Nick Viall and Natalie Joy are under fire.
Even people who don’t normally defend Austen Kroll feel sorry for the Southern Charm star after this ambush.
There are ways to talk to someone about a family tragedy — like a sister dying when they were both children.
And folks? This is not it.
Interview questions seldom need to be ambushes
Following a recent episode of The Viall Files, hosts Nick Viall and Natalie Joy got some flack from the audience.
In the episode itself, the two sat down with Southern Charm‘s Austen Kroll.
At first, the interview went more or less as you might expect. They discussed his role on the Bravo series.
Around 10 minutes in, however, there was a hard pivot.
“Quickly jumping out of Southern Charm,” Natalie said, “but going into your childhood, I didn’t know this about your sister passing at 9.”
When Austen was 7 years old, his older sister tragically died.
In 1994, the Kroll family was on a hike.
Austen’s older sister, Kyle, fell off of a cliff during that hike.
Losing a sibling is cause for grief for anyone. Losing a sibling as a child is an almost unthinkable loss.
Austen took the abrupt shift with grace, saying: “Okay, we are switching gears.”
Was Austen okay with these questions? He was very polite
“Sorry and you obviously don’t have to answer,” Natalie continued. (This part, at least, showed some sensitivity)
She asked: “My question is … how did your family, because you’re obviously so close to your family, your parents and Katie.”
Natalie continued: “How did your family keep y’all together during that time?”
As you can see for yourself, and as many fans have pointed out, this is when Austen’s leg began to shake.
A leg tremor can simply mean caffeine or ADHD … but it can also be a visible sign of emotional distress.
As Austen continued speaking, he said that the birth of his younger sister, Katie, was “the biggest blessing that the Kroll family could have gotten.”
He likened the time after Kyle’s death as his family’s “dark ages.”
Austen expressed: “That quite literally was like our whole family rebirth … life could begin again.”
It wasn’t long before Joy asked: “Were you there when she fell?” He was. “What was this cliff?”
Austen diplomatically declined to specify even the town, let alone the cliff, sharing that the hiking trail “got wiped off the map buy a hurricane and there’s no love lost with my family on that one.”
They didn’t mean any harm, but this was just … not a good interview
As you can imagine, there was a lot of backlash — particularly for Natalie Joy, who seemed to ask the more insensitive questions.
This loss has obviously defined a huge aspect of Austen’s life. (At least, that’s obvious to us; perhaps it was not obvious to Natalie)
Austen acknowledged that his therapist has noted that his avoidance of commitment may stem from this childhood trauma.
Meanwhile, fans — even those who are critical of some of Austen’s behavior at other times — are expressing their disappointment with Nick and Natalie’s interview.
There’s a way to discuss something like this, for the guest and, frankly, for viewers. And wow, this was not the way.