Chrishell Stause and Jason Oppenheim. John Salangsang/Shutterstock; Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
All for show? Chrishell Stause shed light on how her romance with Selling Sunset costar Jason Oppenheim began — and asserted that their whirlwind relationship was “100 percent” authentic.
“We had been hiding our relationship successfully for quite a while, but I could feel that the walls were closing in,” the Dancing With the Stars alum, 40, wrote in an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, Under Construction, shared by E! News on Friday, February 4. “Several times, we barely escaped getting caught by paparazzi, and we were starting to see posts on pop culture Instagram accounts speculating that something was going on between us. We got tired of hiding like two kids smoking in the bathroom, so we posted about it ourselves.”
The Netflix stars went public with their relationship in July 2021 during a trip to Europe with some fellow Selling Sunset cast members. “The internet melted when we let the world in on our secret, probably because it seemed like a curveball. Well, it was exactly that for us too,” Stause wrote.
After joining the Oppenheim Group, the former actress “developed a huge amount of respect” for her boss, but “there was nothing romantic” between them for years.
“Jason was there for every breakup I had, and every bad day, and we became close through all those conversations. He became my best friend,” the Kentucky native recalled, noting that Jason was a “comfortable and comforting” presence in her life.
Despite their strong friendship, “the thought of us being together didn’t cross our minds” — especially because neither of them were each other’s usual type. The colleagues would frequently “commiserate about our respective breakups” and even acted as “excellent” matchmakers for each other when they went out. However, things eventually took a surprising turn when they shared a kiss.
“What could have ended up with us laughing and saying, ‘What were we thinking?’ instead kicked off my first relationship where I’ve felt like I can be 100 percent myself,” Stause wrote.
In December 2021, Us Weekly confirmed that the pair had split. Shortly after their breakup made headlines, Oppenheim and Stause shared loving statements via their respective Instagram accounts, clarifying that they simply had different ideas about their futures. While the former soap opera star hoped to be a mom, her ex didn’t see children as part of his equation.
Though their romance didn’t pan out, Stause acknowledged in her book, “One thing I am sure of is that we will always have an enormous amount of love, respect and friendship between us.”
After the pair called it quits, an insider exclusively told Us that future seasons of Selling Sunset would be “unharmed” as the twosome still plan to be “very much part of each other’s lives.”
Costar Mary Fitzgerald — who previously dated Oppenheim before marrying Romain Bonnet in October 2019 — recently gave more insight into where the California native stands with Stause post-split.
“They’re still really good friends,” she exclusively told Us, adding that Oppenheim is still “madly in love” with Stause. “And I think they would wish it would’ve worked out because they both love each other very, very much, but they just want different things as far as a family life.”
Under Construction: Because Living My Best Life Took a Little Work hits shelves on February 8.
