Thanks to the power of Netflix’s reach, the women of “Selling Sunset” are getting pretty famous. While two of their significant others beat them to celebrity status, three seasons into the real-estate reality show, we’ve yet to see those men on screen. But Justin Hartley and Tarek El Moussa are mentioned so much they might as well be honorary cast members.
That goose-egg tally of guest appearances may change in the case of HGTV star El Moussa, “Selling Sunset” executive producer Adam DiVello teased to TheWrap ahead of his Season 3 premiere — but it seems highly unlikely for Chrishell Stause’s now ex-husband Hartley.
The plot of “Selling Sunset” Season 3, now on Netflix, revolves around two major life moments — and both involve matrimony. First (chronologically), comes Chrishell’s shocking (in her words, but we suppose also to fans) divorce from “This Is Us” star Hartley, and second, Christine Quinn’s over-the-top wedding to tech entrepreneur Christian Richard.
Over the course of the latest eight-episode arc, Stause tells her “Selling Sunset” co-stars — and viewers — that Hartley informed her via a text message that he had filed for divorce. She says Hartley’s wishes to end their marriage came out of nowhere. As you might expect from a reality series, this one-sided assertion perfectly divided the cast into two halves: The “good girls,” like Mary and Amanza, who are friendly with Stause, rushed to her side armed with not-so-kind words for Hartley and his chosen bad-news delivery method. Behind Stause’s back, the “bad guys,” like Christine and Davina, questioned her ignorance about the marriage ending.
Since Hartley is a public figure who does not appear on the show but is sure maligned on it this season, TheWrap asked DiVello if he reached out to Hartley with an offer to tell his side of the story. Journalists gonna journalist, we guess.
“To be honest with you, no, because he was never able to be on our show in the first place,” DiVello said. “We (previously) reached out to his people and the network that he’s on and everything, trying to get him to be on our show, because I know [Chrishell] really wanted him to be on it. And they were newlyweds and they were living a new life and had just bought a new house. You know, she had a big, huge, fun part of her life happening that she couldn’t show on TV, on the show. So I think she was bummed out about that, I think we all were. But I think just because of the contracts, or whatever the case may be, that he wasn’t allowed to be on our show. So it wasn’t even something we thought about, honestly, because we never had access to him in the first place.”
TheWrap reached out to Hartley’s personal reps and to NBC to question if his contract for “This Is Us” precludes him from appearing on another network’s show, like a “Selling Sunset,” though we did not receive a response.
For a show that has showcased so many Hollywood and major life events (earlier, the series heavily focused on Mary’s wedding), Hartley’s and El Moussa’s on-camera absences have been kind of glaring.
We asked DiVello if he is editing out those guys, or if they simply don’t show up where they know “Selling Sunset” is taping.
“We just take these situations as it goes. If it’s an event they want to show up to and their girlfriends, their wives want them to be there and they don’t want to be on camera, certainly we respect them and just not shoot them,” DiVello said. “We just keep them off-camera. And we kind of just tell the camera people to just try not to get them in the frames and we’ll edit around them. We just take it case by case.”
“In the case of Christine’s wedding, I think Tarekcame by at some point, I think it was even after dinner, and just like hung out with her for a while because they wanted to hang out and have some fun,” he said.
TheWrap also reached out to HGTV to ask if El Moussa’s contract for series like “Flip or Flop” and “Flipping 101” precludes him from appearing on “Selling Sunset,” though we did not receive a response.
While the Stause-Hartley situation provides the show’s bummer look at celebrity marriage, the optimism of new (tabloid) love comes courtesy of El Moussa and “Selling Sunset’s” Heather Rae Young.
Young, who spends pretty much all of Season 3 complaining about not having a ring on her finger, is set to appear on an upcoming episode of Tarek’s HGTV series “Flipping 101.” Now that she got that rock, will DiVello return the favor with a guest spot — or possibly recurring — for El Moussa?
We specially asked DiVello if the Heather-Tarek engagement will be the centerpiece for a possible fourth season, and if he already has footage in the can to celebrate the big moment and potentially huge storyline.
“We certainly don’t want to miss things when we’re [on production hiatus], so we try to get as big of events as we can,” DiVello responded.
“Selling Sunset” Season 3 is now available on Netflix.
