With last week's Volvo Car Open taking place in Charleston, it was only right to get in touch with one of the city's most familiar faces: Shep Rose.
Shep is the star of Bravo's reality television show Southern Charm, along with its spinoff, RelationShep. Southern Charm follows a very interesting group of friends in Charleston—along with the drama that invariably follows them. RelationShep, meanwhile, is a reality series that documents Shep's quest for "true love."
Why did Shep get his own show? It's quite simple, really: he's hilarious. Shep is probably the most camera-friendly person on Southern Charm, as he takes pride in being the life of the party and always speaks his mind on any number of topics.
That includes the world of sports, which Shep is well versed in. Before the premiere of the fifth season of Southern Charm, we caught up with the Hilton Head Island, S.C. native to discuss tennis, life in Charleston and the latest we can expect on Southern Charm.
The Volvo Car Open is in Charleston, which has a long history with tennis. What's your history with the game?
I know all about it because it used to be the Family Circle Cup in Hilton Head Island, where I grew up. I went to it every year, and then it moved to Charleston. I have great memories of watching that tournament.
My mom is a huge tennis player—she plays every Tuesday and Thursday, or used to—and I grew up playing tennis. We would go watch the tournament with some of my best friends. This is when Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Mary Joe Fernandez were winning, players like that. And I grew up with Ramsey Smith, Stan Smith's son. I'm really good friends with the Smith family. They're great people and a big Hilton Head family.
Do you have some pairs of Stan Smiths?
Yeah. I'm actually playing in a golf tournament next week in Hilton Head, a Pro-Am, and Stan is going to be there, which I am happy to hear. I mean, he thinks I'm an outrageous human being—which I am. But his kids are super well behaved and really good people.
So you're the bad influence on them?
No, no, no.
Ramsey is actually the head tennis coach at Duke—did you two play often?
One time I was doing tryouts for the Hilton Head tennis team, and I was, typically, being an idiot—I was like 13. I was trying to hit every ball ball over the fence instead of over the net. Ramsey was making fun of me, and I turned around and a ball from the ball machine hit me right in the side of the head. To this day, Ramsey says it still might be one of the funniest things he's ever seen. He might have peed his pants laughing.
Who are some of your favorite pros right now?
I am such a big fan of the best to ever play, Roger Federer. I'm such a big fan of Fed's that I wanted to not like Rafa, but what a gentleman and gracious winner Rafa is—how can you not like him, too? He's just a pitbull.
I'm also a big Agassi fan from way back in the day. When he was 12 or 13, with the long hair and hating the rules, that's exactly what I was like—minus the long hair. He was a rebel. I was like, "hell yeah." I read this article that Agassi said how much he admired Rafa, saying he's never seen a player as relentless or play harder.
But Federer, man. How can you not love the beauty in his game? But yeah, I really follow tennis quite avidly.
You went to the University of Georgia. Are you a big fan of John Isner?
Of course. I hung out with his younger brother one time in Charleston and he was a real trip man. They're all like big guys, and this was maybe 10 years ago or so, but we spent the night out and chased girls around. We really had some laughs.
I've never met John, but I'm a huge fan of his. Any Georgia Bulldog is a friend of mine, for sure.
What do you think fans should check out if they're ever in Charleston?
The tournament is in Daniel Island, which is a little off the beaten trail, but it's got its own little community and it's fun. But I mean, I love it out here. I'm almost hesitant to tout it because I don't want it to get too crowded. And then, of course downtown Charleston, how can you beat that? The shopping, the food, just everything. There's a reason it's been the number one city in the United States for the past five years in Conde Nast, which is a pretty big honor.
It's just a great city. I say to go downtown to King Street to shop, eat and have fun. And then if you're at the beach, there's great bars and restaurants, and it's a very cool attitude here. I don't think it's very hard to find a good time here.