Watching too much TV has really been the only thing getting us through 2020, and one of the few bright spots of this year was that Netflix decided to gift us with not one, but TWO new seasons of Selling Sunset. With addictive drama, over-the-top personalities, and stunning real estate in every episode, it’s the perfect show to watch in one sitting on the day it comes out, and I’m so glad I got to do that twice this year. It’s the little things.
Particularly when season three dropped in August, Selling Sunset became a major topic of conversation, and people spent weeks trying to figure out exactly which parts of the show are real and fake. Given the fact that basically everyone I know is obsessed with this show, it’s no surprise that Netflix is bringing it back, and last week, TMZ reported that the streamer officially renewed the show for two more seasons. Obviously, the producers are going to be hard at work coming up with more totally real storylines for us to obsess over, but in the meantime, we already have some clues about what the future seasons of Selling Sunset will look like.
The Timeline
First, the sad news: we’re going to have to wait a while. It feels like it’s been forever since the most recent season came out (even though it was only a few months ago), but Netflix just officially green-lit season four, which means they haven’t started filming yet. According to TMZ, the new season is set to start production in spring of 2021, which means we probably won’t see any new episodes until the later part of next year. Getting two seasons this year was great, but that doesn’t seem likely in 2021. Given the fact that COVID has screwed over the entire entertainment industry (and like, society as a whole), I guess this was to be expected, but it still stings.
Heather & Tarek
On the third season, we heard all about Heather Rae Young’s new relationship with fellow real estate TV star Tarek El Moussa, but we never actually saw him on the show. Since filming wrapped, they got engaged, and it sounds like we’ll finally get a Tarek appearance when the show returns. According to an “insider” source that spoke to Fox News, Tarek—who has a deal with HGTV—was unable to appear on season three “due to contractual conflicts,” but since then, “permission was secured for Tarek to appear in a future episode.” Thank God. I don’t even care that much about Tarek, but it would feel pretty lame if we had to watch another season of Heather coming up with excuses for Tarek not coming to any filmed events.
Heather’s New Career Development
In addition to Heather’s new engagement, she’s also got some major stuff going on in the career department. She’s still with Jason at the Oppenheim Group, but he recently shared that Heather is working with the team to open a new office in Newport Beach. Considering that Heather lives in Orange County now, it makes sense for her to work there as well, and this new business venture will also make a convenient storyline for the next couple seasons. But Heather isn’t fully leaving the WeHo office, so she can still argue with Christine like we need her to. Jason told Fox News that Heather “will be based out of the LA office as always,” and that she’s “not going anywhere.”
Brett’s Departure
Back in the summer when season three came out, news was also breaking that Brett Oppenheim had broken off from the Oppenheim Group to start his own company. The creatively named Oppenheim Real Estate is Brett’s solo foray into the real estate game, but Jason said in a September interview that he and Brett are “still working together.” This all feels like a scheme that was cooked up to make good TV, and honestly, it’ll probably work. In an interview earlier this year, Christine Quinn hinted that some of the show’s stars may defect to Brett’s side, saying that “the girls are fed up with the favoritism of Mary,” and that season four could turn out to be a “battle of the brokerages.” I don’t care how scripted this sounds, I’m ready for all of it.
Davina’s Departure
By far, the biggest lightning rod for controversy on Selling Sunset is Davina Potratz, who low-key makes Cruella DeVille look like a good person. This fall, Davina left the Oppenheim Group to work for rival real estate company Douglas Elliman, suggesting that her reign of terror on Selling Sunset might be at an end. But according to TMZ’s sources, Davina will hang on for another day, and they’re finding a way to work her into the upcoming season. Personally, if I had gotten trolled on social media the way Davina did, I would never show my face in public again, but I won’t pretend I’m not excited she’s coming back. As long as we don’t have to hear about that f*cking $75 million house again, I’m here for all the drama!
According to the reports, all the other cast members will be returning for the next two seasons, which means we’ll get to see more of my queen Chrishell finding her post-divorce footing, more of Christine’s wild outfits, and more of Mary’s hot man (praise be). Netflix, please make this happen as fast as possible, because I really need 2021 to be a good year.
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Images: Lindy Lin / Netflix;
Since Selling Sunset first premiered on Netflix last year, fans have constantly questioned how real the “reality” show actually is. The show was created by the father of fake reality TV (The Hills’ Adam DiVello), and its storylines and production values all feel a little too perfect to be rooted in reality. The women on the show are in flawless glam at all times, they constantly hash out their personal issues at work functions, and their relationship timelines all fit neatly into eight-episode seasons.
