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The landscape of real estate reality TV saw some major shifts in 2024 as legacies departed the space and new strong players emerged.
Big names, including the Umanskys and Josh and Heather Altman, have stepped away from their real estate reality TV shows, at least for the moment, as Ryan Serhant and luxury agents from the Mormon enclave of Salt Lake City claimed their place.
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In between it all, there were breakups, firings, fallouts, high fashion and millions of dollars in stunning luxury properties on the line. Here are the biggest shakeups Inman saw this year, and what we’re keeping an eye out for in 2025.
The biggest shakeups
Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles
After 11 seasons and 13 years on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Josh Altman and his CEO wife Heather Altman made the “bittersweet” decision to leave the popular show to spend more time with their family.
Josh Altman, Heather Altman, Matt Altman
Longtime cast members Josh Flagg and Tracy Tutor remain, with talks of a new agent expected to join the cast, as MDLLA enters Season 16 — which has not been confirmed yet by Bravo. However, the network did release dates for every Housewives franchise set to debut in 2025, according to Parade.
MDLLA was the first real estate smash success for Bravo, with spinoffs in the years after featuring New York, Miami and San Francisco. While the latter two were short-lived, Million Dollar Listing New York went for nine seasons before Bravo put it “on pause” in 2022. Owning Manhattan sprang up in its wake on Netflix.
Owning Manhattan
Brokerage CEO Ryan Serhant stormed back onto the real estate reality TV scene in June with the debut of a new Netflix series starring himself and other luxury agents from his eponymous brokerage, SERHANT. The series was largely well-received, garnering a 7.3 rating on IMDB, nearly on par with Million Dollar Listing New York and besting Million Dollar Listing LA.
Ryan Serhant, Jordan March, Maggie Wu, Jessica Taylor, Nile Lundgren and Rachel King from Season 1 Episode 2 of “Owning Manhattan” | Courtesy of Netflix/© 2024 Netflix, Inc.
As Serhant laid it all out on the line to ensure his new business endeavor succeeded, viewers were enthralled watching his team try to sell one of Manhattan’s most expensive listings ever, seeing how established agents broke into new markets and following new agents learning the ropes of the trade.
Along the way, agent rivalries and alliances developed as they competed for listings and more one-on-one attention from Serhant himself, who often simply didn’t have the bandwidth to coach agents. Serhant also had to deal with some challenging personalities, and by the end of the season, two agents left the firm — Savannah Gowarty was recruited by Compass and Jonathan Nørmølle was let go from the firm after clashing with Serhant and other agents.
Owning Manhattan was renewed for a second season, and filming started this fall. For now, Inman knows that part of the saga will involve SERHANT. Technologies’ decision to secure a $45 million equity funding round led by Camber Creek with Left Lane Capital, according to a recent interview with Serhant.
“So it will be out there — the decision-making process, and the thought process — because … things change, but they also don’t change,” Serhant told Inman. “Like, I’m a company, right? It’s a minority investment, but it’s an exciting next step in our adventure as we move to transform the industry for the better, which is what excites me the most.”
Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the answers to all your burning questions on the newest releases. Stay tuned to Real Tea, the intersection of real estate and reality TV.
Selling Sunset
Season 8 of Selling Sunset had no shortage of drama, surprises and, of course, fashion. Early on, Chelsea Lazkani wore a short skirt that started an argument between her and Mary Fitzgerald Bonnet over professional dress. Fitzgerald Bonnet quickly moved on, being in a supervisory role and realizing that her opponent had bigger problems.
Lazkani stayed in the spotlight throughout the season as allegations of her husband cheating were brought up by Amanda Lynn, a new face to the show who faced a scandal of her own over “racist” tweets. Lynn was a friend of Bre Tiesi, a long-time rival of Lazkani’s over a rift that started with Lazkani’s comments about Tiesi having a child with Nick Cannon, who has 12 children with six mothers. Tiesi stayed with the Oppenheim Group after ending Season 7 trying to negotiate a better split with broker Jason Oppenheim.
Scenes from “Selling Sunset” Season 8 | Netflix
Another new cast member this season was Alanna Gold, who took the team to Pioneertown, a desert town near Joshua Tree, California, that she said she owned, until the town’s people took to Instagram requesting an apology for the false claim. She apologized in a statement, acknowledging that she does not own the town, according to Today.
The in-fighting continued with feud after feud. Original cast member Chrishell Stause came to the defense of bestie Emma Hernan after Stause’s archrival Nicole Young floated rumors of Hernan having a relationship with a married man several times.
Taking to Instagram, Stause called out the production company and said, “I will NEVER work on a show with her on it again. I would rather be sued,” referring to Young.
Stause and Hernan stood by Lazkani throughout the season; she filed for divorce in March, according to People. Lazkani tweeted on Sept. 7, 2024, “Made it clear and putting it in writing, if racist Amanda [Lynn] is on the show as a cast member. I’m out.”
With all this drama, for the first time since Season 5, Netflix did not do a reunion show after Season 8.
Season 9 appears to be filming, according to Netflix Life, as first announced on Amanza Smith’s Instagram. When the new season drops, Selling Sunset will join the ranks of longest-running unscripted reality series on Netflix, matching Queer Eye. Watch for the next season in the fall of 2025.
Buying Beverly Hills
Season 2 of Buying Beverly Hills hit Netflix last spring, bringing on new cast members, including the youngest Umansky to enter the family business yet, Sophia Umansky, Estates Division Director Zach Goldsmith and Managing Partner Michelle Schwartz.
