Just like fans, Amanza Smith was blindsided by news of her Selling Sunset costar Chrishell Stause‘s divorce. News of the soap star’s split with Justin Hartley broke last November after the This Is Us actor filed for divorce. — A topic that’s heavily covered in the trailer for Season 3 of Selling Sunset, premiering on August 7.
The preview for the upcoming season goes on to show Chrishell in tears, as the rest of the cast — all of whom happen to work together at The Oppenheim Group, a high profile real estate brokerage in LA — reacts to the shocking news. HollywoodLife spoke with Selling Sunset stars Amanza Smith and Jason Oppenheim, who both revealed that they “rallied around Chrishell” during the tough time.
“I tell everyone in the office, in the brokerage itself, it’s a small boutique brokerage — it’s small and a handful of us have known each other for over two decades, so when you join the Oppenheim group, you’re family,” Amanza explained during an exclusive interview with us. “We all look out for one another, so when it came to Chrishell, we all — well, I can’t say all of us (laughs) — but, for the most part, we lifted her up as if we would if it were a family member.”
The mother-of-two recalled, “We [the cast] were all in shock [when the divorce news broke]. We were all in tears when we found out. We found out at the same time,” she said, explaining, “In the office, we’d look at them and be like, ‘That’s the couple I want to be like.’ Like hashtag couple goals or whatever. I know nothing’s perfect, but they seemed so perfect. They seemed so in love and so awesome and then it just came out of nowhere. So, we were all shocked.”
Despite going through such a public breakup, Amanza said Chrishell is thriving and focused on work. “But, look how she’s picked herself up. She was nominated for an Emmy this year, she’s on a hit show [Selling Sunset], she’s still doing Days of Our Lives, she’s one of the top agents at the office — she’s kicking ass and she’s going to be just fine,” Amanza said. “She’s drop dead gorgeous, she has an awesome personality, and she’s going to be just fine.”
Amanza, who noted that she too went through a similar experience, sympathized with Chrishell when the news broke. “I know from experience, it’s such a tragic thing to go through, and watching her having to go through it so publicly — it’s excruciating,” Amanza said, noting that fans will see how close her and Chrishell got in Season 3. “She’s just a sweet girl. We have a lot of similarities from our childhood and growing up,” she said.
As for Chrishell’s ex? — Well, Amanza isn’t too fond of the actor. “I really liked that show [This Is Us] and now I want to throw up every time I even see a preview for it,” she said, adding, “You lost a fan, Justin Hartley.”
Other moments in the Season 3 trailer include Christine Quinn‘s lavish black and white wedding, which Amanza said was the most “incredible production” she’s ever seen. “I’ve never been to an event or seen an event like that in my life,” she recalled, describing Christine’s wedding, as a “winter wonderland turned dark mysterious forest.”
Selling Sunset Season 3 returns to Netflix August 7.