It happened in the middle of a chaotic season. One minute, we’re watching Olivia Flowers navigate the messy fallout of a friendship breakup on Southern Charm, and the next, the screen goes quiet. News broke in early 2023 that her brother, Conner Flowers, had passed away at just 32 years old. For fans watching Season 9, it was a gut-punch that shifted the entire energy of the show.
It wasn't just another reality TV headline. It was heavy.
People started asking questions immediately. How did it happen? Was he sick? There was a lot of noise online—some of it true, a lot of it speculation. But when you peel back the layers of what Olivia has shared since then, the story is much more complicated than a simple headline. It’s a story about a "hole in the healthcare system" and a decade-long battle that most people never saw on camera.
The Tragedy on Isle of Palms
Conner died on January 30, 2023. He was at his home in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Honestly, the timing was brutal—it was only ten days before his 33rd birthday.
For months, the cause of death was kept private. That’s pretty standard when a family is grieving, but in the world of Bravo, the rumor mill doesn't stop. Olivia eventually sat down for an emotional interview with PEOPLE and later spoke at the Season 9 reunion to set the record straight. She didn't want people thinking he was just another "party kid" in Charleston.
The actual cause of death was an accidental fentanyl overdose. But here’s the thing: calling it "just an overdose" misses the entire point of why it happened. Olivia explained that Conner’s struggle didn't start with recreational drugs. It started with a tick bite.
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The Long Battle with Lyme Disease
When Conner was 15, his life changed. He started getting these debilitating headaches. He was dizzy all the time. His joints hurt.
He was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease, but it took years to get that answer. By the time doctors realized what was actually going on, the disease had done a number on his system. To manage the chronic pain and the symptoms that wouldn't go away, he was prescribed a cocktail of medications, including opioids and Xanax.
That’s where the trap was set.
Olivia has been very vocal about how "medicine" became the very thing that led to his addiction. He wasn't looking for a high; he was looking for a way to feel normal. He spent years in and out of rehab centers, trying desperately to get on the other side of it.
- Misdiagnosis: The early years of his illness were spent chasing the wrong treatments.
- The "Hole" in the System: Olivia points out that the medical community often treats symptoms with pills rather than addressing the root cause of chronic illness.
- A Final Relapse: Just weeks before he died, Conner had been in a wellness center in Arizona. He was clean. He looked great. But when he returned to South Carolina, a single relapse turned fatal because of the presence of fentanyl.
The Southern Charm Connection
You might remember seeing Conner on your screen long before Southern Charm. He and Olivia actually appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs when they were teenagers living in Dallas. They were close. Like, really close. Olivia often joked that she was just known as "Conner's sister" growing up.
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On the show, we saw a glimpse of their bond during a FaceTime call filmed just two weeks before he died. It was a rare, tender moment in a season otherwise filled with drama.
When the news hit the cast, everything stopped. Even Austen Kroll, who was on the outs with Olivia at the time, stepped up. Austen lost his own sister, Kyle, in a tragic accident years ago, so he understood that specific kind of sibling grief. He was one of the few people who could sit in that silence with her.
What Most People Get Wrong
There’s this weird misconception that because someone is on a reality show or comes from a wealthy family, they’re immune to these kinds of tragedies. Or worse, that it’s "classic Charleston partying."
That’s not what this was.
Conner was an entrepreneur. He worked in real estate. He was a golfer. He was a guy who "treasured time with his family," according to his obituary. He was trying to get better. He had jobs lined up in Dallas and was planning his next chapter.
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It’s a reminder that addiction linked to chronic illness is a different beast entirely. It’s quiet. It’s clinical. And it’s incredibly hard to escape.
How Olivia is Moving Forward
Olivia has used her platform to bring awareness to both Lyme disease and the dangers of the current overdose epidemic. She’s encouraged fans to donate to LymeDisease.org or Pet Helpers in Charleston (Conner loved animals).
Her parents, Robin and Garry, are still "figuring out their new reality," as Olivia put it during the reunion. Losing a child is a permanent weight. But by being honest about the fentanyl and the Lyme disease, Olivia is stripping away the stigma that usually keeps families silent.
Actionable Steps for Awareness
If you or someone you know is dealing with the intersection of chronic pain and dependency, there are specific places to turn that aren't just "standard" rehab:
- Seek Functional Medicine: For chronic illnesses like Lyme, functional doctors often look at the body as a whole rather than just prescribing pain management.
- Test for Fentanyl: It sounds harsh, but in 2026, the reality is that almost any street-bought substance (and even some counterfeit "prescription" pills) can be laced. Harm reduction saves lives.
- Support Sibling Grief: If you know someone who lost a sibling, understand that it's a unique loss. They’ve lost their "witness" to their childhood. Just being there—like the cast was for Olivia—matters more than having the right words.
The story of Conner Flowers isn't just a footnote in a reality TV season. It’s a cautionary tale about the healthcare gaps in America and a tribute to a brother who was much more than his illness.
To learn more about the complexities of Lyme disease and how it impacts long-term health, you can visit the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS).