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Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the answers to all your burning questions on the newest releases. Stay tuned to Real Tea, the intersection of real estate and reality TV.
Netflix’s Buying Beverly Hills, which follows agents at The Agency, helmed by founder and CEO Mauricio Umansky, is set to air its second season on March 22, 2024.
Season 2 cast includes Ben Belack, Brandon Graves, Joey Ben-Zvi, Jon Grauman, Melissa Platt, Michelle Schwartz, Santiago Arana, Sonika Vaid, Tyler Hill, Adam Rosenfeld and Zach Goldsmith.
No stranger to the limelight, Mauricio Umansky has been making news throughout the past year, including his Dancing with the Stars stint, growing The Agency internationally and most recently announcing the launch of a rival to the National Association of Realtors called American Real Estate Association (AREA). Here’s a look at what’s been going on with the CEO since Season 1 wrapped.
The separation
Mauricio Umansky and his wife, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH) star Kyle Richards have been making headlines since July, as they navigate a very public separation.
On Season 13 of Real Housewives, which wrapped earlier this week, Umansky’s lack of presence was a storyline that drew much speculation from castmates. In the season finale, the couple finally sat down to discuss the separation with their four daughters, two of whom — Alexia Umansky and Farrah Aldjufrie (née Brittany) — are agents at The Agency and star on Buying Beverly Hills alongside their dad.
Seemingly picking up where RHOBH left off, Netflix’s Season 2 trailer shows Mauricio Umansky talking more with his daughters and colleagues at The Agency about what the separation means, indicating that viewers will hear more of his side of the story, which was lacking on RHOBH.
The trailer shows a sneak peek of a tearful conversation between Umansky and his daughters Sophia and Alexia Umansky and Farrah Aldjufrie, who express a surreal sadness over the fresh separation.
There have been rumors of affairs for both Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards, who is rumored to have had an affair with country star Morgan Wade. Wade appeared in a few episodes of RHOBH, letting Kyle Richards tattoo her as they got tattoos together in one episode. Yes, you read that right. Wade, who has said she stopped counting after her 135th tattoo, had no qualms with letting inexperienced Richards handle the ink gun.
Both Umansky and Richards have denied extra-marital affairs, but as we wait for the Season 13 reunion of RHOBH, the Bravo trailer indicates that Richards will be asked some tough questions about the separation, affairs and her relationship with Wade.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, when Bravo’s Andy Cohen does a reunion, the hot seat, as in the person who is going to be most under fire with tough questioning, usually sits next to Cohen. Season 13’s hot seat will be filled by Richards, according to Bravo. The three-part reunion begins airing weekly on Bravo starting Feb. 28.
Dancing with the Stars
At ICNY, we got a little preview of the skills Umansky picked up on Season 32 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, which debuted on Sept. 26, 2023. Alongside well-known celebrities, including Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch, Alyson Hannigan from the American Pie movies and How I Met Your Mother, model Tyson Beckford, musician Jason Mraz and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ Xochitl Gomez, who ultimately won the season.
Umansky had some amazing dances and a few rough ones before he was eliminated in week 6. Inman’s Lillian Dickerson detailed the happenings throughout the season as Umansky hoped to win that mirror-ball trophy. Read more about his journey below:
The Agency’s growth
The Agency has been plugging away at growth, adding 29 franchise locations internationally in 2023, a spokesperson told Inman. A new office in Portland, Oregon, marked The Agency’s 100th office.
The 12-year-old brokerage launched its Marbella location in November, its second in Spain after Mallorca opened in February 2023. It also has franchises in Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal and Turks and Caicos in addition to its stateside offices, according to The Agency’s website.
AREA
At Inman Connect New York in January, Umansky took the stage with Brad Inman to discuss his newest venture.
Umansky partnered with Jason Haber, a New York-based Compass agent and vocal critic of NAR to create the American Real Estate Association, which “is build by Realtors, for Realtors,” Umansky told the ICNY audience.
“The comments effectively represented the formal debut of the American Real Estate Association, or AREA. Though news of the organization leaked Monday in The New York Times, Wednesday’s Connect session offered Umansky a platform from which to more thoroughly make his case that NAR is no longer cutting it — and that the time is right for a replacement,” Inman’s Jim Dalrymple reported. “During the session, Umansky ultimately laid out a detailed case for what he believes is wrong with NAR, though information about what exactly AREA might look like was sparser.”
To watch the entire discussion between Umansky and Brad Inman, click here.
Season 2 of Buying Beverly Hills will drop March 22, and we’ll definitely be watching and reporting back.
Email Dani Vanderboegh
