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Amid Wildfires, a New Reality for L.A.’s Reality TV Stars

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  • Post last modified:January 18, 2025

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The two most essential ingredients to any successful Los Angeles-based reality television show are mammoth multi-million-dollar homes and their sun-soaked, scenic views. As drama has unfolded over sex tape rumors, divorces and petty arguments about “ugly leather pants,” palatial real estate has served as a glamorous backdrop for several binge-worthy series.

Over eight frothy, bright-skied seasons on Netflix, “Selling Sunset” has staked a claim as one of the most-watched reality television shows in the nation, thanks in large part to how it portrays luxury living in Los Angeles. And the opulent, lavishly decorated mansions featured extensively in Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” are also integral to the show’s success.

But last week’s catastrophic wildfires effectively upended that aspirational component of L.A. reality TV programming. Mountain views were covered by smoke plumes. The twinkling city lights surrounding the iconic Hollywood sign were overshadowed by red flames stretching over acres and destroying 12,000 structures in their path.

Some of the stars of these shows were among the evacuees. A few lost their homes and belongings. The destruction, their grief and their actions have cast some of the most well-known — and even most hated — reality TV stars in a different light.

Spencer Pratt, 41, first became famous in the early 2000s as the supervillain on MTV’s reality show “The Hills,” and is part of “Speidi,” along with his wife, Heidi Montag, 38. He is suddenly likable, with his frequent reports of how his family is faring after their house burned down.

Jason Oppenheim, 47, whose brokerage, the Oppenheim Group, is at the center of “Selling Sunset,” has been known for his multiple romantic relationships as much as his multimillion-dollar listings. But he has stepped into the role of activist, appearing on news shows to call out landlords who are charging exorbitantly high prices for rentals amid record demand.

Gina Kirschenheiter, 40, a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” and her boyfriend, Travis Mullen, 40, drew viewers into their strained relationship after Ms. Kirschenheiter asked him to move out of her house.

In the wake of the fires, the couple, who are both real estate agents, appeared together on social media to announce that they would donate their sizable commission fees to the hundreds of thousands of displaced fire victims looking to buy or rent in Orange County.

The show “Selling Sunset” is currently airing its eighth season on Netflix, and the show was gearing up to begin filming its ninth season — expected to air later this year — when the fires broke out. The quarrels, real estate listings, and open houses could be jarring for fans well aware of how the fires directly affected some of the stars.

Chrishell Stause, 43, who has been on the show since it began, frantically fled her home in the middle of the night, like thousands of other Los Angeles residents. She later learned that her home survived the blazes.

With no cameras there to capture what happened, Ms. Stause will likely recount the fear and adrenaline of the moment once filming picks back up and the show begins to grapple with a city that has been indelibly scarred, said Adam DiVello, the executive producer of the show.

Some reality TV stars are no longer regulars on the shows that propelled them to fame, or their shows have been canceled, but the fires have put them in a new spotlight.

Bozoma Saint John, the newest cast member of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” was on vacation in Zambia when she discovered her roughly 2,500-square-foot beach house in Malibu was destroyed in the wildfires from a video shared to X.

Mauricio Umansky, 54, best known as Kyle Richards’s estranged husband on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” was the anchor of his own show, “Buying Beverly Hills,” that featured his real estate brokerage, The Agency. His show was canceled last March after two seasons.

The show “The Real Housewives of Orange County” is currently airing its 19th season, and the fires and Ms. Kirschenheiter’s current efforts to find homes in Orange County for displaced Angelinos could be a key storyline.

We make a show about real estate, and it’s beyond devastating.

Some reality TV celebrities are no longer regulars on the shows that propelled them to fame, but the fires have put them in a new spotlight.

Alex Baskin, the executive producer of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” The Real Housewives of Orange County,” “Vanderpump Rules” and “The Valley,” wrote in an email that situations like Ms. Saint John’s will not be dismissed. We document all events in the cast members’ lives. We’ll certainly cover this as it naturally impacts the cast and as they deal with the reality of and fallout from any situation.

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