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If you’ve ever wondered if Chrishell Stause is really as nice as she seems on Netflix’s Selling Sunset, the answer is a resounding yes.
Stause won me over long before she complimented my name at the end of our interview, saying, “That was my best friend’s name growing up. And it always makes me smile.” (Cue the weeping emoji). From her candor about her very public divorce that played out during season 3 to her openness about why she decided to write a book about her journey, Stause is exactly as you’d imagine her to be—the girl next door you can’t help but root for.
To celebrate the release of Selling Sunset season 4, ELLE.com caught up with the real estate agent to find out what viewers can expect from Selling Sunset season 5, whether season 6 is on the way, and what it was like sharing her new romance with boss and co-star Jason Oppenheim with the world.
Every time new Selling Sunset comes out, I watch the entire season in a day. It’s a problem.
That’s what’s so funny, is that it takes obviously so long to get these in the can and then people will just be like, “The day it came out, I finished it, when’s the next season?” I’m like, wow!
So much happens in season 4. What was it like returning to film?
It was kind of amazing because the whole world had been on lockdown and to be able to put things in place so that we could safely all get back into the office; I think we were all really excited to get back. And it kind of added to the energy more so than any other season would have, because what other time in the history of the world has that happened, where everything was shut down for over a year? So I think everyone was really excited and I think that added to [the feeling of], “Okay, let’s do this, let’s get back into it.”
The finale teased so much drama, including what happens next in your dating life, as well as a focus on the new office in Orange County. Can you reveal what’s coming next in season 5?
They are so tough on this stuff about what we can say and what we can’t. I think that the viewers are going to get a lot of payoff for things that weren’t exactly tied up in season 4, because what happened is we filmed seasons 4 and 5 consecutively, back-to-back. I feel like when you watch it, you’re like, “Wait, what happened with this? What happened with that?” It will be tied up. And there won’t be such a long wait between seasons 4 and 5, like there was between 3 and 4. I can’t say too much, but I can just say that hopefully the questions you have, or the things that weren’t answered, will all be answered in season 5.
Alex Evans
Everyone on the show is so popular now that you’re like the Kardashians. We’ve followed your real life happening in the press and on Instagram, and then we’re just catching up with the episodes and finally seeing it onscreen.
It is a strange way to live your life, because everyone’s behind on things. Or things that you want to act, like, “Please let’s move on,” then you relive them. Or the opposite can happen, where at least for me buying my house, it was really fun to catch everyone up with that process, because I live here now and I love it.
So, it’s an odd way to go about life, but it can be really fun as long as you see the good with the bad, and take it all together and know that there’s so many more positives that come with it. Of course, when you have to relive bad things, it sucks. So I would say there’s so much more things that are positive, that it’s worth it.
Your storyline this season kept making me well up because I went through a divorce as well. And I know what it’s like to want to have your own house and want to be able to take care of yourself and not rely on anyone. Was it difficult for you to put that out there in such a personal way?
Well, I’m sorry that we share that. I know that it’s just really tough and it’s something that you really have to kind of reset and regroup and kind of start over in many different facets. And…having had to share the past, I was excited about sharing the future and where I’m at now, ’cause I’m in such a better place. I think it wouldn’t have done it justice if I didn’t fully explain why this meant so much to me. I know that people are going to watch the show and people get annoyed when we bring the same things up…but when it’s your life and this is why certain things hit the way that they do, it’s a disservice if you don’t give that context. So I think it was really nice and cathartic to be able to share with everybody just how big this was for me.
My favorite line was when you and Mary [Fitzgerald] were talking about buying the house, and one of you said, “Put your hopes into a home, not a man. I mean, it’ll keep its value.” That’s my quote of the season.
I did say that. I mean, when you go about life, you learn different things. And I think that that was one of [them]—that this is a solid thing I can be excited about and I can put my time and money and effort into. And I know the market really well, so I’m able to just really use that investment in going forward for a future. It just feels like a safer investment.
Obviously season 3 was a really hard one for you as you had to go through your breakup in the public eye, but you managed to handle it with so much grace. Do you have any advice for anyone going through a similar situation? And is there anything that helped you move forward?
I would say it’s important to find your support group and really lean on them. But also, do the work privately with yourself, whether that’s therapy or some kind of meditation, something where you are really able to reflect on yourself and cycles that you’re repeating or patterns or things that. It’s just important to take those lessons and figure out a way that you can grow stronger from them. Then you can see the positive in bad things that have happened because they’re able to move you forward. So, that would be my advice: Try and find the lesson in it and try and use it as something that, going forward, those are maybe mistakes that you wouldn’t do again. So you really feel empowered by it.
I liked seeing that side of you this season, where you were just like, “No, I know what I don’t want. So I’m moving forward.”
I think that was a boat reference [season 4, episode 5’s blind boat date gone awry]. Yes.
Congratulations on your new relationship with Jason. what was it like falling for someone that you’d been friends with for so long, and did it make work weird?
No, actually the opposite. We worked so well together, so I think it’s just one of those things. We became best friends and no matter what happens in the future, whether that’s aligned or not, I think that we’ll always have that friendship. That’s what felt safe about sharing it with people, because I didn’t have that fear, because this is real life.