Since the third season dropped earlier this month, Selling Sunset has really blown up, and people are more determined than ever to dig in to the truth of what we see on the show. One of the key storylines that is frequently questioned is Mary and Romain’s marriage. On season one, we saw them disagreeing about fundamental relationship issues such as having kids and buying a house, and then they magically got engaged the next episode. Their wedding was shown in season two, but there was speculation that they never actually got married. Turns out the truth is the exact opposite. This week, TMZ got its hands on a copy of Mary and Romain’s marriage license, proving that they are, in fact, married. But the license was issued in March 2018, more than a year before the first season of Selling Sunset was even released.
This really throws a wrench into Mary’s entire storyline for the first two seasons. She was already legally married to Romain before they even began filming season one, which means that all those scenes of them discussing their future together are basically 100% fake. It wouldn’t be that weird to plan a big TV wedding once you were already legally married, but pretending to be unsure about your future together, and then staging a fake engagement, is taking it to another level. We already knew her diamond was fake, but everything else? I have to admit, this news came as a bit of a shock to me.
Another interesting revelation from the marriage license is that Mary and Romain got married just four months after Mary’s divorce was finalized. The timeline here is obviously very murky, and I have a million questions for everyone involved. Mary hasn’t addressed the timeline on social media (who knows what kind of NDA she signed), but I really feel like the people deserve answers here. That being said, I will absolutely still watch this show until the end of time, because it is just that entertaining.
On top of the personal drama being a bit staged (to put it politely), the show’s portrayal of the Oppenheim Group agents as LA’s top team also seems questionable. Recently, the real estate agents from Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles appeared on Watch What Happens Live!, and Tracy Tutor threw some shade at the cast of Netflix’s show. She said that Selling Sunset “is not about selling real estate…it’s about dating bachelors in the Hollywood Hills.” She threw out an invitation to the women on Selling Sunset, saying “if you want to sell real estate, maybe kind of come on over to our show and figure out how that works.” Ouch. The other MDL agents added that they hadn’t come across the women from Selling Sunset in their real estate work.
Last week, reality TV connoisseur Chrissy Teigen finally binged Selling Sunset, and she also commented on the actual careers of the agents at the Oppenheim Group. She said that despite frequently looking at LA real estate, she has “never seen any of these people,” and added that neither had her agents.
I will say, I look at LA real estate a lot and have never seen any of these people lol either have our agents, who I have obsessively asked.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) August 19, 2020
Unsurprisingly, the Selling Sunset cast feels some type of way about these comments, and many of them have spoken out in response. Davina Potratz and Maya Vander both spoke to People, with Davina saying that anyone who does their research will recognize that she is “quite serious about real estate.” Maya acknowledged that things on the show can seem fake or overly simplified, but said this is because they’re trying to show complicated transactions in short scenes.
Jason Oppenheim responded to Chrissy’s tweet, giving out a nice backhanded compliment about her new home and her agent. In another tweet, he said that his team “works tirelessly,” and invited her to stop by the office any time.
Chrissy, thanks for watching our show! Regarding your agent’s knowledge of members of my team, I respectfully don’t know him either although that doesn’t mean he isn’t successful and didn’t just sell you a stunning home in Weho (seriously, I love your new house).
— Jason Oppenheim (@OppenheimJason) August 19, 2020
In a statement to People, Jason further combated the idea that the professional side of the show isn’t real: “Any insinuation that the agents on our show are not experienced, successful, or licensed, evidences a complete disregard for the facts.” He added that “Even a superficial investigation would identify previous team photos, hundreds of millions in transacted sales, and more than 50 years of combined licensed real estate experience from these agents.” Damn, okay, we get it.
I understand why Jason Oppenheim is defensive about this, but I think he’s kind of missing the point. For the most part, speculation has revolved around the specific transactions shown in the episodes, not the idea that the Oppenheim Group is a generally successful brokerage. When Christine hops off a private jet after months of traveling the world and just decides to sell a house, it’s understandable that things don’t seem 100% real.
And just as some icing on the cake of questioning what’s real about Selling Sunset, we have this TikTok that recently went viral. On the show, Christine has a listing, and she says that the owner is in Europe, so she can’t get a hold of him. Turns out, the woman who made the TikTok IS THE OWNER. She clarified in comments that she did list the house at one point, but Christine wasn’t the agent, and she’s never met her. And no, she wasn’t in Europe. LOL.
@petite_sayoI had no idea this show became so popular and thought I’d share BTS ##fyp ##realityshow ##realestate ##luxuryhomes ##losangeles ##sellingsunset ##netflix♬ Happy Laughing – Sound Effect
So, let’s be real, Selling Sunset isn’t. And that’s okay! It’s still a great show, but you should definitely take it with a massive grain of salt. Just sit back and enjoy the ridiculousness, and don’t worry too much about what’s real and what’s not.
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Images: Lindy Lin / Netflix; themaryfitzgerald / Instagram; chrissyteigen, oppenheimjason / Twitter; petite_sayo / TikTok
