The real estate professional opens up to ET about documenting her personal struggles on season 2 of the Netflix series.
Farrah Brittany is back on the market.
The 35-year-old real estate agent confirms to ET she has split from her fiancé, Alex Manos, after getting engaged to the specialty car dealer in November 2022, as seen on season 1 of her Netflix reality series, Buying Beverly Hills. Everything that went into their decision to break up after more than four years together will play out on season 2 of the show, launching Friday on the streamer. The Messenger first reported the split in September.
"Very sensitive subject to be playing out on TV, but it is what it is," Farrah shares with ET, sitting down with her sisters -- Alexia Umansky and Sophia Umansky -- and her stepdad, Mauricio Umansky, to promote the show's return. In a sneak peek released by Netflix, Mauricio and Farrah's mother, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, speculate on the status of Farrah's relationship after more than a year of no movement on wedding planning. Farrah's father is Kyle's first husband, businessman Guraish Aldjufrie.
"I try not to deal with it too much, not to ask," Mauricio tells Kyle in one scene. "She likes to hide her emotions a lot."
"She always has," Kyle replies. "I'll test it a little bit and ask, and then I can tell if she's in the mood or not; sometimes she'll quickly open up and share. Other times, she'll be very short with the answer and I'm like, 'OK.' Trying to respect that. It's just hard. I just want her to be happy."
"It feels like the relationship is stalled right now," Mauricio then remarks in a confessional. "I know Farrah wants the fairy tale, but the reality is that marriages are difficult, and I'm really glad and proud that Farrah is taking her time trying to figure out what to do, because marriage is a huge commitment and even the best marriages sometimes don't work."
"It was really hard," Farrah says of making the decision. "The whole season, I was dealing with a lot, obviously, trying to focus on my career having so much going on in the family, in my own personal relationship."
As Farrah's romance came to an end, her parents also made the decision to separate after nearly three decades of marriage. It all unfolded in real time as Buying Beverly Hills cameras rolled. Nearly a year later, Kyle and Mauricio are still separated and figuring out whether they'll recommit to one another or divorce.
"I guess it was a slow sort of unraveling of two people that love each other very, very much, but actually weren't seeing eye to eye on a few things," Farrah reflects on her own breakup. "We decided to go our separate ways, unfortunately, but no bad blood there, and I'm just focusing on me and my family. I don't have -- and work -- the energy to be thinking about much else right now."
Despite those parallel splits, love is still alive in the Umansky house. Buying Beverly Hills viewers will get to meet Alexia's boyfriend, Jake Zingerman, this season. The two have been an item for years.
"We love Jake," Mauricio proclaims. "He's awesome."
Alexia, 27, admits that watching her loved ones go through personal pain so publicly does make her think twice about sharing her love life with the world, but she's also aware of the realities of being a reality TV star.
"So much of my life is already out there, and there's nothing I would change about my life," she says. "I have no regrets, and my relationship is amazing and, you know, whatever happens in the future is what happens. Everything that we're going through is human and, obviously, I hope for the best."
"I'm just going to take that day by day, as well, and I'm excited for people to get to know Jake a little bit better," she adds.
Sophia, 24, isn't publicly linked to anyone romantically, but the trailer for Buying Beverly Hills teases an in-office flirtation with season 2 addition Adam Rosenfeld. Sophia joins the The Agency as an intern as she works toward her real estate license.
"This year has really been about stepping out of my comfort zone, and I've been to therapy and I've been a lot better at that, and that's definitely helped," she tells ET of stepping into the two family businesses -- real estate and reality TV -- with season 2.
"I graduate college, and I decided I wanted to try out real estate business," she continues, "and I have this opportunity to join my family on the show and I wasn't going to let that opportunity go. I wanted to spend time with them and see what they do, so yeah, it's been-- I'm feeling great."
Adding more family to the mix adds increased scrutiny on Farrah and Alexia; questions of who's Mauricio's heir apparent pop up among the other agents, with self-proclaimed "Queen of the Valley" Michelle Schwartz throwing her hat in the ring and suggesting Mau leaving the business to his daughters would be "business suicide" to Alexia's close friend, Joey Ben-Zvi.
"I was taken by surprise, for sure, because we had been friends for a long time, so I thought it was a way to, I don't know, make a splash and I guess she did," Farrah says. "But at the same time, I've commanded many a room of suits, I have done much bigger deals and probably more than she has."
"At the same time I don't think she had to go that route, because I respect her and no one ever said she didn't have a seat at the table," she continues. "So it was unnecessary, but I'm gonna have to clap back if you're gonna go for me like that."
"It was definitely a bit of a shock," Alexia adds. "She labeled herself as a 'girls' girl,' and then next thing you know she's sort of undermining the effort and the work that we've put in. And just, it was disappointing."
"She really went for the jugular, and the good thing is, Farrah and I are strong," Alexia notes.
Viewers will have to tune in to see how that whole saga plays out when all 10 episodes of Buying Beverly Hills season 2 start streaming on Friday, March 22, on Netflix.
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