Why Are ‘Selling Sunset’ Stars Chelsea and Bre Fighting?

Pioneertown was famously skipped.
Photo illustration: Vulture; Photos: Netflix

Sell ​​sunsetThe eighth season clocks in at a tidy six and a half hours. That’s short for a reality show, especially one that’s more about avoiding personal issues on a TV series than it is about real estate. The finale leaves us with Chelsea Lazkani imagining a new life as a divorcee in a house in the Hills and Bre Tiesi threatening to take gossip-monger Amanda Lynn—who gleefully told her about Chelsea’s husband’s affair in episode three—into the O Group. We’re led to believe that Bre has had a change of heart over the course of this season: She initially seems open to cultivating a friendship with Chelsea and squashing their feud once and for all—until Chelsea turns on her over the news of her husband’s affair. Chelsea’s accusation that Bre brought this on camera as revenge is presented as a pretext for Bre to don her blondest villain wig and strut into the office in black leather, but that’s where the story ends. Unless you happen to follow all these women on Instagram. And you really should, because there’s a lot to keep up with!

Bre insisted on the show that knowing Chelsea’s husband had kissed a woman in the lobby of the W Hotel was a burden she bore reluctantly. She constantly reminded the audience that she had this information and didn’t know what to do with it. She was interrupted whenever Chelsea mentioned her family, and apparently struggled with how revealing it might further damage their already rocky relationship. When she finally tells Chelsea in episode five, it’s presented as Bre trying to be the bigger person, a surprisingly warm moment of two women seemingly coming together, bonded by their shared humiliations at the hands of bad men. But this, Chelsea says, is not an accurate representation of what happened.

On September 9, 2024, Chelsea went live on Instagram for a conversation with Jessie Woo, during which she explained that she knew exactly what Bre was going to tell her before they even sat down. According to what she said on Instagram Live and what she had already revealed on X, it was Chelsea who actually requested the scene after hearing what Bre had learned. But she elaborated on her thought process during the Live, noting that her goal was to get Bre to come clean about the rumor so that she wouldn’t have to keep repeating it in scenes with other cast members. She also revealed that this strategic move was only made possible by a tip from Emma Hernan.

When Chelsea, Bre, Chrishell Stause, and Emma all get into a fight at the dog’s funeral in episode nine, Bre angrily reveals that Chrishell and Emma knew about the scene with Amanda before it even happened. This is a little confusing for viewers, because it’s unclear to us how much Chrishell and Emma actually knew about what Amanda was going to say. But Chelsea made it clear during the Live that Emma knew what the topic was going to be and called Chelsea to warn her ahead of time. This lines up with what Bre said. Cosmopolitan UK in a September 9 interview: “They knew the information,” she said. “They knew. They can sit here and paint whatever narrative that helps them not be attacked online, or however they want to be perceived. But they were all very aware of this scene before it happened. They were aware of everything that was going on.”

This kind of post-final chaos — Chelsea also used Live to show us the racist tweets allegedly written by Amanda — isn’t unique to Sell ​​sunset. But in any other show, this is the kind of thing we would normally be led through in a reunion episode, perhaps even with large folders full of printed text. It’s unclear, though, whether this season of Sell ​​sunset will have a reunion as no date has been announced for such an event. The talent is also in a bit of an open rebellion against the production over a rumor Nicole Young tried to spread about Emma, ​​with Chrishell making it clear she would rather get sued than appear on a show with Nicole again. Could the sun finally be setting Sell ​​sunset? Was the tea so hot that it boiled over, ending our stiletto-wearing heroines’ adventures forever? We’ve reached out to Netflix for comment, but for now, all we can do is wait and pray.