Selling Sunset's Mary Bonnet Is Facing The Fire

Mary Bonnet is in the hot seat. The Selling Sunset veteran, who has starred on Netflix’s real estate reality series since it premiered in 2019, has done her best to stay out of the drama between her fellow agents at the Oppenheim Group and focus on selling homes — but in the newly-released Season 9, things finally got messy.

Midway through the season, Bonnet and her husband, Romain, had to reckon with a home robbery in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires. “Everything else seemed like a bigger deal because I was just shaken by it,” she told Bustle ahead of Chrishell Stause’s exit last week. “For a couple weeks, I was barely sleeping because I kept thinking [the robbers were] going to come back. I was just on edge. Anything would set me off.”

Such was the case when fellow Oppenheim agent Chelsea Lazkani — who fell out with Bonnet over a joint listing on Season 8 — sent flowers to express her sympathy. They arrived at Bonnet’s home while she was filming with castmate Bre Tiesi, which led Bonnet to suspect Lazkani’s gesture wasn’t genuine. While Bonnet argued with producers over the gift, suspecting they’d played a part in it, Tiesi threw the bouquet in the trash. (When Bonnet later confronted Lazkani, she insisted she wasn’t looking for “camera time” with her gesture.)

Some viewers were up in arms over Bonnet’s handling of the situation, along with her emotional reaction to seeing Lazkani’s name card at Tiesi’s Galentine’s party in the finale. “Over the past year and a half, there's a lot that's happened publicly and privately,” Bonnet says about her relationship with Lazkani. “Not everything makes the edits, not everything is even filmed.”

Now, 10 months after the robbery and three months after filming the reunion special, Bonnet reflects on her Season 9 journey, from the Girlsgiving dinner to Chrishell Stause and Emma Hernan’s friendship breakup to what she regrets about her clash with Lazkani.

Fans are calling the Girlsgiving dinner a peak reality TV moment. Looking back, what was going through your mind?

We kind of saw it coming. Amanza and I joked, “Are we crazy even trying this?” But we didn't think it would get that bad. I've had many conversations with Nicole off-camera, being like, “You both just keep hitting lower and lower,” and I've had conversations with Chrishell too, where I'm like, “You cannot say those things to people.” Then [Nicole’s comment] just went way below the belt.

Did Jason do the right thing by letting go of Nicole from the show?

As much as I love Nicole, he did because it was really unhealthy. And he dated Nicole, so this was a very, very hard decision. We’re all like a family, but watching her, she wasn't herself. The environment was extremely toxic. It wasn't going to get better.

Are you still in touch today?

We are still in touch. Something happened where she did something recently, but she's apologized for it, so we're good. I will always love her. I don't think she, hopefully, had any bad intent by it, but she's like a dog with a bone. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's not, but I wish her all the best in Nashville.

She said something towards you specifically?

She did a dumb TikTok, and I was like, “What are you thinking?” Of course, typical Romain, he's my protector, he's like, “Really?” She's like, “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it.” Well, it can be taken out of context, so maybe don't do that.

She does things without thinking sometimes. I think she needs to stay away from the drama of Selling Sunset. It's a skill to be able to remove yourself from it and remain true to who you are. And keep your mouth shut, basically.

Some fans and co-stars have been really vocal about your reactions to Chelsea sending flowers and seeing her name card. What is your response to this?

I think everyone knows, from nine seasons of the show, that I'm extremely level-headed and a mediator, always seeing both sides of everything. I don't overreact. Some things have happened that I have definitely been hurt by and don't agree with. Out of respect for Chelsea, I won't go into details about what happened and why I was shaken, but there was more to the story.

How do you reflect on your reactions, now that you've had space to process everything off-camera for a few months?

Obviously, I would do things differently because I'm in a better headspace. Like, flowers are flowers. Normally, I'd be like, “That was unexpected... OK, thank you,” but in the moment, I got upset at production, not at Chelsea. Then they made me talk to her at the dinner and discuss it, and I was like, “I don't want to.” There were a lot of things that happened like that.

I still stand by treating each other with respect at all times. I try to do that to other people, and I expect that in return.

At the reunion, you were the first person to walk off during Chrishell and Bre's fight. What was going through your mind at the time?

It got so heated between a lot of the girls that there was so much yelling and chaos. I was like, “Oh my God, think about how this is going to make you look. Act like adults.” But that was cut. Netflix was like, “We can't show this.”

That's when I finally was just like, “I'm not doing this. I don't need this energy around me.” So I got up and left. It was not just because of that conversation. That was so mild.

Did Chrishell and Bre ever get to finish what they started, or is that something we just didn't see?

It wasn't even between Chrishell and Bre. It was between Chrishell and Emma. I think what she did to Emma... it was just not being a good friend, and I think everybody had Emma's back on that. Even if you're not friends anymore, you don't do that to somebody.

You also voiced some concern for Emma. How do you feel about her relationship with Blake?

It's none of my business. When I talked to Emma about it — there's a lot that’s gone on and stuff that no one knows anything about. She is one of those amazing people who has the biggest heart, so if she's going back and forth for someone, there's a reason for it. She can tell her own story about what's going on. But as a friend, if she is going through a hard time or not being treated right, then be there for her. Be the safe space, be the person who can give loving guidance. Not attack publicly and not try to humiliate a friend.

What’s the state of your friendship with Chrishell?

That's a tough one. When I love someone, I always love them. I always care about them. I think that Chrishell needs to take some time for herself, if I'm honest, and assess how she's treated everybody. Because there have been a lot of moments, basically, where she's come after every single person on the cast. As much as I love her, not everyone's out to get her. She needs to really focus on the truth of things and not how she feels and throw them out as accusations.

Jason said that you’re the biggest hustler at the Oppenheim Group. What do you think you're doing that the other agents aren’t?

Probably focusing on clients instead of on my next comeback and jab. I take work really seriously, and I'm not worried about social media or my image. This is a great opportunity, and I did well before, but the show’s really helped. So take the good with the bad, and I’m going to focus on the good right now.

Aside from Nicole, are there any former castmates you still keep in touch with?

Oh my gosh, yes. Heather, I'm still begging Netflix to bring her back. I just saw her the other day. She came to our premiere, and who knows? Maybe.

If we get a Season 10, where do you see the cast going from here?

I might be naïve, but I always have a positive outlook on this. Of course, there's always going to be drama. But with me and Bre, and if Heather rejoins, and Sandra’s hilarious... I think it’ll be really funny. And LA is still in devastation a bit, [but] hopefully, we'll see that beautiful city get back to being beautiful again.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.