'Hollywood': Here Are All the Real People Who Appear in Ryan Murphy's New Netflix Series (Photos)
Most of the main players in Ryan Murphy's new period drama "Hollywood" are fictional, but a number of real stars, filmmakers and movie executives from the 1940s are also portrayed on the miniseries. From the trio of actors who have sizable roles to the blink-and-you-missed-it cameos, here's the complete rundown of who's real in "Hollywood."
Queen Latifah as Hattie McDaniel, the first person of color to win an Oscar, for her role as the servant "Mammy" in "Gone With the Wind." (McDaniel's escort to the 1940 Oscars, F.P. Yober, and her agent, William Meiklejohn, also make an extremely brief cameo.)
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Jake Picking as Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood's biggest stars throughout the 1950s and '60s and an Oscar-nominee for the 1956 film "Giant."
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Jim Parsons as Henry Willson, the powerful talent agent and sexual predator known for launching the careers of Hollywood's biggest male stars, including Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter.
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Anthony Coons as television star Guy Madison, a client of Henry Willson.
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Samuel Caleb Walker as Rory Calhoun, another of Henry Willson's clients. Calhoun starred with Marilyn Monroe in the back-to-back films "How to Marry a Millionaire" and "River of No Return."
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Michelle Krusiec as Anna May Wong, a Chinese American film star throughout the 1920s and '30 who was infamously snubbed for the lead role in "The Good Earth" due to censorship regulations barring interracial relationships in film.
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Joe Marinelli as "The Good Earth" director Sidney Franklin.
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Timothy Dvorak as Irving Thalberg, producer of "The Good Earth," "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Grand Hotel" known as "The Boy Wonder" for his youthful appearance and ability to package hit films.
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Camille Natta as Luise Rainer, the German-born actress who was given the leading role in "The Good Earth" over Anna May Wong and went on to win an Oscar for the part.
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Fred Grandy as English actor C. Aubrey Smith, who appears in a brief flashback to the 1938 Oscars as a presenter. Grandy is best known as Gopher on "The Love Boat."
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Frank Crim as Mickey Cohen, a notorious mobster who is hired by Henry Willson in the series.
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Daniel London as "The Philadelphia Story" and "My Fair Lady" director George Cukor, the unofficial head of Hollywood's gay subculture.
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Billy Boyd as English playwright Noel Coward, a guest at Cukor's party.
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Paget Brewster as Tallulah Bankhead, Broadway star and rumored lover of Hattie McDaniel.
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Katie McGuinness as "Gone With the Wind" star Vivien Leigh.
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Darren Richardson as Broadway composer and songwriter Cole Porter, a client of Ernie's gas station.
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Carrie Gibson as film director Dorothy Arzner, another client of Ernie's gas station.
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Aidan Bristow as George Hurrell, the legendary Hollywood photographer who shoots Camille and Jack for "Meg."
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Harriet Harris as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Daniel Hagen as an actor who portrays film censor Joseph Breen in the film within the show.
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Holly Kaplan as feared Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (previously portrayed by Judy Davis on Murphy's "Feud.")
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Mitch Eakins as actor (and father of future "Betwitched" star Elizabeth Montgomery) Robert Montgomery, host of the 1948 Oscars.
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Dan Sachoff as Fredric March, two-time Oscar-winning actor and Best Picture presenter at the 1948 Oscars.
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Rachel Emerson as Rosalind Russell, a Best Actress nominee at the 1948 Oscars for "Mourning Becomes Electra."
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Ashley Wood as Loretta Young, the actual winner of Best Actress at the 1948 Oscars for her role in "The Farmer's Daughter."
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Marie Oldenbourg as "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman" star Susan Hayward, a Best Actress nominee at the 1948 Oscars.
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Brett Holland as actor, dancer and future California senator George Murphy, a presenter at the 1948 Oscars.
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David Gilchrist as "How Green Was My Valley" star Donald Crisp, presenter of Best Director at the 1948 Oscars.
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Michael Saltzman as Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine, who presents Best Supporting Actor in "Hollywood's" version of the 1948 Oscars. (Olivia de Havilland presented the trophy at the real-life ceremony, but the last time she was portrayed in a Ryan Murphy series, it resulted in a lawsuit.)
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Rock Hudson and Anna May Wong aren’t the only 1940s stars who stop by
Most of the main players in Ryan Murphy's new period drama "Hollywood" are fictional, but a number of real stars, filmmakers and movie executives from the 1940s are also portrayed on the miniseries. From the trio of actors who have sizable roles to the blink-and-you-missed-it cameos, here's the complete rundown of who's real in "Hollywood."