Selling The Hamptons, a reality show based around a brokerage in the Hamptons has returned for a second season. The show is currently available to stream on Max.
The show centers around a group of realtors at Nest Seekers International, competing for sales in an area with few listings at astronomical prices. The principal cast includes former models Mia Calabrese and Michael Fulfree, wannabe pop star Ashley Allen, broker and lawyer Peggy Zabakolas, and former pro surfer Dylan Eckhardt. The cast members spar over sales and properties, juggling the high-stakes job with their personal lives.
Each cast member has a different reason for agreeing to be on camera. Calabrese, a 32-year-old former model from the South Side of Chicago, told the New York Times, “My goal is to make as much money as I can. I’m not just doing this to be on television. I’m doing it to grow my business.” She is not the only one looking to strengthen her career by participating in the show. Zabakolas, who has earned the nickname “Deals In Heels,” said, “People are going to love you and people are going to hate you. Being in sales, you spin it to your advantage.” She added that yes, she does play up the drama to make the show more interesting. “If people tuned in to my real life, they would have a snooze fest.”
This sentiment is not echoed by everyone in the cast. Bianca D’Alessio, a managing director at Nest Seekers International, claims, “Everything that I put onscreen is who I am as a person.” Fulfree, a former model whose schtick on the show is that he is now a devoted father, is one of the cast members who share more of their personal life and personality. When speaking to the New York Times, he reportedly used the same colorful language he is known for on the show and was concerned about making it to his son’s T-ball game that evening.
Eddie Shapiro, the president of Nest Seekers, has been pleased with the results of the show so far. “People don’t list with us just because we’re on TV. But they will certainly give us a shot over a brand that may not have any exposure at all,” he told the New York Times. The agency’s luxury clientele is sometimes almost too excited to see their properties on television. “Sometimes, they will say, ‘My property is my most important asset, and I saw your show and the only thing I saw was a silly 10-minute back and forth of some people fighting on the beach,’” Shapiro said. “That can happen.”
Max seems pleased with the reception to the show as well. Netflix’s Million Dollar Beach House, also set in the Hamptons, lasted only one season, and its production crew transitioned straight into Selling the Hamptons. The show now has a second season, which expanded the cast, and Max has invested in a similar show called Serving the Hamptons, which follows the staff of a trendy Hamptons restaurant.
