made his introduction, Shep appears in the clip.
https://vimeo.com/203473074
Shep shows his family's plantation just outside of Charleston, a place his family has been going to since the 1700s. Shep said he goes to his family home mostly to hunt, fish, and play golf. He also admitted to living off of his parents, as he disliked working too much. Whitney came up with the idea of Southern Gentlemen after he became friends with Thomas after he was released from prison, Whitney revealed to Urban Daddy in 2018. "I felt he’d be this really compelling character," he admitted. "I did this pilot thinking it was going to be a documentary kind of exploring the myth of the Old South and reconstruction...And my agent said at the time, ‘No, no, no, this should be a TV show,’ and we just kind of built it out from there," he concluded.
Whitney's original idea for Southern Charm may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but he would have received a tremendous amount of backlash for it. The show already has a bad reputation for how poorly some of the men treat women and for how they glorified their family members owning plantations. Whitney was smart to move away from the Southern Gentlemen ideal and more towards a show about the socialites of Charleston.
Sources: Vimeo, Urban Daddy