The 22 wildest behind the scenes facts and productions secrets of Selling Sunset

Jason has admitted he would have turned down Netflix if he’d known the show was going to be all about drama

| UPDATED

Selling Sunset is one of the wildest reality TV shows on Netflix right now. Aside from the beautiful houses, it’s dramatic and absolutely packed full of chaos. So what goes into making something as theatrical and climatic as this? There are a few Selling Sunset production secrets which spill all the tea.

From how “scripted” it really is, to what the cast members are like in real life and how hard they actually work – here are the wildest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about making Selling Sunset on Netflix.

The biggest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about Selling Sunset on Netflix

via Netflix

Christine said some of the storylines are fake and ‘produced’

Since day one, the show has been called out for feeling as though some of the storylines are staged. Christine Quinn has come out and said it’s literally fake. Writing on Twitter ahead of the new episodes dropping, she said: “30 minutes till the launch of #SellingSunset 🥰🥰enjoy the new season and all of its 5,000 fake storylines!💰💅.”

She also called out one part in particular, where is was alleged she paid a client not to work with co-star Emma. Someone tweeted her about it and she replied: “Omg bless your heart you actually think the show is real”. She replied to another tweet saying the moment was “produced”.

Chrishell isn’t actually Chrishell’s name

Right, there’s been a bit of gossip about Chrishell and her name over the years. It was first believed she was born Terrina Chrishell Stause, but more commonly known by her middle name Chrishell, which originated from the day of her birth. Her mother was in labor at a Shell station, and “Chris”, an attendant, helped deliver her.

But, Chrishell has since clarified and said it didn’t quite happen in a gas station. Her mother was actually getting help with her car and the attendant was called Chris and he did work at a Shell station – the birth just didn’t actually end up happening there. An ambulance came and Chrishell was delivered in hospital. Chris just helped keep Chrishell’s mother calm when she realised she had gone into labor.

And Christine also went by a different name before she joined The Oppenheim Group

Chrishell isn’t the only Oppenheim member of staff to have a different name previously. An old home video of Christine Quinn singing a Maroon 5 cover resurfaced recently, and this was listed on YouTube as an upload featuring “Christine Bently”. This is apparently her last name, but she stopped going by it when she joined The Oppenheim Group.

Cast members have said they were told by production to talk about Christine

Season four seemed to be all about Christine Quinn. Either it was all about her drama with Emma or her having a baby, and even when she wasn’t part of a scene the girls were always talking about her. And now, it looks as though that’s all because of the way the show is edited, and Chrishell appears to have confirmed they are asked to talk about Christine in the office.

In a screenshot, appearing to be from Chrishell’s Instagram, shared on Reddit, she says her and the other cast members are asked by Netflix production to address certain things which makes it look like “that’s all we talk about”. She then adds: “I guess that’s what we signed up for, but I assure you, this is very out of proportion to what we actually discuss when together.” She says she hopes season five will be less like this, calling the drama “exhausting”.

Selling Sunset reddit

via Reddit / Instagram

An alleged crew member has said which cast members are ‘chill’ and who is ‘rude’

Someone claiming to be part of the Selling Sunset crew has taken to Reddit to share some production secrets and tea about the series. In it, they begin by giving a rundown of what all the cast members are really like. “I like all of them a lot,” they said. “Heather is actually the most chill and fun and always in a good mood. Davina is the most annoying, you can tell she’s always anxious. Christine’s husband is awful, but you don’t see that in the show. Christine is nice to us but so rude about other cast members.”

When asked about Chrishell, they said: “She is super nice. During season one she was used to scripted soap operas so she expected certain things and she had moments. But she’s professional and always on time and always nice to the crew. She was even nicer and more chill after the divorce tbh. I think she felt pressure to protect her ex-husbands reputation.”

They add: “Maya makes shady jokes about everyone. I know some of the ladies (Heather) get pissed about how she gets away with those comments.” They also describe Mary as “the most serious worker”.

