'I've watched Selling Sunset from the beginning. The show has lost its sparkle.'

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Selling Sunset has returned for another round of drama, petty feuds, and a sprinkling of real estate.

The series has just released its ninth season, which is wild to think that a show that only premiered in 2019 has already produced so many seasons.

And look, I typically love this show that depicts the glamorous lives of the women selling luxury real estate at LA's Oppenheim Group. I've watched it from the very beginning, but I'm starting to realise that when it comes to Selling Sunset — quantity does not equal quality.

Sadly, I could barely get through the latest season.

In the early seasons, I would breeze through a whole season in one sitting, as I'd scream 'NEXT EPISODE' at my screen and let Netflix take the wheel. This season, I had to physically force myself to finish.

The drama just feels so contrived this season — the stakes are so low that the viewers never get invested.

Watch the trailer. Post continues after video.

A huge plot point was Mary Bonnet being furious with Chelsea Lazkani for *checks notes* sending her flowers after her house was burgled. She claimed Chelsea only did it on camera to feign support, but either way… who cares?

Newcomer Sandra Vergara later questioned why Chrishell Stause had not warmed to her since she started at Oppenheim. Her reason? Chrishell said that she knows a woman who claims Sandra once keyed her car. We don't know this woman and we don't even know what happened.

Again… who cares?

Then there was the ongoing feud between Chrishell and Nicole Young. Ever since Nicole joined the show in season six, she has been arguing with Chrishell, and I've never cared why. This season, their fight dominated the first few episodes, and at no stage did I care what was happening.

They don't like each other, Chrishell says Nicole did cocaine once, alright… who cares? Nicole's story ended when she made an unhinged comment about Chrishell's recently deceased parents and was kicked out of the office.

As a villain, Nicole has never been a fun one to watch. Hell, Davina Potratz and her $75 million listing were better viewing.

Petition to bring back this deranged diva. Image: Netflix.

Nicole just seems like bad vibes all around, and the show hasn't given her enough layers to her story for viewers to get to know her. (That said, Chrishell doesn't come off great in their rivalry either.)

The show is a shadow of its former self. It's hard to imagine that this is the same show that gave us the game-changing reality TV rivalry feud between Chrishell and Christine Quinn, who remains the show's most compelling villain.

Chrishell and Christine argued all the way up to the villain's departure in season five — they clashed over office politics, what each of them had said to the press, over Christine's ex-fiancé, and it all worked.

But even after Christine's departure, there was fresh conflict with the friendship breakup between Mary and Chrishell, Mary's infertility struggles, and Chrishell navigating dating her boss, Jason Oppenheim, and then the fallout from their split.

Those days are long gone.

Just my opinion:

But selling sunset died seasons ago now it’s just boring and so fake #SellingSunset #tvfake pic.twitter.com/Q3rpmNEzNj

— 𝓙𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓪♡ (@jxssicalilyx) October 22, 2025

These days, the most interesting storylines are unfolding off-screen.

Fans eagerly awaited the new season because former besties, Chrishell and Emma Hernan, have been in a public feud throughout 2025 over Emma's boyfriend, Blake Davis. In a social media comment, Chrishell previously referred to Blake as Emma's "MAGA bf who told me pronouns are dumb and that he likes to use the N-word," she alleged.

Juicy, right? Wrong.

Their feud was alluded to in this season, but viewers got a heavily censored version of the events. The tense scenes between Chrishell and Emma were the most captivating parts of the season, but it's a shame they had to divide screen time with Mary ranting about a gifted bouquet of flowers.

Then there was the baffling choice to set up a feud between Bre Tiesi and Chelsea last season over the revelation that Chelsea's husband was allegedly cheating, and then just… never get the women to hash it out.

Bre and Chelsea are hired to do one job — fight about their petty grievances on camera (and technically, also sell big houses). Selling Sunset's producers not managing to get these women in a room together all season proves the Netflix series has lost its way.

Add to that, Emma was accused of having an affair last season, but that storyline was picked up as quickly as it was dropped this year. Chelsea casually mentioned she had a new partner since her marriage ended, but it was a partner the viewers never met.

Chelsea's story arc fell particularly flat this season. Image: Netflix.

And the revolving door of new faces being routinely added each season is not adding to the show's value either. Since the departure of fan faves like Christine, Maya Vander and Heather Rae El Moussa, they have been replaced by far less memorable women.

Ultimately, the root of the issue comes back to the cast's fame becoming bigger than the show — at least, in their own minds.

Before the season was filmed, Chrishell threatened to quit unless Nicole was let go. This season, that power was shown in full force as Chrishell, Emma and Chelsea refused to work in the office — the hub of the Selling Sunset series — until Nicole was fired.

More generally, there was an uncomfortable dynamic between the show's stars and the cameras this season. At one hectic dinner when Chelsea levelled some harsh words at Mary, Jason demanded the cameras stop filming.

Nine seasons down and the cast are becoming increasingly difficult to wrangle — and it doesn't make for good reality TV.

If fans want raw drama, they will soon turn to the show's spin-offs Selling The OC and Selling The City.

A similar issue happened recently to the cast of Vanderpump Rules, who exploded in popularity after the Scandoval controversy, but the entire ensemble was recast the following year after they reportedly became too difficult to schedule filming.

I hope this is not the fate of Selling Sunset. After all, when these women are good, they're really good, and when they're acting bad — it's even better.

You can stream Season 9 of Selling Sunset on Netflix.

Feature image: Netflix.