Second thoughts? Maya Vander revealed to Us Weekly how she really feels about leaving Selling Sunset after season 5, considering the reality series’ “huge success.”
“I think I’m always going to have regrets [about leaving Selling Sunset],” Vander, 39, shared with Us exclusively on Thursday, July 21, at the LPM Restaurant & Bar in Miami, Florida. “But at the end of the day, I have … priorities, and my priorities are my family and taking care of myself. I had a very stressful [year], obviously, with my pregnancy loss, so I think it was the right decision.”
The Israel native, who was an Oppenheim Group realtor before Selling Sunset’s first season in 2019, announced her departure from the series in June via Instagram Story, noting how it was “not an easy decision” to make. While she primarily resides in Miami, she had been jetting back and forth between her Florida home and Los Angeles for taping.
“I’ve been traveling back and forth for the last four years, and my business [The Maya Vander Group] is here,” she continued to Us. “When I started the show, I was pregnant. I didn’t have kids and now I have two. I’ve been told that I’m always invited to big events, so maybe I’ll show up, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”
The former Netflix personality shares son Aiden, 3, and daughter Elle, 2, with her husband, David Miller. After announcing her third pregnancy in July 2021, she confirmed that she had delivered a stillborn in December of that year. Then, in June, she shared she suffered a miscarriage at 10 weeks — just six months after her first pregnancy loss.
“All [the Selling Sunset girls] reached out to me [after my pregnancy losses] — all of them,” Vander shared. “So I am gonna miss them.”
As for a possible return to reality TV, Vander hasn’t completely taken that idea off the table — but there’s not too much she can share at the moment.
“There is no Selling Miami with Jason [Oppenheim] the realtor stated. “I know there is a potential Selling Miami with different people … being talked about, but I don’t have the info and I’m not part of it.”
Even if Vander isn’t part of a Selling Miami spinoff, she’s still busier than ever with The Maya Vander Group affiliated with Compass.
“It’s a great brand, great company,” she shared. “I’m just taking it one step at a time, working on my brand. I’m in Miami full time, so I really want to get more luxury listings here and buyers — it’s a process. Real estate looks so easy on Selling Sunset, but when you start, when you come to a new city, you start from scratch.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi