Salley Carson revealed that Nick Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, privately apologized to Austen Kroll after their insensitive interview.
“They both called him and apologized,” the “Southern Charm” star exclusively revealed on Page Six Radio Tuesday. “I do think there should be a public apology for sure,” she noted.
“I think that it needed to be a lot bigger,” Carson continued. “I’m kind of like, are y’all not wanting to apologize because you don’t really want to admit that it was wrong?”
Kroll appeared on the couple’s “Viall Files” podcast last month, during which they pressed him on his older sister’s Kyle’s traumatic death. She died during a family hiking trip when she was 9 years old after she fell off a cliff.
“It honestly kind of broke my heart for him,” Carson said of watching the interview. “I called him to see if he was OK because I’m like, ‘I am so sorry that must have been so hard.’”
The reality star told hosts Danny Murphy and Evan Real that the questions about Kroll’s late sister seemed to “just [come] out of nowhere.”
“I could tell he was uncomfortable because his leg was shaking. I’ve been friends with him for a while and I haven’t asked [about Kyle]. That’s something that I feel like he should bring up when he feels comfortable.”
Carson, 31, also agreed with Real and Murphy that the uncomfortable moment should have been edited out of the podcast episode if the pair were truly sorry.
Reps for Viall, Joy and Kroll were not immediately available to Page Six for comment.
During the uncomfortable Jan. 7 interview, Joy told Kroll, “Quickly jumping out of ‘Southern Charm,’ I’m sure we’re gonna jump right back into it, but going into your childhood, I didn’t know this about your sister passing at 9.”
Kroll, 38, replied, “Okay we are switching gears.”
Joy continued to ask more personal questions, including what age he was when the tragedy happened and if he was there when his sister fell.
When he confirmed he was there to witness the tragedy, Joy further questioned him, asking, “What was this cliff?”
Kroll looked uncomfortable as he shook his leg repeatedly and declined to name the town where the tragedy took place.
Fans and fellow Bravolebrities immediately called out Viall, 45, and Joy, 26, on social media for the line of questioning.
Kroll’s “Southern Charm” co-star Rodrigo Reyes commented of Joy, “She’s a POS.”
“The Valley” star Janet Caperna commented in an Instagram post, criticizing the interview, “This was so f–ked…even for them.”
This wasn’t the first time that the duo got into some hot water because of comments made on the podcast.
In December, they received backlash for their mom-shaming comments about “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Whitney Leavitt.
During the episode, the pair raised questions about Leavvitt’s venture as Roxie in the Broadway play “Chicago” and many felt they insinuated that her children weren’t her top priority.
“Vanderpump Rules” alum Stassi Schroeder subsequently called them out on her “Stassi” podcast, calling their comments “weird.”
