In July 2021, Jason Oppenheim and Chrishell Stause went public with their relationship. By the end of the year, however, they decided to call it quits.
Many fans of Selling Sunset were taken aback by the split.
In a joint interview for Us Weekly, costars Mary Fitzgerald and Romain Bonnet discussed the painful breakup.
“I was surprised,” said Mary as she sat next to her husband. According to the 40-year-old, Jason is still “madly in love” with Chrishell. “It’s sad because I love them together,” she explained.
In the past, Jason expressed that he and Chrishell “have different wants regarding a family.”
Chrishell also explained that her wish to have kids was the reason they broke up, saying, “Men have the luxury of time that women don’t and that’s just the way it goes.”
She went on to say, “Thank you Jason for the most incredible relationship and for consistently being honest with me even when it hurts.”
In the interview with Us Weekly, Mary shared, “I know that [Jason] was going back and forth because kids — to him — that’s something, I mean, he’s never wanted.”
Mary was “shocked” that he even considered the possibility. “I think he was trying to make sure, like, that [he had] an option if he was able to get himself on board with it. … [But] he just realized it’s not for him,” she said.
Romain added, “He loved [Chrishell] so much. … I think that, in his head, it was like, ‘Yeah, I think I could [have kids] because of the way I feel [about her].’” According to Romain, Jason was asking “strangers” for advice about parenthood.
“I think, at the end of the day, he didn’t feel it was right,” said Mary.
“He never misled her,” she continued. “But… there’s a time limit on how long she’s got. … He’s not going to be ready in her timeframe. He wishes he could though.”
The stars also teased the upcoming fifth season.
“Still more drama,” said Mary. “But I think viewers will get some clarity on why we’re all kind of at the place that we’re at lately, like, with [Christine Quinn].”
She also added that “there’s a bunch of really good things going on… We go to Greece and the cameras weren’t supposed to follow us, but they did, and so you guys get to see us on vacation. Chrishell [Stause] and Jason get together, [and] Romain and I are just still working, doing our thing, trying to figure out the whole embryo freezing [process] and starting to get a house. [And] Heather gets married.”
Mary then explained “there’s two surprises, [but] I can’t say what they are… There’s something else to do with me and there’s another surprise with somebody else. [It’s] a reason to watch season 5 because both of those are gonna be really big deals.”