Emma just revealed the one condition you won’t get paid for being on Selling Sunset
This is absolutely brutal
It is hardly shocking at this point that Selling Sunset is big business, but Emma Hernan has just pulled back the curtain on one very specific catch when it comes to getting paid. In a recent money chat, she opened up about how the cast’s paychecks actually work, and why some people can film for hours and still walk away with nothing.
Emma has always been pretty open about the financial side of life, from her frozen food company to investing, so of course she did not hold back when the topic turned to reality TV income. What she revealed makes it very clear that on Selling Sunset, screen time is not just about ego, it is literally money in the bank.
Emma reveals why you wouldn’t get paid on Selling Sunset
Speaking on the Your Rich BFF podcast with Vivian Tu, Emma explained that Selling Sunset cast members are paid per episode, not per season or per long week of filming.
The crucial detail is that you only get paid if you actually make the episode. If your scenes are filmed but end up on the cutting room floor, your paycheck for that instalment is aparently zero.
“For our show, we get paid per episode,” she said. “If you make the episode, you get paid. If they cut you out of the episode, you don’t get paid.” That is the “one condition” she is talking about: no airtime, no money.
It also explains why certain agents hustle so hard for storylines and screen time. Reports have claimed there is a tiered system behind the scenes, with long-standing stars like Jason Oppenheim and Chrishell Stause said to be on the biggest packages, while regular agents such as Emma and Chelsea Lazkani reportedly earn somewhere in the region of tens of thousands of dollars per episode, depending on their role and popularity, per The Tab.
On top of that, their Selling Sunset income sits alongside standard real estate commission, which is how most of the agents earn their core money since they are commission-based at The Oppenheim Group rather than on a fixed salary.
She recalls being ‘in the minus’
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Emma also admitted that joining the show was not immediately lucrative for her personally. In the same conversation, she said that when she first came on board, she was actually “in the negative” because of how much she was spending to keep up appearances.
Reality TV might look glamorous, but production reportedly does not cover all those hair appointments, spray tans and couture outfits.
Emma stressed that she had to pay for glam, styling and everything else herself, while the series was still finding its footing and her own screen time was not as guaranteed as it is now.
“Fashion is big on Selling Sunset, so you have to look nice,” she explained, adding that she saw it as an investment in her brand. Between her plant-based food company Emma Leigh & Co., her real estate work and her social media deals, that gamble seems to have paid off, but she is clear that the early days were financially tough.
Reality Shrine reached out to Netflix for comment. For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates – like Reality Shrine on Facebook.