Selling Sunset’s Maya Vander Responds To Christine Quinn's Claims That The Show Includes 'Fake' Storylines

screenshots of maya vander and christine quinn on selling sunset
(Image credit: Netflix)

Accusations of manufactured storylines have long hounded the likes of reality TV series. Ray J, in fact, just made headlines for stating that the narrative around his old sex tape with Kim K on Hulu’s The Kardashians is patently false. Over on Netflix’s L.A. real estate show Selling Sunset, cast member Christine Quinn was accused by some viewers at one point of faking her own baby bump for the cameras. Quinn herself has put the show on blast for having “fake” storylines, and her co-star Maya Vander responded with her own take on the subject.

Christine Quinn had been making a lot of bold statements in the lead up to Season 5 of Selling Sunset. Over the years, she garnered a reputation as a sort of villainess on the show, which she blamed on Netflix for making her appear as such in the edit. Then, on the eve of the juicy new season’s premiere on April 22, the reality star made it clear that what viewers were about to see wasn’t necessarily the truth, in her book. She wrote on Twitter:

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It is believed now that one of the supposed fake storylines concerns a shocking bribery allegation. Castmate Emma Hernan claimed in the finale that Christine Quinn had attempted to offer a client of hers $5,000 to switch their allegiances – a move with potentially serious legal ramifications. Quinn ultimately didn’t show up to resolve the situation with her bosses at the Oppenheim Group nor on the reunion special with the rest of the cast. But Maya Vander told Metro.co.uk that it doesn’t really matter because Selling Sunset producers don’t influence them, saying:

We film for five or six months and things really happen as we go. We don’t get a script; they don’t tell us what to say and how to say it.

The star added that they get the same kind of criticisms from Netflix viewers as well. After Season 5, they have even questioned whether Chrishell Stause’s short-lived relationship with her boss Jason Oppenheim was just a flashy stunt for the show, especially after the awkward revelation of Stause’s new romance during the reunion. (Stause later had to release a video on social media, shedding light on her side of the events.) Emma Hernan, too, had to clarify certain claims about matching with actor Ben Affleck on the Raya dating app... 

Overall, it would seem that Selling Sunset’s Maya Vander believes Christine Quinn is simply blaming the storylines for being fake because things haven’t been going her way of late. She said that there had “always” been tension between Quinn and their other co-workers at the Oppenheim Group, which has made the show “super successful” but also “not always perfect” in terms of how things unfold in real-time.

Whatever the case may be, Christine Quinn has officially left the infamous real estate agency on her terms anyway. And many wonder if Maya Vander will follow in her footsteps, due to her lack of appearances in recent seasons and having her own business in Miami. On that score, Vander shared:

I don’t know what will happen. It is hard for me to fly back and forth to film the show, especially with little children. It’s been very difficult for me in the past, but I did it and I got it done. I don’t know how much gas I have in me to do it as much as I used to, so we will see.

That doesn’t sound promising. But clearly, a lot can transpire between seasons when it comes to the Selling Sunset cast. Check out the possibly real/possibly fake storylines of the show streaming now as part of the 2022 Netflix TV schedule.

Lauren Vanderveen
Movies and TV News Writer

Freelance writer. Favs: film history, reality TV, astronomy, French fries.