New Seasons of ‘Selling Sunset’ Can Survive Without the ‘Villain’ Christine Quinn: Here’s How
Netflix’s Selling Sunset is a show about luxury real estate and the glamorous realtors who sell it. The drama Christine Quinn brought to The Oppenheim Group’s office is just the icing on the cake. With Christine’s exit from the series, showrunners are allegedly “scrambling” to find another source of drama for the new season. We’re here to tell you the show doesn’t need one. Selling Sunset can survive without Christine and the drama she brought to the show.
Showrunners claim they have replacements for Christine Quinn
In August 2022, a source revealed to E! News Christine was leaving the Netflix series ahead of seasons 6 and 7. They claim her exit makes sense, considering her lack of involvement with the other cast members.
From the beginning of Selling Sunset, Christine played up her villainous role, relying heavily on her acting background. With her gone, showrunners feel the need to bring in another big personality to fill in the gaps.
“We’re told execs approached Chelsea [Lazkani] about playing into the villain role once it became clear to producers in June Christine wasn’t coming back, leading to conversations with Chelsea about embracing the role Christine played so well,” TMZ reports. “Our sources say producers understand Chelsea, a British real estate agent who joined the show in season 5, has big shoes to fill here … but they’re hopeful she can step up to the plate.”
Chelsea quickly formed a friendship with Christine in Selling Sunset Season 5, but she kept the playing field level and made peace with her other colleagues by the end of the season. If Chelsea doesn’t want to step into Christine’s Louboutins, TMZ’s source claims showrunners have other options.
Christine can still impact ‘Selling Sunset’s drama from afar
Hot take: Selling Sunset can survive on the existing cast and killer real estate porn being sold at The Oppenheim Group. Yes, Christine was involved heavily in the first season of Selling Sunset. However, she was in season 4 minimally.
Christine was a source of drama from afar — which she can still be to the women of The Oppenheim Group in new seasons, if you think about it. Christine started the RealOpen brokerage with her husband, Christian Dumontet, which means she’ll still be running in the same circles as her ex-colleagues. If showrunners can’t find an agent willing to take Christine’s place — which is likely to happen based on the united front the women created in season 4 — they can still rely on the residual drama from seasons past. The cast’s interactions with her in the world of California real estate could also serve as a source of intrigue.
‘Selling Sunset’s focus could shift away from drama entirely in the new season
Here’s another hot take: Selling Sunset doesn’t need drama to thrive. Shows like Million Dollar Listing, Fixer Upper, and Property Brothers are all real estate-centric shows with minimal drama and massive appeal. Instead, these shows focus on the property being sold, flipped, or both. And that formula works! If Adam Divello needed a focus to shift to, the actual real estate is a viable possibility.
Similarly, Selling Sunset could shift the focus onto the “family” The Oppenheim Group has become. Take MTV’s Jersey Shore, for example. The show started by following a group of Guidos getting drunk at the beach but has since evolved into Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. The cast still gets drunk from time to time, but the show is more about their bond as an unconventional family and their pursuits outside of reality television, including Vinny Guadagnino’s career as a stripper and The Sorrentino’s growing family.
We’re not here to tell you which direction to go, Adam. But if you wanted to take Selling Sunset in either direction, we’ll settle for a “special thanks” in the credits.
Watch Selling Sunset on Netflix.
