When Molly O’Connell made her debut on Bravo’s “Southern Charm” season 10, she brought true authenticity to the series, and fans admired her quirky personality and were captivated by her as a multi-talented artist — a model who appeared on “America’s Next Top Model” and a euphonium player in the Charleston band, having even invited her co-stars to a performance.
Though performing with her band comes naturally, in the February 18 episode of the series, O’Connell faced what she called her biggest fear: singing in public. She’s previously spoken openly on podcasts about her anxiety that prevented her from singing, but in this episode, with the support of her family and friends, she made her debut, and it was incredibly impressive.
Molly O’Connell Overcomes Stage Fright to Sing in Public
On the Feb. 18 episode of “Southern Charm,” Molly O’Connell admits she’s incredibly nervous about taking the stage to sing publicly for the first time in a long time.
“Doing an open mic night is a million times scarier to me than playing euphonium,” she shares with the cameras. “Because there’s a buffer of a huge band versus me, and that terrifies me.”
As O’Connell prepares for her performance, her co-stars, Shep Rose, Salley Carson, Whit Slagsvol, Rodrigo Reyes, and his fiancé Tyler Dugas, arrive at The Starlight Motor Inn to support O’Connell. Additionally, the model’s family also joins, with her mother Ann, stating, “I can’t believe she’s doing this, she won’t even sing for us.”
As a nervous O’Connell walks into the room to take the stage, she jokes, “This has been a long time coming, 15 years.” She then proceeds to sing an original tune while playing the cowbell.
O’Connell’s castmates are in awe of her singing skills. In a confessional, Carson shares, “That girl can [expletive] sing. Forget the tuba, keep singing.” Reyes is seen crying as he watches O’Connell’s performance. He shares, “I think for Molly, this is proof that you are a literal boss [expletive] and once you can release the shackles of anxiety as hard as it may be, you’re free.”
After her performance, which gets a huge round of applause, O’Connell tells the cameras, “This is truly one of my biggest fears that I’ve faced. It’s just another thing I’ve checked off my list now.” She jokes, “What else is there to do? Children? No, just kidding.”
O’Connell Spoke About Her Anxiety Around Singing Publicly on ‘The Viall Files’
BravoO’Connell previously opened up about her fears of singing in front of others. In a January 2025 interview with “The Viall Files,” the model explained that her anxiety around singing publicly had grown as she got older.
“Well, speaking of the anxiety that I have, I sang a lot as a kid. I was in choir my entire life. I did musical theatre in high school, I double majored in college in vocals and band with scholarships. So, I really love to sing and play music, but singing in front of people, like, really gets me,” she revealed.
O’Connell continued, “I’ll choke up and my voice won’t sound as good, and, honestly, the anxiety of that kind of made me quit music for like a decade.”
Since her singing debut, O’Connell has taken the stage to perform in front of other several times, including a show at Craig Conover and Austen Kroll’s restaurant By The Way, which she called her “first real gig EVER,” in an Instagram post.
