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;
If you’ve been on social media at all in the last few days, you’ve probably seen a ton of posts and memes about Selling Sunset. One of Netflix’s first forays into true, non-competition reality TV, the show’s third season premiered last Friday, and it’s been trending ever since. The show has been a hit since it premiered last year, but with a long-awaited wedding and a huge tabloid divorce, season three is its biggest one yet.
If you’ve never watched, Selling Sunset follows the Oppenheim Group, an LA real estate brokerage group led by bald short dudes (and identical twins) Brett and Jason Oppenheim. The agents at the brokerage are all extremely hot women who wear 6-inch heels at all times and somehow never complain about it. We follow along as they navigate successes and failures in their personal and professional lives, with an emphasis on the personal. With over-the-top real estate, glam, and drama, it’s not hard to see why people love Selling Sunset so much, but there are some key factors that make it one of the best reality shows in recent memory.
The ‘Hills’ Vibe
Selling Sunset is created and executive produced by Adam DiVello, who is best known as the the creator of Laguna Beach and The Hills. Selling Sunset trades in 2000s fashion for cutting-edge glam, but it feels like a spiritual successor to those earlier shows. It’s still set in Hollywood, and like The Hills, the episodes fly by. Every scene is expertly produced and edited to keep the story moving along, the whole show is gorgeously shot, and nothing is ever sloppy or out of place. And also like The Hills, people have a lot of questions about what’s real and what’s fake. The answer falls in kind of a gray area.
Stars Chrishell Stause and Christine Quinn have both admitted to certain moments on the show being “amped up,” which is probably the Netflix-approved term for them to use. Quinn confirmed that she was dating her now-husband Christian for three months before they “met” on the show. Rather than “fake,” I think the more accurate term is “staged”—these are real people dealing with real issues, but I’m willing to bet they shoot some of these scenes more than once.
The Drama
If you’re a fan of reality shows on Bravo or MTV, Selling Sunset is probably right up your alley. Each of the women on the show have distinct personalities, but none of them are afraid to dip their toes into some messiness. In the first three seasons, we’ve seen two weddings, one divorce, pregnancies, new relationships, and many business disagreements. Season three centers on Chrishell’s shocking divorce (it was shocking for her, but I promise it’s not a spoiler), but there are also a million other subplots happening at the same time.
And of course, these ladies never let business get in the way of personal issues. We’ve seen fights at broker’s opens, in the middle of the office, and at meetings with important clients. Not to mention, this cast can never get through a birthday dinner, celebratory night out, or even a wedding without someone starting drama. “Let’s not have any drama” are famous last words on Real Housewives, and Selling Sunset takes things to an even more ridiculous level.
The Houses
The drama would be compelling even if this show was filmed in a warehouse, but the luxury real estate backdrop just makes it even better. Unlike Million Dollar Listing, the actual business is secondary on Selling Sunset, but we all still pretend to care about the Oppenheim Group, and the houses are f*cking stunning. A $40 million listing in the Hollywood Hills is a focal point of the first couple seasons, and seeing it literally never gets old. Most of the “cheaper” houses on the show are in the $3-5 million range, so basically, nothing is cheap on this show.
Christine
Love her or hate her, Christine Quinn was destined to be on reality TV. She’s reminiscent of Erika Jayne visually, and her looks only get more outrageous as the seasons go on. But unlike Erika, Christine isn’t afraid to play the villain, and will call anyone out if they do something she deems shady. Despite her claims that she never starts the drama, she definitely starts the drama like, most of the time. Between being mean to Chrishell, marrying some rich rando, and being one of the top agents at the Oppenheim Group, Christine has brought a ton to the table over the first three seasons.
The IRL Relationships
Besides Mary and Christine, none of the women’s significant others appear on screen, but their relationships still play a major part in the dynamics of the show. Chrishell Stause, who was formerly a soap star, was married to This Is Us actor Justin Hartley, and as I mentioned before, their divorce takes center stage in season three. Heather Rae Young, who was dating a hockey player in season one, is now engaged to fellow real estate TV star Tarek El Moussa. Tarek is the one who hosted Flip or Flop with his wife Christina, until they went through a messy divorce. (Heather looks EXACTLY like Christina, to the point where it’s a little spooky.) The other ladies on the show have a lot of thoughts about Heather’s relationship with Tarek, and obviously, they voice those opinions.