Things are dramatised for the show, but it’s not scripted

It’s been questioned time and time again if the show is scripted, but short answer is – it’s not. Chrishell told TMZ that “certain things that are a little amped up for the show”, and it has been confirmed cast members are sometimes given prompts for things to talk about.

The alleged crew member on Reddit also shared their opinion on this topic, adding: “Things for 90 per cent of the time are shot in real time. Sometimes we need to reshoot things, like if a location or a house isn’t available – or a cast member is out of town, that’s when will shoot things out of order or after the fact. But besides shooting some things out of order, no one is ever ‘fed’ lines. The EPs [executive producers] just tell them what topics or ‘storylines’ they want discussed in the scenes based on what’s going on IRL, and they roll cameras until the conversation runs out of steam. And of course everyone is human and has good or bad days and things are edited, but the cast IS exactly how they come across on the show.”

The biggest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about Selling Sunset on Netflix

via Netflix

Christine says producers initiated her row with Chrishell and pitted them against one another

Christine and Chrishell have never been shown as friends on the show, but apparently Christine says there was a time when they got on. On a podcast, Christine said: “From day one, obviously the producers had certain things in mind.” She added: “They wanted us to clash obviously and at first, we didn’t. We got along great. We were friends. She was at my house. We were drinking, having a good time. I was getting to know her and the storylines came into play. We thought we were good at separating things.”

The Selling Sunset filming schedule is pretty gruelling

If you’re wondering how long a typical shooting day for Selling Sunset on Netflix it is, according to a crew member it’s normally pretty gruelling. They start around 8am and shoot till around 6 or 7pm. This is usually two or three big scenes a day, two if it’s something particularly big like a party or event.

The biggest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about Selling Sunset on Netflix

via Netflix

The agents are not in the office all the time

Selling Sunset makes being a real estate agent appear like the dream job, so one of the main production secrets of the show is how often the women are actually in the office. They do work hard outside the show and yes, of course they are real realtors, but they don’t need to be in the office a lot. Jason has confirmed they sometimes work from home and are often out with clients at listings as well as being in the office. Speaking to The Tab, he said: “Not all the women are in everyday, but at the same time I wouldn’t want that – you’re not making money if you’re in the office all day. I like all my agents being independent, they’re all out there managing their own careers.” He confirmed Mary is in the office the most, followed by Chrishell.

The Selling Sunset pilot was filmed a year before Netflix picked up the show

The first episode of the show was filmed a whole year before Netflix picked it up, Christine told Entertainment Tonight. It was filmed as a pilot for all networks, and it was Netflix who decided to host it.

via Netflix

Chrishell was hired specifically for the show

Chrishell had previously been working as a real estate agent when she was hired by The Oppenheim Group ahead of the show. Creator Adam DiVello told Variety: “We met with Jason and Brett, and the only person that wasn’t there was Chrishell. Chrishell was really the new addition that was brought on to the agency once we decided to make the show.”

The show was thought up when the creator saw an Oppenheim Group billboard

The creator of Selling Sunset, Adam DiVello, was driving when he saw a billboard advertising the brokerage and thought it would make an incredible TV show. He then approached Jason and the rest is history. Speaking to The Tab, Jason added: “We’d been approached for over a year by several agents and producers and we rejected them for a long time because we thought the idea of a show would be more risk than reward. Initially when Adam DiVello called, we weren’t interested. He was persistent and we all said we wanted to be on Netflix and he got them on board.”

Jason would have said no to the show had he known it was going to be so drama focused

In an interview, Jason said he wouldn’t have said yes at first, had he known Selling Sunset was going to focus so highly on the drama of the women’s personal lives. Speaking to The Tab, he added: “Well, I love the show’s popularity. When I first signed up for this show I definitely thought it was going to be more real estate driven. That said, the type of show I would have wanted probably wouldn’t be that popular. Yes it’s got a lot more dramatic than I would have anticipated or would have wanted, however, this show has done so well for our business so I very much enjoy all the positivity around it – so overall I’m happy.”

