The relationship took a turn after Jason revealed he could not move forward with having kids.
Season 5 of Selling Sunset starts with Chrishell Stause and Jason Oppenheim's romance on full display as they arrive in Mykonos, Greece, holding hands and all smiles with friends in tow. Sadly, the season ends with them far apart, literally and figuratively -- with the the Oppenheim Group co-founder sitting at his firm's brand new Orange County, California, facility and sharing why he can't move forward with the relationship while Chrishell's at her L.A. home breaking the news to her good friend and colleague, Emma Hernan, that, in the end, Jason didn't want to have kids.
That they broke up because Jason had "different wants regarding a family" (Chrishell confirmed this too) is not new. But with season 5 of the hit series now streaming on Netflix, fans will have another main storyline to navigate in addition to the drama-filled season (largely fueled by Christine Quinn), only this time the subject is as delicate as it is impassioned with real-life consequences.
Here is everything that happened during the short-lived romance on Selling Sunset:
At the top of Chrishell's priority list is finding someone who is committed to raising a child with her. It's a topic Jason and Chrishell seriously discuss over the course of season 5, and they're not just discussing hypotheticals, either. Over a glass of wine and a fire at her opulent L.A. home, Chrishell brings up a phone call she got from her doctor telling her that they should expect results soon from their attempt to create embryos. Chrishell revealed back in September 2020 that she had her eggs frozen.
“I’m a little curious and a little anxious," she tells Jason. "The same when I got my eggs extracted. How many you’re going to get, and same with this, like, did it work?" Jason then asks, "If we do get one, is it a boy or is it a girl?" Chrishell says they should know real soon. Jason says that's exciting, before opening up about what she means to him.
“I think about this so much,” Jason says. “I really have never been with a better woman or felt just more happy and comfortable in a relationship. No way. That part, you know. There are many considerations that I'm going through and thinking about. But the part about you? That’s off the table, ‘cause I already know without a question."
Chrishell asks him what it is he's wavering on when it comes to having kids. Jason responds that it's a difficult decision for someone who is as analytical as he is and someone who wants to make an informed decision. He also tells her he has sought advice, like revealing he spent two hours talking about the topic with his father and how "cool it would be to hand off the Oppenheim Group in 20 years to someone."
For Chrishell, being a mother at this exact point in her life would mean a lot to her. “I didn’t have the most ideal childhood,” she says. “And now, I’m in a situation where I know I could give a child an amazing life.”
Chrishell then, essentially, gives Jason an ultimatum. “I’m really trying to be true to myself this time and I think in doing that, this is one of those situations where I have to be honest with you," she says. "If you decide that you don’t want to be a father, you know, I don’t think I could go forward with you.”
The pressure to have kids starts almost from the get-go. During their first night in Greece at a birthday dinner party for Chrishell and Mary Fitzgerald, Amanza Smith gets something off her chest now that Jason and Chrishell's relationship is out in the open.
"Now, can I just say to the world -- please just have a baby, OK?" Amanza says. "Just have a baby. I'll raise it. It's gonna be the cutest, most lovely, perfect baby ever, and I will love it. No pressure!"
This is significant because, for starters, it's the first of more than a handful of times when Jason and/or Chrishell are asked by their colleagues if they see marriage and/or kids in their future. Secondly, it's significant considering Jason admits later in the season that -- from the time he turned 18 until his relationship with Chrishell -- having a family is not something he ever seriously considered.
But, since being with Chrishell, the idea of having kids is something Jason has given a lot more serious thought to. Case in point -- Maya Vander brings up a dinner party where she says she heard Jason talking about kids. "All of a sudden he was like, 'I really want to have a kid. I think I'm ready.' I'm like, 'Wow.' I'm like, 'Who is this?" Maya tells the rest of the group back at the Hollywood office.
Maya, during a confessional, reiterates she's known Jason for six years and says she never would have bet money on Jason being a married man who wants kids. For good measure, Davina Potratz backs Maya's story. "I heard he said that. I was like, 'What?'" which prompted Heather Rae Young to gush, "Some women are placeholders, some are game-changers. She's his game-changer!"
An unlikely figure also shows up in season 5 to get answers about possible babies -- Jason's mother, Deborah! At one point, Jason and Deborah are sitting at a rooftop restaurant waiting for Chrishell to arrive for brunch. While they wait, Deborah reveals she loves champagne in the morning and that she deadlifted a whopping 195 pounds on leg day.
