Spoilers ahead! Chrishell Stause answers ET's burning questions from season 6 of 'Selling Sunset' and what's to come in season 7.
Spoilers ahead! If you have not yet binged through all of Selling Sunset season 6, save this link for later.
Chrishell Stause is still searching for answers about what exactly she lived through last year while filming season 6 of Selling Sunset, largely thanks to new cast member Nicole Young. A staple of The Oppenheim Group since before the series launched on Netflix back in 2019, Nicole makes her official debut as a member of the reality TV ensemble in the just-dropped episodes, and instantly sparks drama with Chrishell.
"I think I had expected a little bit of respect with someone coming new into the group, and she had reached out -- and we were great friends before this!" Chrishell tells ET. "I was excited for her. She asked for advice, and I was trying to help her. So the fact that she had been plotting a plan, and I didn't know it until, here she was with a full camera crew around me? Obviously that just set the tone, because I don't like feeling like you've been plotting something, and it's something from so long ago."
That something is Nicole's apparent annoyance with Chrishell getting credit for sales she completed on the MLS, a sort of IMDb for real estate agents. The sales were from three years prior, and per Chrishell, were actually O Group boss Jason Oppenheim's clients; he simply added Nicole and Chrishell to the listings -- and Chrishell didn't take commission on the properties when they sold. Nicole did.
"You could have easily brought this up a million times before, so I just had very little patience from the beginning," Chrishell admits.
Things come to a head between the two women about a third of the way through season 6, at a broker's open hosted by Chelsea Lazkani. Chrishell and Nicole sit down on a Manhattan Beach patio to hash through things, and their conversation quickly turns into a confrontation. When the scene was shot last September, Chrishell posted a series of cryptic Instagram Stories to voice her frustration, but without naming Nicole.
“The thirst for camera time on season 6 is REAL. Wow. That was insanity,” she wrote. "Of COURSE you have a huge issue with me now-not before-when you have a camera crew around you🙄🙄🙄. I hate fake 💩 If you want camera time-JUST SAY THAT. I would have helped you get the right angle. 🤷."
She stands by the sentiment today.
"Because [producers] don't like to break the fourth wall, a lot of my frustration is that, if when you got cast on the show, and you're asking me for advice, and I'm saying, 'I'm so excited for you...' you know, all these things and then all of a sudden, you're bringing up something from three years ago? That to me, is extremely frustrating," she says. "Leave my business out of it. You know, calling me a fake agent, trying to tear down my business, things I've worked really hard for? I'm the only girl in the office that has given her business and that has given her referrals. And so it just really felt like a betrayal and a clown emoji."
Chrishell appears more activated than ever before on the show, flinging f-words and the b-word at Nicole, which snowballs the situation into an even bigger issue. When office manager Mary Bonnet (formerly Fitzgerald) attempts to play mediator between the women, it only becomes more confusing, as Nicole walks back her MLS issue and says she should've never mentioned that frustration in the first place.
"She says that wasn't her initial issue, and then she came out with her issue saying that Jason only put me on the listing because he had a crush on me, which again, isn't much of a point when he's adding you to way more listings than me," Chrishell offers, "and you guys also dated."
Fans are well aware of Jason's interoffice entanglements; he's actually been boyfriend to Chrishell, Nicole and Mary. His relationship with (and breakup from) Chrishell, however, is the only one that's played out on the show.
"I never got to the root of what her real problem was," she laments. "She kept bringing up how I 'didn't let' him answer phone calls when we were together, which -- they cut this out -- but I said that to Jason in front of everyone, 'Have I ever done that?' And he said, 'No, that's ridiculous.' So to me, I think it's very clear that wasn't a point. She came in with the plan. She thought she had this idea to kind of come at me, and I think that I surprised her because I just, you know, I'm in a different place and I wasn't having it."
"I was not an easy opponent," she adds. "Do I think that I could have done anything differently? Yes. But when you when you keep bringing it, it's almost like, don't keep poking me and then not expect me to react."
Matters only get worse on a girls' trip to Palm Springs, where Chrishell questions what she sees as erratic behavior from Nicole. She questions whether Nicole is on drugs, leading Nicole to break down in tears. Nicole denies the allegation, goes to get a drug test to prove it and threatens legal action if the speculation continues. Chrishell never saw a copy of the drug test results, though.
"Girl, you do whatever you wanna do," she quips. "I actually don’t care, I'm not policing anything."
"Just stop coming for my business," she asks. "What is the issue? You sound like a rabid dog with a bone, so is it that? Is it camera time? Is it... whatever. Of course when I if I say 'camera time,' they’re not gonna use that."
There's more of this saga set to play out in season 7, expected to hit the streamer later this year. Season 6's finale features a sneak peek at the journey ahead, including moments of Nicole claiming "Chrishell gets away with murder," and threatening to "end" her if their back-and-forth continues.
"I think it’s funny that she thinks she can," Chrishell cracks. "Very clearly, she came in with an agenda and now that it didn’t work, she’s twisting it around as if she’s the victim and I’ve been out to get her, when really the whole time I’m like, please, go away."
"It’s an old playbook," she notes. "I’ve seen it before. I’ve dealt with it before."
Chrishell's referencing her seasons-long feud with former co-star Christine Quinn, who happily took on the "villain" label during her tenure on the show, before exiting the series (and the brokerage) at the end of season 5.
"If you’re going to try and do something that’s already been done on the show, then you have to try and do it better," she advises Nicole. "Listen, Christine and I have our issues, but the one thing I will always give her, she really sold it on different aspects and I feel like, you can’t come in with an old playbook."
Much like with Christine, Chrishell's nowhere near a friendship with Nicole. Unlike with Christine, though, she respects her as a colleague.
"I’m here to say, she’s great at what she does," she offers, "but our personalities clash, so I’d like if we can keep it to that. I think that’s actually a great place... if I can get there."
Chrishell's happy to share that she is in a great place with Mary, despite what the season might make it look like. Over the course of season 6, Mary struggles to find her balance amid feuding friends. Her role as their sort-of boss only complicates things further, and the season ends with a tear-filled chat between Chrishell and Mary over their seemingly strained relationship.
"That’s the one thing that is important to me to clear up, is that there is absolutely friendship there," she shares. "There will always be a friendship there. I love Mary, and I don’t even feel like she took a side that wasn’t mine. I really do feel like she really is that friend that wants to stay neutral."
"Of course when you’re going through something, it feels a certain way, but I-- that is how life goes," she adds, "and I think that we have a friendship where, no matter how much time does pass, the second we talk and connect it’s, like, no time is passed. And so, I love Mary. I am so happy for her with everything she has going on, and I feel like, with the show, conversations that we would've maybe happened quicker, they want us to wait, and so it does feel good to finally be able to get to a place where ... we are done filming, to really work on just getting our friendship exactly back where it was, and it is, which I'm really excited."
All episodes of Selling Sunset are now streaming on Netflix.
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