The relationship between former Southern Charm couple Kathryn Dennis and Thomas Ravenel was undoubtedly one of the most toxic pairings in reality TV history, and while TomKat did finally call it quits years ago, Kathryn continues to blame her ex for causing her pain–- most notably when it comes to losing custody of her children.
During a recent episode of the podcast Side Piece with Melissa Pfeister, Kathryn opened up about the current custody arrangement between her and Thomas, which proved to be an emotional topic for the Bravo star.
“It has been f**king horrible,” Kathryn said, as reported by Heavy. “How do I even process the fact that I don’t have them.”
As The Ashley previously told you, Kathryn and Thomas were able to reach a joint custody agreement for their children Kensie and Saint in the fall of 2019; however, Thomas went on to file for full custody of both children in October 2020, requesting that Kathryn only have supervised visits with the kids.
Thomas claimed to have made these requests due to Kathryn allegedly using drugs and neglecting the children during her scheduled time with them. (You can read some of the other unsavory accusations Thomas made against Kathryn here.)
As of March 2021, Kathryn had temporarily lost custody of the kids following a battle in court against Thomas. Currently, Kathryn is only allowed to see her children every other weekend from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during visits that are supervised by someone appointed by the court.
During her appearance on the podcast, Kathryn stated that the court supervisor is ever-present during the visits.
“They type what [my kids] eat, writing what they say,” she said. “They literally follow me to every room. I can’t even go to the bathroom to take my daughter to the bathroom.”
In addition to the strict supervised visitations, Kathryn said she also pays Thomas $4,000 a month in child support, and another $500 to Thomas’ nanny to drive the kids from Thomas’ residence in Aiken, South Carolina, to her home in Charleston, South Carolina– there and back. The drive between the two cities is approximately 2.5 hours.
Kathryn claims that nearly one year to the date that she and Thomas settled their custody case, she was “served some subtle hints” that Thomas was getting ready to “do something.”
“I should have known better, but I didn’t,” she said.
One factor that Kathryn said contributed to her losing custody of her children was a failed drug test for marijuana, which she said the court considered to be a relapse on her part, as she previously went to rehab (in 2016) for a self-admitted “problem with weed.”
Kathryn believes the whole situation was orchestrated by Thomas to ensure that he would be allowed to take Kensie and Saint with him to live in Aiken with his then-fiance Heather Mascoe and their son, Jackson, who was born in June 2020. (Thomas and Heather went on to call off their engagement in August 2021.)
“This whole thing was a big ploy for Thomas to move to Aiken,” she said. “Which he did immediately after he took the kids away from me. Literally, on the day I was supposed to have them and pick them up from school.”
Kathryn is currently appearing on Season 8 of ‘Southern Charm.’ New episodes air Thursdays on Bravo.
(Photos: Bravo; Instagram)
14 Responses
If she failed a marijuana drug test because she willingly and knowingly took marijuana than that is completely her fault.
Well that should suit her just fine. She likes to “party” a lot…so she really doesn’t have a lot of time to watch her kids. They are probably better off with their dad.
These kids are going to FUBR.
Thomas should not have full custody he has his own problems but money always wins
Also, he’s the one with all the money??? Go figure
It is a sad situation and unfortunately Kathryn got screwed, no pun intended! No seriously, he always was a mess (alcoholic) and to think he got full custody after what he did to their nanny a few years ago. What a joke!! Sounds like he had that planned out. Kathryn was just young and naive. I feel bad for her. Marijuana is used to treat so many things these days, it seems crazy that’s why she lost custody. Who knows? He is an entitled, narcissistic alcoholic predator. (Old money= power, unfortunately)He needs to date women his own age, but they know better. As my mom always says, “Grow Up” and I mean that in the kindest way possible. Your children will pay the price ?
So sad money wins the game. How they couldn’t look at Thomas record floors me. The children will learn how their dad treated you and they will grow to love you more. Thomas will only suffer at the end.
These 2 are parents…
Thomas is a con artist. He probably couldn’t care less about having those children. He just wants the power and doesn’t want to pay child support. Kathryn has demons, sure, but this is really unfair.
She brought her entire situation on herself. Judging by this season’s Southern Charm, she has not changed. She has no job. Where is she getting $4500/mth from?
Is she really whining about failing a drug test? (I do not like the parental alienation by the way!) I get it’s just weed, but when you are in a custody battle with a narcissist, you might want to lay off of it until it’s over.
Sadly the ones who will suffer are the kids. When one parent alienates the child from the other parent that child will grow up to resent them. Do i think Kathryn is perfect?…no.. but are any parents ever really perfect? She seems like she is trying. She needs britney spears attorney to fight for more time with those kids! I guarantee the nanny is raising them not Thomas. Thomas is a piece of sh*t rapist. God our laws are sooo screwed up. All it takes is money you can do anything.
Thomas is a rapist, does a rapist really need custody of those two kids? Not a Katherine fan AT ALL but I seem to recall on episodes of Southern Charm Thomas rarely interacted with his kids. The nanny lived with the kids in a separate area of the house per Thomas’ request. He pled guilty to sexual assault for a different nanny but did zero jail time and paid a fine.
I believe it was a whole separate house, he lived in the big house and they lived in the guest house with the nanny. So, you know they wouldn’t get their sticky fingers on daddy’s white jeans and drugs.
Katherine was just a surrogate for him to have kids for his political career. He literally jumped in a pool high with the little girl and he still got custody. Damn!