What Were The Selling Sunset Cast Doing Before The hit TV Show?

Netflix‘s realtor reality show has been a hit since it appeared on the streaming service in March 2019.

The reality series revolves around the Oppenheim Group, a high-end LA real estate brokerage firm. The main drama and narrative center around the group of glamorous agents as they navigate their personal and professional lives.

The cast has become household names, appearing in films, on runaways and in fashion magazines. Before the show and their careers as realtors, these women have other jobs and other lives. Some stars have been more forthcoming than others when it comes to their previous careers, relationship and brushes with fame.

So who were the employees of the Oppenheim Group before they made their debut in Selling Sunset and become international reality stars?

Maya Vander Worked As A Model

Born in Israel, Maya Vander moved to Amsterdam when she was 20 to be a model and then worked in Spain, Singapore and Malaysia. At 22 she moved to LA and started working at The Oppenheim Group. She has split her time between Miami and LA due to her husband’s job.

Vanessa Vilela Was A Succesful Mexican Soap Actress

Vanessa started her career as an actress in, Mexico. She studied performing arts and entertainment and has appeared in a range of telenovela series. She rose to prominence in Mexico after her roles in El Cuerpo del Deseo, El Senor del Cielo and Amores De Mercado.

Villela became a U.S. citizen in 2017 when she switched to real estate work. She has not acted since 2017.

Chrishell Stause Was A Soap Star

Chrishell has been pretty open about her life before joining the cast of Selling Sunset. She was born in Draffenville, Kentucky, and was homeless throughout her childhood. She was a member of the improvisational troupe The Groundlings in Los Angeles.

Stause earned herself a degree in Theater from Murray State University in Kentucky Before becoming a realtor, she was a famous soap actress. One of her best-known roles is playing Amanda Dillon in the soap opera All My Children from 2005 to 2011 and as Jordan Ridgeway on Days of Our Lives.

Stause also guest starred in the second season of the Dana Delany series Body of Proof and on Mistresses. In 2016, she played Bethany Byant on The Young and the Restless.

Christine Quinn Has Worked In Entertainment For Many years

Christine Quinn was born in Dallas in 1988 and moved to LA to pursue a career in modeling and acting.

The blonde beauty appeared on the first episode of Ballers opposite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and also appeared in Drop Dead Diva, NCIS: Los Angeles and Hot Tub Time Machine 2.

During a two-year period of traveling, she discovered a love of architecture and design and decided to pursue a career as an agent.

Mary Fitzgerald Has Worked In Real Estate For Many Years

Mary Fitzgerald attended Ball State University in Indiana before moving to New York and London to work in real estate.

She’s worked for The Oppenheim Group for 10 years and in season five was promoted to Vice President. She even dated Jason Oppenheim before the show started. She and Jason dated in 2014, for just under a year, and they even lived together. Luckily, they continued to be friends after the split.

“I’ve been married twice before. My first husband passed away and my second husband, it just didn’t work out. It wasn’t the right relationship,” she revealed during season one of the Netflix show. She also has an adult son, Austin, but Mary likes to keep that part of her life out of the spotlight.

Heather Rae El Moussa Was A Playboy Model

Heather Rae El Moussa (nee Young) was born in Anaheim, California, in 1987. Before becoming a realtor, Heather began her career as a professional model at the age of 18.

She used to work as a Pilates teacher and has had some minor TV and film roles. In June 2008 Heather attended a Playboy casting call and was featured the following year. Before fame, she was known as Miss February — the Valentine Playmate in a full centerfold of Playboy at just 22.

She went on to model for the likes of Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Baileys, and Jose Cuervo, and was featured in a number of calendar shoots. She would later become a featured model in an ad campaign for the Affliction Clothing line, and went on to model for DSO Eyewear, 7 Til Midnight Lingerie, Carrie Amber lingerie, Superstar Swimwear and Calao Swimwear.

Amanza Smith Was A Briefcase Model

Amanza was born in Indiana where she studied Interior Design at Indiana State University. Amanza was an NFL cheerleader for the Indiana Colts before working with the Oppenheim Group.

Before appearing on Selling Sunset, Smith had a range of modeling jobs, including being a briefcase model for Deal or No Deal.She actually got her start posing for Lucky Strike Lanes. Before joining The Oppenheim Group as a real estate agent, Amanza used to work as an interior designer and home stager.

Davina Portraz Was A Model And Worked In Marketing

After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in advertising, Potratz signed a modeling contract with the prolific Ford Modeling agency. She had a successful career as a model, working with Forever 21, Aveeno and Neutrogena.

After her modeling career, she worked as an editorial assistant at Flaunt Magazine for a year before leaving in April 2000. Davina then moved on to work at Angeleno Magazine, becoming a contributing editor. She then moved in sales and advertising before becoming involved in property.

Before her appearance on Selling Sunset, Davina was a series regular on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing.

Emma Hernan Has Been On Reality TV Before!

Emma born in Boston, Massachusetts. She started her career as a teenager model and became Miss COED in 2015. Miss COED is nationwide competition run by a news website to find confident college students who are involved in their universities and social media. She moved to Paris to model and has worked with brands like Puma and Gap.

On the show, Emma said that she was a swimmer during her school years, and was so good that she qualified for the Olympics. However, this has been claimed as being a lie, with one website claiming it was “unable to find anything even close” to supporting Emma’s story. Emma apparently cannot be traced on any competition databases and there is no evidence she had a coach in the area.

Before making a splash on Selling Sunset, Emma once appeared on Southern Charm. In the ninth episode of season 3, Hernan and a friend can be seen being introduced to Craig Conover and Shep Rose at a house party during a boy’s trip to L.A.

As well as working as a real estate agent, Emma is an entrepreneur – and has her own frozen food company called Emma Leigh & Co.

The Oppenheim Twins Have Reality TV Experience

Jason and Brett Oppenheim are the heads of The Oppenheim Group, professional real estate brokerage serving buyers and sellers of luxury property. The twins trained as lawyers before they went into the real estate business. They come from five generations of real estate managers, brokers and developers.

Both he and Jason have gone to “seventy-five countries on five continents identifying select properties and leading numerous multi-million dollar real estate transactions.”

Before starring on Selling Sunset, the twin brothers were actually on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, ABC’s Beautiful Homes & Great Estates, as well as HGTV’s Selling L.A.

Chelsea Lazkani Is Well-Educated

London born Lazkani has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s. She attended the University of Buckingham between 2011 and 2013 and achieved a degree in Business Economics and Economics, before going to the University of Dundee from 2014 to 2015 to achieve a Master’s in International Oil and Gas Management.

Before working in real estate, Chelsea Lazkani worked as a business strategist and solar analyst with companies in the oil and gas industry.

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