Sometimes people want things in the end that are non-negotiable. That doesn’t make someone a bad person. As we were trying to figure that out, I was really hesitant to share it. But then once I got to a place where I just knew that that love was unshakable for the other person, and the respect was there, I’m able to live my life in real time with people without the fear of, “Everything has to go perfect or it could be disastrous.” Because as we get older, these are real life things that we deal with.
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And hopefully when two adults really love and respect each other, at the end of the day, I feel like that will always be there. So that’s what I am excited about, that I don’t have that fear of sharing that respect that we both have, and it just kind of grew from there.
It is a lot for you to put your relationship out there, then have it air on TV. But we do love to see you happy.
Thank you very much. Yes, I think you have to be equal parts brave and insane to live your life because, when you’re just basically inviting millions of people’s opinions into your life, you do have to be pretty strong to be able to still live it in the way that you live it and not get bogged down in that kind of criticism, whether it’s positive [or] negative. Of course, when you’re going into millions of people’s homes, it’s going to be both, there’s no way to avoid that. That’s part of the process too.
Your book, Under Construction, is coming out in 2022. What can you tell us about it?
What’s interesting is I started writing it during the lockdown and the pandemic as a cathartic process. We were all going through it. And so it started in that way. I remember writing the last chapter, I had just closed on this house. I didn’t have any furniture in the house and I’m sitting up against the wall, because the deadline was in, I needed that last chapter. And I was like, how special that I started this in a lockdown pandemic situation in this lease and I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do, and now the show’s back and I’ve got this house and business was back.
And for it to be called Under Construction: Because Living My Best Life Took a Little Work—it was so kismet. When I started the book, [I was] in a darker place, needing to work through some things, cathartic needing to put pen to paper, there wasn’t much else to do anyway. I’m hoping people take away from the book that sense of being inspired and being able to laugh at yourself when you’re down and find the humor, if you can, in those moments that will help you have a sense of being in on the joke and being able to rise up from all the different things that are going to happen. Life isn’t about appreciating it when I get somewhere, it’s about having to appreciate it like this, because it’s going to change all the time.
Did you ever imagine you’d be writing a book?
I’d always enjoyed writing, but I’d done it in more short versions. So I don’t know. To be honest with you, I didn’t really think [I’d be writing a book] because…it just seemed when I would write, maybe I was upset about something, so I’d write a poem or a diary entry or things like that. I think this really was kind of a “pinch me” moment when I was already going through some things and writing them out. And then this offer came my way and it was obviously very flattering, and it came with a lot of stress ’cause then again, you are inviting people to know way more. This is a way more in-depth look at things. And I’m really hoping that if you watch the show and if you’re along for this journey, the people that are going to be picking up this book are the ones that want to know more about certain things that you don’t get in those snippets on the show.
More gossip. That’s what we want.
That’s what I was told because my first drafts, they were like, “Chrishell, we need more.”
Everyone at The Oppenheim Group always looks so glam every day. What’s your getting ready routine like? On a day off are you still in full glam, or are you quite casual?
It depends on what I’m doing. You know, if I’m on camera, if I’m working with a client, I like my big hair. I like my lashes. I appreciate the feeling of the confidence that it gives me when I’m all put together. So I do like to put myself together when I’m doing things like that. But if I’m not, I’m probably in my workout wear, totally chill, no makeup, hair in a messy ponytail or something. So I basically have two speeds and nothing in between.
Does it take a long time to get ready for the show?
If I get hair and makeup done by the pros who I love dearly, they normally set aside two hours just to make sure we have plenty of time to get ready, get dressed and put it all together and get out the door. And a lot of times, with Selling Sunset, it’s not just getting dressed. You have to get the right handbag, it’s just a more labored process than when you are living your life. And you’re not thinking, “Oh, millions of people are going to catch that. My shoes are…” So, it’s a little different if I’m just putting myself together—I normally give myself like an hour. If I’m doing the whole thing, probably two.
Does anyone ever turn up to the office in sweats?
Oh yeah. I mean, I’m actually in the office a lot because there’s contracts or checks I need to pick up, or certain things where I’m running errands and I’m running to the bank, so… I’ll pop in the office in sweats. I think a few fans have caught me that way. They’re there to take pictures in the office and they’re so surprised. I’m not looking at all what they were imagining, but of course, I feel like at this point it just depends on the day. I’m in there every which way. And I think the fans that have stopped by have definitely caught us both ways.
Are you hoping for a Season 6? And can you tell us what’s coming next, if there are spinoffs?
Yes. There are spinoffs. They’re starting to film in the O.C. I think next week or something like that. And then of course you saw Selling Tampa is coming out. It’s flattering to know that we’ve kind of birthed a franchise, because you can do Selling wherever.
When you say season 6, I’m like, I still need more of a break before my brain can do that because [we were] filming back to back, I think we were filming from March up until just very recently. So in probably a few weeks—I don’t like to be idle too long—I’ll be like, “Okay, let’s do this.” But right now I’m like, “Oh, I can’t even think about Season 6 yet.”
But you would be ready for it, hopefully, in the future.
Yeah, because it takes a while to get everything in place and things like that. So I think if we were to ramp back up, I think everybody would be, and [we’re] also coming off the high of how well [Selling Sunset is doing]. I think season 3 was our best season and now season 4 has blown that out of the water. And so, the pressure’s on. We’re competing with ourselves at this point, which is really exciting.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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