Is ‘Selling Sunset’ Real, Fake or Scripted? Cast Tells All

Netflix’s hit Selling Sunset mixes luxury real estate and major drama. Former Oppenheim Group agent and occasional villain, Christine Quinn, has called out the series for its “fake storylines,” but is Selling Sunset scripted? Keep scrolling to find out everything we know about the show’s seemingly producer-created plotlines.

Is ‘Selling Sunset’ Scripted?

Fans will remember back in season 2 when the storyline revolved around Mary Fitzgerald’s looming wedding to her then-boyfriend, Romain Bonnet. After her wedding venue fell through five weeks before her planned nuptials, Mary considered canceling the function altogether.

“I’m torn between pushing it back and being like, ‘Why are we doing this?’,” Mary told the other agents in the office in 2019. “Romain and I are fighting all the time. I would rather … not do it.” However, it would come out that the couple had already secretly wed in a civil union in March 2018 before the pair started filming the series.

What Critics Have Called Out ‘Selling Sunset’?

When season 3 dropped, Chrissy Teigen took to Twitter to say that while she looks “at L.A. real estate a lot,” she had “never seen any of these people” and neither had her real estate agents.

In a since-deleted tweet, Oppenheim Group founder Jason Oppenheim clapped back.

“Chrisy, thanks for watching our show [sic]!” he wrote in August 2020. “Regarding your agent’s knowledge of members of my team, I respectfully don’t know him either, although that doesn’t mean he isn’t successful and didn’t just sell you a stunning home in Weho (seriously, I love your new house).”

He would also later defend the show against claims the storylines were produced. “There’s nothing that’s scripted, we’re never told to say anything,” the real estate broker revealed in an interview with Metro.co.uk in November 2021. “At most, I would say that in some situations, if some things need to be addressed or we’re meeting a client or something, we’ll be asked to wait to make sure if we get everything on camera, but that’s certainly not scripted.”

Does ‘Selling Sunset’ Include Staged Scenes?

Jason was caught with a major blunder in season 5 after he was captured by fans making an evidently fake phone call with his camera app. “Calling” his client with an offer from Chelsea Lazkani’s buyer, the scene cemented her spot as the newest agent in the office.

One of the major plotlines of the latest season was Emma Hernan’s accusation of Christine bribing a client $5,000 to not work with her.

“What do people think about the Christine bribing clients storyline of #SellingSunset?” one fan asked on Twitter following the season’s release on April 22. “I think it’s producer created, to progress the storyline, I don’t think Christine is dumb enough to do that in real life.”

Christine simply replied, “Produced.”

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However, Emma has since refuted the How to Be a Boss Bitch author’s claim and disclosed she has proof that it indeed happened.

“It’s 100 percent facts, just like the engagement was 100 percent false,” the Boston native explained in a conversation with Entertainment Tonight on April 22. “Everything has been confirmed. I mean, Jason and Mary wouldn’t have taken it so serious if it wasn’t confirmed.”

Keep scrolling to see all the instances the Selling Sunset cast was called out for scripted moments.

Mary Fitzgerald

While Mary stressed out in season 2 about her looming marriage to Romain, the pair had already tied the knot in a civil union before the Netflix series started filming.

“They chose not to tell any of their friends or family, as they were still trying to see if their relationship would work out in the long term,” their rep told Us Weekly in August 2020. “In their minds, they weren’t properly married until the wedding that was filmed during the show.”

Chrissy Teigen

Chrissy Teigen took to Twitter to say while she looks at real estate in Los Angeles, she had never heard of any of the Oppenheim Group agents.

Receiving responses from many of the Selling Sunset cast, Davina Poratz told Us Weekly in a statement, “It’s refreshing to have somebody with a platform like Chrissy Teigen acknowledge we’re real people with real lives despite being on TV. So cool to see she’s watching our show!”

Christine’s Dramatic Departure From the Oppenheim Group

Christine Quinn dropped some major bombs while on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in May 2022. She claimed that since producers knew she was leaving the Oppenheim Group going into filming season 5, the drama surrounding her departure was allegedly producer-created.

“When we were filming season 5, my husband and I had been working on a company for a year and a half now, called Real Open. I told production going into it, I said ‘Listen, I’m leaving the Oppenheim Group, you guys know that, so let’s get creative with the storylines and let me talk about my own brokerage,’” she explained to host Alex Cooper. “To which, they completely edited out because that’s not a convenient storyline, that’s not fun.”

“Insert fake bribery storyline,” the Selling Sunset star continued. “This scene of me in the office supposed to show up, that didn’t happen. I had no idea that was going on, until people sent me clips and I was horrified.”

Chrishell Stause

In March 2023, Chrishell took to her Instagram Stories to slam the Selling Sunset producers while filming for season 6.

“The way reality TV producers manipulate things to create a narrative,” she wrote. “Sucks to not be able to be proud of what you’re working on.”

In a separate Story, Chrishell called out the creator of the series, Done and Done Productions, by writing across a GIF, “Me collecting receipts for when the time comes @done_and_done_productions or scrap this fake narrative [because] don’t forget we have voices too. Viewers do NOT want manufactured drama.”

This wasn’t the first instance when Chrishell called out the series’ authenticity. In August 2022, the Netflix star called out an unnamed costar via her Instagram Stories.

“The thirst for camera time on season 6 is REAL. Wow. That was insanity,” she wrote. “But also SO transparent. Get your 15mins girl but leave my business out of it.”

She continued in a separate Story, “Screenshots have been archived for this very moment. 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. But don’t try to come for people I love or my business when you were added, and I was there to hype you up, excited for you.”