In any event, it's not the first time Chrishell is meeting Deborah, but it is the first time she's meeting Jason's mom as his girlfriend. Deborah showers her with compliments and calls her "special." She then borrows a page from Jason's business playbook and and gets down to brass tacks.
"So, before we start eating," Deborah begins. "You're the first girlfriend that I've met that has been serious. I wouldn't be surprised if you got married." Jason breaks the awkward silence by saying they're doing extremely well but taking it slow at the same time, prompting Deborah to sigh, "Oh, vey."
But Deborah's not done. "Two more important things," she says. "Where are you on babies? And if that's intrusive from me, don’t answer it.” It's at this moment when Jason admits it's not a topic he seriously considered until meeting Chrishell, "but I'd say I'm considering it more seriously than I ever have before."
In one of the most adorable moments of the season that would ultimately prove just as heartbreaking, Chrishell tells Deborah, "We even came up with a name for our fictitious child -- her name is Maverick."
Ultimately, the relationship hangs in the balance because Jason remains unsure about starting a family. He admits the prerequisite to everything else (wedding, etc.) is kids. But Jason also admits his busy schedule is on his mind, as well as the new O.C. office and wanting to expand his business to Las Vegas.
In the season finale, Heather Rae ties the knot with Flipping 101 star Tarek El-Moussa, we see spark fly between Emma and her property developer/friend, Micah, and Chrishell's sisters -- Sabrina and Shonda -- fly in to make sure Chrishell and Jason are on the same page.
In the end, Sabrina and Shonda's doubts are proven right. The final scene is set up with Jason, his twin brother, Brett, Mary and Amanza sitting at the firm's new O.C. facility. As they sit in the massive space, Jason can't fathom what his mornings would look like having a baby while trying to manage twice as many agents and twice as many transactions.
"But she wants me to be a dad too, obviously, and she was very clear from the beginning about that," Jason admits. "I wish that the pendulum would swing in one direction so it would be more clear for me, but I just feel like it’s not yet. If I’m gonna have a kid, I wanna have that ‘I really want this’ type of thing, and that pendulum is not going over there yet. But it’s also not going … I don’t want to not be with Chrishell. I’m not going towards not having a kid, but I’m just kind of waiting, I’m thinking, I’m waiting for the process to kind of push me farther in that direction."
Amanza tells him he's quite possibly overthinking things and that it's unfortunate for women because, sadly, they have a shelf life. But Jason doesn't relent, and it seems the pendulum has finally swung to the side Chrishell feared most. “Right now, I’m overwhelmed with professional responsibility, you know? When I was first getting with Chrishell, I actually was taking a more emotional and less logical approach to it, and I was actually feeling more inclined to have a family with her," he says.
"And I think during the relationship, my logical, decision-making mind has been taking over," he continues. "Honestly, I wake up in the morning [and think], ‘What would my morning look like with a baby? Who would I hire? Where would we live? What would I be doing now? How would we travel? How would I go down to Orange County? How would I be able to manage my offices and agents and transactions?’ I honestly get overwhelmed thinking about the idea of being a dad. And it scares me, because I know that if that’s my decision, I lose Chrishell."
Back in L.A., Chrishell pours two glasses of wine as she prepares to tell Emma the news. In the end -- after the long conversations with Jason and meeting with doctors -- Chrishell says it was all for naught. “Anyway, long story short, he just told me that he doesn’t wanna have a kid. So, as much as this hurts me to say -- I’d been clear with him what that would mean -- so we are done. We broke up."
Chrishell almost blames herself for putting herself in this situation, mentioning how Jason was a proud lifelong bachelor. “I just feel like you never have it figured out,” she says, fighting back tears. “And I guess that’s the life lesson. And I should know better at this point, but I thought this was it.”
Emma, who is initially speechless, consoles Chrishell with comforting words. “I know that you were put on this planet to be a mom, and it’s going to make sense one day," Emma says. "When you’re holding your baby in your hands. Everything is going to make sense, just not in this moment. I don’t want you for a second to think you’re not meant to have something. You are. And this is just the universe’s way of putting you down a different path.”
Chrishell says she refuses to cry and reminds herself about everything she has going for herself. “No, I’m not gonna cry. I refuse. I refuse. I live in this beautiful house. I’ve gotten my career in the best place it’s ever been," she says. "And I do not want to cry about a man."
Selling Sunset season 5 is now streaming on Netflix.
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