“Imagine I went through all of that and then people weren’t entertained? That would suck!” laughs Chrishell Stause. On the ninth season of Selling Sunset, the Emmy-nominated actress and realtor is at the centre of chaos once more: a jaw-dropping dinner clash with Nicole Young, bewildering tension with new agent Sandra Vergara, and a friendship-ending fallout with Emma Hernan over her fruit-and-vegetable-defying boyfriend’s, erm… antique political views.

This nastiness, further amplified during the reunion, was thankfully offset by Chrishell, who injected some much-needed rainbow energy while touring homes with gay pop inventor JoJo Siwa and Gay Times cover stars Tinashe and Chris Appleton. In some of the series’ most tender moments, Chrishell confides in the latter about her and G-Flip’s attempts at IVF, while the married couple reflect on their future together – including a potential move to Australia.

While Chrishell continues to reign as Selling Sunset’s fan-favourite, boasting four million Instagram followers and serving as the show’s moral compass, season nine will be her last hurrah. “It was a nice answer from this chapter of my life that it’s time to move on,” she says of the reunion, in which she also shared a heated moment with Bre Tiesi. “Sometimes you really need the universe to slap you upside the head to be like, ‘What are we doing? Let’s move on. It’s time.’”

Chrishell speaks about all of the above in the following interview with Gay Times, as well as how her queer awakening and relationship with G-Flip shaped her time on the show — and why, in her words, “you can’t really beat serving cunt.”

Chrishell, I’ve been aching for this chat because I’ve binged season nine…

You saw it?! Wait okay, you have to understand that I haven’t been able to talk to anyone who’s seen it. I’m dying to know… what did you think?”

Explosive. Honestly, I could not comprehend what I was watching a majority of the time?!

It’s crazy. It’s crazy. I’m holding my breath because we also have a reunion that we shot, and it was insane. I feel like it was even more insane than filming the season. I’m excited to hear that you enjoyed the season and liked it. Sometimes, when you’re so in it, you can’t pull away to understand how it is for the viewer, so I’m glad you were very entertained.

I watched all ten episodes in a row. That’s how entertained I was.

Oh my gosh, okay. I love that.

It feels a little… strange to say I was so entertained, since this is your actual life and your relationships are on the line?

No, no, it’s okay. Imagine I went through all of that and did all of that, and then, at the end of the day, people weren’t entertained? That would suck! So, if you want to put yourself through all of that and go through all the work, it’s a nice outcome to at least have a show that people are excited to watch.