Craig Conover is revealing the “aha” moment he realized he needed to quit drinking.

After finally telling longtime BFF Austen Kroll that he had been privately battling alcohol addiction, the Southern Charm star recounted their “breakthrough” conversation about his newly sober lifestyle to then-girlfriend Paige DeSorbo during the Bravo series’ March 13 episode.

“He basically—which is insane—was like, ‘You’re getting sober to keep up an image,'” Craig told the Summer House star. “So, I finally was like, ‘No, I’m getting sober because I’m an addict.’ And the day after this talk, Austen was very good about being like, ‘Hey, can I get you a soda water?’ Something clicked for him, but I just can’t believe we got to that point.”

Paige called Austen’s initial reaction to Craig cleaning up his act “so f–king weird” before noting, “If one of my friends was like, ‘I’m trying not to drink for a couple months,’ I’d be like, ‘Sick.'”

However, Craig admitted he was still getting comfortable with sharing his addiction battle with the world.

“I cried when I said addict though,” the Sewing Down South founder shared. “You feel paper thin. I just had never—other than talking to you or my parents—had never said it to anyone. It was a huge step in making us whole again.”