Basically, Selling Sunset has a ton to offer, and with three eight-episode seasons, if you start now you can probably be finished by tomorrow. There’s no word yet on a fourth season, but given the fact that literally everyone is talking about the show, I’m sure they’ll start filming as soon as COVID f*cks off.
Images: Netflix; Giphy
HGTV shows are basically interchangeable unless they feature hot twins or the hosts go through a highly-publicized separation that wouldn’t be out of place on Real Housewives of Atlanta. Today, I bring you news about the latter. Despite (or possibly because of) Tarek and Christina El Moussa’s scandalous split last year, Flip or Flop is set to film new episodes, and I, for one, am all about it. Watching exes interact after a divorce IRL is depressing. Watching them film a TV show while awkwardly dancing around the subject of their hella dramatic separation is entertainment.
If you forgot all the shit that went down in the El Moussa household last year, allow me to remind you. Back in May, Tarek booked it out of the couple’s Orange County house with a gun to wander the trails of a nearby state park for a few hours, like a totally rational and normal person. Meanwhile, Christina followed him into the yard crying, then called the police. Eventually, Tarek returned and claimed he took the gun to ward off mountain lions. Since police found five MORE guns in the house while they were waiting, this is clearly a man with a deep and abiding fear of wildcats.
Anyway, the couple separated not long afterward, and six months later, everyone found out when Tarek filed for divorce from Christina. A bajillion rumors began swirling around immediately, mostly claiming that Tarek was spying on Christina and Christina was having an affair with some older, grizzled contractor named Gary. It turns out she actually was dating that guy, but not until after Tarek moved out, so it wasn’t an entirely shitty move—but I gotta say, that’s a step down for someone as hot and rich as Christina. On the other hand, Tarek’s rebound wasn’t any better—he apparently had a fling with their 23-year-old nanny. So… healthy choices all around.
Everyone was worried about the fate of Flip or Flop after all this came out, natch, but it turns out we didn’t need to be. On Tuesday, Tarek posted on Instagram that the show is being renewed for 20 episodes “regardless of the circumstances.” Way to play it cool, bro.
So next time you’re nursing a hangover, you might actually catch some new Flip or Flop episodes between naps. Pro tip: Turn it into a game where you take a shot every time the schadenfreude becomes too much. You’ll be so wasted by the end your hangover won’t matter anymore.
Everyone knows HGTV is the cable equivalent of the snooze button, i.e., its primary function is to interrupt your afternoon nap every five minutes. Well, until the curse of 2016 struck again and turned Flip or Flop into the kind of reality show I actually want to pay attention to. It’s not like breakups are hard to come by in Hollywood, but Tarek and Christina El Moussa’s divorce has everything a drama-addicted betch could ever want: fights on the lawn. Police helicopters. Probably-fake mountain lions. TBH the fact that Tarek is now dating his kids’ 23-year-old nanny is the boring part.
The couple announced their separation back in December, and on Tuesday, Tarek officially filed for divorce from Christina. He’s also filing for spousal support, presumably because Christina’s way prettier than he is and destined to land another TV deal, like, tomorrow.
So pour a shot and join me in saying goodbye to a relationship nobody really cared about until it imploded.
Tarek and Christina got married in 2009, not long after the housing bubble burst. They’re both real estate agents, so it was an even shittier time for them than most people. Then they managed to land a deal with HGTV in 2013, starring in a show that played to their strengths, aka being rich Californians who sell houses to other rich Californians.
For years, I was under the impression that they were boring as fuck, but apparently, the couple was hiding secret depths of crazy this whole time. After they announced their separation last month, it turns out that there was an Incident-with-a-capital-I back in May. Supposedly, Tarek ran out into the backyard brandishing a gun, and Christina ran after him freaking out for obvious reasons. Police found Tarek wandering the trails of a local state park, and he claimed he brought the gun along to fend off all the mountain lions and rattlesnakes he might come across. Whatever you say, buddy.
Oh, and there was a witness at the scene—contractor Gary Anderson claimed saw the whole thing from a neighboring house when shit went down. I would believe him, but he’s the same Gary Anderson Christina is now dating. I’m just going to assume he’s lying harder than Taylor Swift whenever someone asks about her thoughts on “Famous.”
Anyway, Tarek and Christina started living separately after that, and now they’re both dating other people. The former couple released a statement saying they’ll be co-parenting and plan on an amicable divorce, blah blah blah, but we’ll see how long that lasts considering they’re still working together.
Say what you will about the shittiness of 2016, but the celeb gossip was unparalleled, #bless.
