Selling The OC’s Alex Hall Isn’t Changing Her Ways

Alex Hall doesn’t care if you think she’s a villain. The real estate agent, who stars in Netflix’s Selling the OC, is known for speaking her mind regardless of outcome. And while that candor has made her one of Variety’s most powerful women in reality TV, it hasn’t always won over viewers.

The show, which debuted in 2022, is a Selling Sunset spinoff about the Oppenheim Group’s Orange County office. Almost immediately, the cast became just as controversial as the original group.

“I’ve learned from Season 1 that you really can’t prepare yourself,” Hall tells Bustle over Zoom from Jason Oppenheim’s Los Angeles penthouse, where the cast is doing press. “You never know what the audience is going to think or how they’re going to take certain things. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

Season 3, which drops on May 3, starts with her and Tyler Stanaland’s controversial journey from friendship to romance following his divorce from Brittany Snow. Hall also gets into trouble for calling one of her colleagues “batsh*t crazy” on a podcast — drama she thinks may have been “plotted” by her co-stars.

“If it was such a readily available podcast to listen to, why did they ask me who it was about if it was so easy to figure out who it was about?” she says. “It didn’t make any sense, except [if] they were trying to put me in a situation where I wouldn’t be in the most lovely of lights.”

Below, she gets candid about Season 3, her relationships, and some recent cast departures.

You and Tyler had a bit of a communication block after the Season 2 finale. Why do you think it didn’t turn into something more?

Our relationship never fully went where we thought it was going to go. We would rev up our engines and hope for the best, but we were never really in alignment. There was always something off. When I watched the season back, I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, the ‘will they, won’t they’ lasts for so long.” But when we were in it, it went by really quickly.

How did you find out that he was leaving the Oppenheim Group?

A news article.

Have you kept in touch and been able to mend fences?

No.

You move on this season and start dating a guy from TikTok. What can you tell us about him?

He’s a very private person, but we’re no longer dating. He’s pursuing his career and dreams in London. As a working single mom, my priorities are here. So, unfortunately, that became unrealistic.

What was your take on Sean Palmieri and Austin Victoria’s heated office confrontation?

I was pretty taken aback, not at the depths that Sean would go to, but by Austin. I’ve never really seen that side of Austin, and he had every right to defend himself, his family’s honor, his truth, and his reputation. Honestly, if that would’ve been in any other situation other than being a filmed reality show in an office, it probably would’ve ended a lot worse.

Were you aware at all of any of the claims that Sean was making before he put them on camera? And did you think there truth to them?

I wasn’t aware of the claims until Polly [Brindle] told me during filming. But Sean had a track record of doing similar things — not being forthright on the show, per se — with other cast members. He had a relationship with Polly, and I was a bystander, so I saw things with my own eyes. I’ve heard her side and Sean’s unsolicited version of the story, and things just don’t add up. When you have cameras following you around, it’s really difficult to hide the truth.

Any cut scenes that you wish would’ve aired?

How much time do we have? It’s just one of those things where we only get a certain amount of time to film, and that has to be consolidated and condensed for a great viewing experience. I wish I would’ve had more real estate scenes this season, of course, because that’s my career. But I also wish there would’ve been a little more light shed on the podcast, things that I feel like would give viewers a better understanding of where I was coming from.

After watching the season, how do you feel about the podcast interview you did?

I do a lot of podcasts. At that moment, I genuinely didn’t think it was about Kayla [Cardona]. In fact, I thought it was about Brandi [Marshall]. There were some scenes that got cut where we went into more depth about that. But I don’t skirt around issues. I said how I felt in that moment for the public to hear. I wasn’t writing it in my diary. Had I remembered at that moment, I would’ve said it was about Kayla. Instead of invoking my Fifth Amendment right on the issue, I said what I thought was true.

Do you ever feel like you’ve gotten an unfair edit?

Possibly sometimes. But that’s not to say I don’t understand it. Nobody is making me do or say things or holding a gun to my head to do this. I’m signing up for a reality show. If they’re going to take some things out of context or not show certain things that put me in a better light, that’s unfortunate.

It just broke that Alexandra Jarvis is leaving the Oppenheim Group. How did you feel when you found that out?

From a reality show perspective, I don’t think Jarvis really added much value. She was always just trying to stir the pot and be relevant. I have not shed a tear since she’s gone. Her only ally was Sean at the end, and Sean’s gone.

Given that her, Sean, and Tyler have all left, where do you see the show heading if it gets renewed for a fourth season?

People are dropping [like] flies from the O Group, man. From a show perspective, I think that’s tough. But I feel like everybody is replaceable. So if they don’t feel like the show is the right [place] for them, then good riddance.

Would you welcome new agents on the show?

Absolutely. Fresh blood.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.