The spinoff series Selling Sunset Selling Tampa got the ax after just one season on Netflix.
But several cast members believe their series didn’t get a fair impression compared to Selling Sunset, and they suggest racism played a part in the cancellation, per Page Six.
Remarkably, the main cast – Allure Realty’s chief broker, Sharelle Rosado, along with Juawana Colbert, Rena Frazier, Karla Giorgo, Tennille Moore, Anne-Sophie Petit, Colony Reeves, and Alexis Williams – are all women of color.
Concerns: Tampa sales were canceled by Netflix after one season, but star Juawana Colbert and an anonymous insider told Page Six the cancellation was fueled by racism; the cast of Selling Tampa
“If they show us [black women] In a different light — if we argue and fight and name names — they’re getting a second season and a third season, but we didn’t show that,” star Juawana Colbert claimed to the publication on Friday.
“I feel like we didn’t get a second chance, possibly because of what we represented as minority women,” she added.
A source claimed that Netflix had the cast “circling around” for almost a year as they tried to figure out if Selling Tampa would get a second-season renewal.
The anonymous insider also claimed that the cast members receive “hundreds” of social media DMs on a “daily” basis, although this may only represent the show’s most loyal fans and may not be an accurate representation of actual viewership.
Expectations: Colbert claimed the show didn’t feature the kind of bickering among black women that other shows feature — and Netflix would have expected; nor from Selling Sunset
Mismatched: The insider has slammed claims that her show wasn’t doing well enough in terms of viewership, as the cast reportedly received “hundreds” of social media DMs “daily” from fans; still from Selling Tampa
Streaming services like Netflix are also concerned about how many people subscribe to the service to watch a new show or movie, so viewership alone may not determine whether a show is renewed.
Last week, Adam DiVello, who created Selling Tampa and its sister shows Selling Sunset and Selling The OC, announced via Zoom with producer Skyler Wakil that the show would not be returning for a second season.
‘Adam said specifically [the decision] referred to numbers but never provided additional information,” Colbert said. “I don’t know if he was talking about valuation numbers or budget numbers. He just said numbers.’
The anonymous source confirmed that the cast members were given little explanation, and DiVello and Wakil told them to tell any fans who reached out for information about the show, “There are no plans for more Selling Tampa at this time, but thankfully.” Season 1 is still on Netflix for fans to rewatch or discover.
‘We know that [Selling Tampa] was number one in several countries and it was doing pretty well,” the source added. “Obviously there’s not going to be a fifth season of Selling Sunset… It’s just weird. All of a sudden, this all-black cast doesn’t even get a chance for a second season.”
Netflix and DiVello did not immediately respond to the publication’s request for comment, although a source close to the production claimed that the “decision was made based solely on performance and we hope to recruit various members of the cast for future projects.” “.
Bad news: Adam DiVello, who created the show as well as Selling Sunset and Selling The OC, announced the cancellation but reportedly didn’t provide the “numbers”; seen in LA in September
Back in December 2021, the Orlando Sentinel reported that after less than 24 hours on the platform, Selling Tampa was the number one hit on Netflix, suggesting there was at least some strong initial interest in the show.
However, Netflix has traditionally been opaque about its viewership, and the platform often does little to release its original movies and shows after they’re initially released, which can leave them buried on the service.
Colbert seemed to imply that whether or not Netflix was truthful in its viewership counts, Selling Tampa should have been renewed with fewer viewers than other less diverse reality shows.
“Of course, if it’s a minority show with all the minority performers, we’re going to have lower numbers because we’re a minority numerically [of the population] in general,” she said.
According to her, the cast also had issues with the producers during filming, and not just Netflix.
Colbert claimed the producers had no contact with the all-black talent and that they didn’t understand that just an hour to get ready before the confessional tapes wasn’t enough time for many of the women.
She noted that the “sew-ins” or “extensions” that many of the cast members used “wouldn’t work in the same time frame.”
“It’s not a wash-and-go,” she continued. “It’s not so easy for women who belong to minorities. Our hair generally takes longer.”
Unsuspecting: Colbert claimed the producers had no contact with the all-black talent and that they didn’t understand that just an hour to get ready before the confessional tapes wasn’t enough time for many of the women; still from Selling Tampa
On his own: The insider suggested that Selling Tampa was never such a big priority for DiVello since he doesn’t seem to visit the set of the series, which he did for Selling Sunset and its Orange County spin-off
Although the producers didn’t give the cast much resistance when voicing their concerns, they reportedly didn’t change the schedule significantly to help the women.
“I don’t remember it being like, ‘OK, we understand. We’re going to make a conscious effort to do something different,” said Colbert. “It was almost as if it hadn’t been said.”
She noted that there were some blacks on the crew, but the supervisors who made most of the decisions were white.
“Whoever they had on site has a little exposure to working with a group of women who are all minority,” she claimed.
The insider suggested that Selling Tampa was never such a big priority for DiVello since he doesn’t seem to visit the set of the series, which he did for Selling Sunset and its Orange County spin-off.
‘[The cast] I didn’t meet Adam until a month or two after the premiere,” they claimed. “Adam is on set with all his other shows except this one,” although they admitted the coronavirus pandemic may have impacted his travels and time on set.
Colbert had her own disagreements about how Selling Tampa was initially marketed, as Jason Oppenheim was featured in the show’s first teaser with its mostly white cast as he presented the all-black cast with a keychain.
Colbert thought the clip was a “misrepresentation” of what her show would be about, giving audiences the impression that it was some kind of “competition” rather than a separate spin-off.
Misrepresentation: Colbert had her own disagreements about how Selling Tampa was originally marketed when Jason Oppenheim was featured in the show’s first teaser with its mostly white cast as he presented the all-black cast with a bunch of keys in what appeared to be a competition ‘
“I think we were at a bit of a disadvantage from the start,” she said.
Some viewers had also criticized the show for not getting enough of the adrenaline rush of high-profile sales, but Colbert said that was only due to how the crew decided behind the scenes to edit the show.
“We are all active agents. When we were filming there were deals that were made, but now it’s been processed that way,” she claimed.
The source claimed that after Selling Tampa’s cancellation, the producers considered shooting another spin-off, which would be filmed in Miami, a majority Latino city.
The insider said a pilot was even filmed that featured a mix of black and Hispanic men and women, as opposed to Selling Tampa’s all-Black female cast. However, the pilot was not picked up.
The source wondered if the show would need “four black cast members” to rival the star power of Selling Sunset villain Christin Quinn before their show could start.
The source claimed the streamer is now looking for “model-like people” who are “wealthy,” “young” and “fit” to populate his next real estate series.
Different Races: The source noted that following the cancellation of Tampa, which had a cast of Hispanic and Black men and women rather than just Black women, Netflix was investigating a Miami spin-off, though the pilot wasn’t picked up; still from Selling Tampa