The biggest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about Selling Sunset on Netflix

via Netflix

Jason gets loads of emails from people wanting jobs

Yes, since the show started Jason has been bombarded with people wanting to come and work at The Oppenheim Group. He told The Tab his email inbox is flooded with  “everything from I’m a 15-year-old and I want to intern for you to I just left my job and now I want to be in real estate. We get a lot asking for just general advice – we have hundreds and hundreds of emails. It’s getting a bit overwhelming.”

It took hours to film Christine’s wedding in season three

Christine’s wedding was the huge finale of season three, and it wasn’t a straight forward thing to film. Speaking to PageSix, wedding planner Lisa Lafferty said Christine was around two hours late to the actual ceremony because of all the moments that needed to be filmed for the show. Overall, the wedding took hours longer to film than first expected. “I would say timing was definitely an issue,” she added.

Netflix doesn’t pay for how glam the girls look, and Christine used to pay up to $1000 a day

The girls look amazing day in, day out – but Netflix doesn’t pay for any of their hair and makeup. In an interview with Refinery29, Christine revealed the production budget doesn’t quite stretch that far, unfortunately. “Netflix doesn’t pay for anything,” she said. “I pay for my own hair and makeup and wardrobe and everything like that, and it’s worth it. I have fun with it, and I know that people love to watch it and be like, ‘What is she going to do next?’”

via Netflix

Oh, and Christine took four hours to get ready before filming

Ok, so how long does it take to create the iconic looks of Christine Quinn? “My hair takes a minimum about two hours, depending on what I’m doing to it,” she told People. “I give myself a four-hour window from when I have to leave my house. I’m not just throwing on a T-shirt: I’m planning everything. I’m like, ‘Okay, what’s the scene, what’s the background? What are we doing? Am I going to be walking? Am I going to be sitting? Is this outfit going to be wasted? Is it being showcased?’ I take all of that into account.”

Sometimes, Christine was actually TOO MUCH for TV

We all know Christine is extra, and one of the most dramatic women to ever grace reality TV. But, it’s actually been revealed there have been times where the show creator has decided her antics were too much for the show. Apparently there was one time where she wrapped her Lamborghini in blood for Halloween, but executive producer Adam DiVello decided it was a little too much to show.

Davina was on another real estate show before Selling Sunset

Selling Sunset isn’t the first time Davina has appeared in a real estate reality TV show. She was previously on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing. Plus, Amanza was a box model for Deal or No Deal!

The biggest production secrets and behind the scenes facts about Selling Sunset on Netflix

via Netflix

Christine dressed Davina in season three

Davina has never been as much of a fashion icon as the other realtors, but Christine took matters into her own hands for season three, to give Davina a makeover. “That was me. I take all credit,” Christine told People. “I told her, ‘Listen, Davina, stop with the mom blazers. Please, let me dress you.’ She started coming over to my house, and I was like, ‘Here, put this on.’ She was like, ‘I don’t know, it’s too sexy.’ I’m like, ‘Come on, just do it.'”

The people who are sometimes in the background of shots are other realtors and Jason and Brett’s assistants

There are loads more staff at The Oppenheim Group, beyond those we see on the show. There are more realtors who work for the group, and sometimes we see other people sat at the desks at the back or dotting around the office – those are usually Brett and Jason’s assistants.

We didn’t see Maya’s children on the show because of how expensive it would be to film them

Maya spoke about her family a lot whilst on the show, and it’s not because she doesn’t want them to appear that we never saw them on camera. “Apparently, it’s expensive to film a baby in production. They have to hire nurses. The baby can only be on up to 30 minutes. It’s a whole thing,” she told Women’s Health.

Selling Sunset is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

These are the 11 biggest feuds there have ever been on Selling Sunset

• Who is the most successful Selling Sunset agent? Ranking commission they’ve ever earned

• This is just how mega rich all the guys of Selling Sunset actually are