Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim held back tears and got emotional when asked about his breakup with ex-girlfriend Chrishell Stause during the season 5 reunion. Jason, alongside his twin brother Brett, cofounded The Oppenheim Group, a brokerage and real estate agency that operates in the Hollywood Hills and Sunset Strip of California. Through the show, viewers are able to get a glimpse inside some of the most glamorous, up-scale, and expensive real estate in the world. Selling Sunset also pulls back the curtain on the drama that goes on among the fabulous and oftentimes catty real estate agents who work for the group and compete with each other to score the biggest listings. Jason is the current president, owner, and broker of The Oppenheim Group.
The newest season of the show has certainly delivered the drama, particularly swirling around Christine Quinn, the series' "villain." Christine and the other women at the company have a long history of clashing, particularly over comments Christine has made about the other ladies in the press and behind their backs on the show. Although they previously shared a close friendship, Christine and Mary Fitzgerald fell out, while Mary and Chrishell Stause became even closer. One of the most talked-about plotlines, however, was the relationship between Chrishell and Jason. After knowing each other and sharing a professional relationship for a long time, Chrishell and Jason's relationship turned personal when the two began dating. Although they enjoyed a brief but close relationship, they ultimately decided to call things off because Chrishell wanted to have children and Jason wasn't ready.
Their time as a couple was brief, but the couple took the breakup hard, especially Jason. In a teaser clip from the season 5 reunion, Tan France, who moderated the event, asked Jason to give some insight into the breakup and how he has been handling it. Jason became visibly choked up and replied, "Sorry, I just need a second," while he gathered his emotions. After a few moments, Jason said, “there’s been a lot of sadness and loss.” The broker commented that watching the show back has been a difficult process for him and that it wasn't easy to replay moments from when he and Chrishell were still together. Ultimately, he said, "I think there was a lot of love between us and there still is and I still care about her very much. This has been a very difficult breakup.”
Although fans were dubious of Chrishell and Jason's chemistry, Jason's emotional response to the breakup came across as genuine and heartfelt. In an interview with Us Weekly, Jason spoke about his and Chrishell's decision not to film their breakup. "It was an extremely difficult time and it was, I think, a conscious decision that we were not filmed together,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable. I mean, it was a very difficult time.” For her part, Chrishell looked noticeably uncomfortable while Jason spoke about their breakup during the reunion and wiped away a few tears of her own.
This is the first time that a reunion episode has been included on Selling Sunset, and one real estate agent was glaringly absent from the event. After testing positive for COVID-19, Christine skipped the season 5 reunion, much to her castmates' dismay. Her coworkers as well as some fans speculated that Christine faked the test in order to avoid scrutiny about her behavior this season. Whether she was truly sick or simply playing hooky, Christine's absence still made waves.