Welcome to Inman’s Real Tea. If you love watching reality TV, mostly because real estate runs rampant on the screen, on the internet and in your heart, stay tuned to this column. We’ll get the scoop on the newest releases, go behind the scenes with your favorite stars, and spill the tea on the real estate porn you’re dying to know about.
This week: Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles season 14.
Bespoke mansions with unparalleled views, luxury agents hustling for every connection, snazzy cars, expensive shoes, hard-to-please clients, the newest development properties, drama — these are just a few of the reasons we watch Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, which premiered its 14th season Thursday night on Bravo.
Bravo has made changes to its Million Dollar Listing franchises, namely putting New York “on pause” and cutting down the cast of LA. Before the season aired, we caught up with Josh Altman to dish on what makes this season what Bravo’s calling the “most dramatic yet.” Here are a few things to watch for this season.
Fewer cast members
One notable difference in this season is there are only three agents, which Altman says is the way it should be.
Fredrik Eklund announced his departure in January 2022, after leaving the now “on pause” New York franchise, where he was featured since 2010 alongside agents Ryan Serhant, Kirsten Jordan, Steve Gold and Tyler Whitman, before moving to the LA franchise two seasons ago.
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Tutor told People that Eklund leaving was “fantastic.”
“Listen, he’s a charmer. He’s great on TV. As a friend though, I’m not signing up for that friendship. But great real estate agent and God bless him and his new endeavors,” People reported.
Altman, seemingly on the same page, told People he “cut” Eklund out of his life after the season 13 finale.
James Harris and David Parnes announced their departure in April, 2022. The real estate duo had been on seven seasons over nine years.
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Inman also spoke to Harris recently about life after Million Dollar Listing. He shared that after stopping filming, The Bond Street Team has done more business. More on that in an upcoming Real Tea.
“I think it’s this season is different than any other season because we basically cut off all the extra fat in the show, and we just narrowed it down to the three players that everybody wanted to watch, which was Tracy, Flagg and Altman,” Josh Altman told Inman. And with Josh Flagg having moved from Rodeo Realty in 2021, all three cast members are now under the Douglas Elliman brand.
More personal time among the cast
Altman told Inman that with fewer cast members, there’s simply more time to go deeper into their personal lives. Look for more family time, more in-depth conversations and the home-life dynamic of these tight-knit colleagues, who Altman says hang out whether they’re filming or not.
“I think this season just had a different feel, which we’re all really excited about because, you know, you do things the same for a long time. People want to see a change,” Altman said. “So I think the network listened, and I think that’s really what happened. And I think it’ll be clear to the viewers that they’ll get to see a dynamic that they’ve never seen before.”
A breakup
While Altman and his wife, Heather, are married with two kids, and Tutor is still dating her boyfriend of two years, Erik Anderson, Josh Flagg and husband real estate agent Bobby Boyd’s divorce will be a big topic this season, with castmates helping him through the ups and downs of the divorce.
Flagg and Boyd announced their split in March, after five years of marriage.
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Bravo is calling this season the “most dramatic yet.” It promises to “showcase record-breaking listings and shed light on what led to Josh Flagg’s divorce from Bobby Boyd.”
Flagg told E! the season will include a “big massive fight” between couple as they’re calling it quits that he thinks “will be one of the higher rated episodes of Million Dollar Listing.”
New loves
But we’ll also get to meet Flagg’s new boyfriend, who is also in real estate, Andrew Beyer. You can find cute pictures of the new couple canoodling on Flagg’s Instagram, and he’s been dishing about his new flame to Out Magazine and BravoTV.com.
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In addition to finding new romance, Flagg announced on Dec. 7, 2022, that he’ll be appearing on NBC’s Days of Our Lives in 2023.
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More of the female CEO running a billion-dollar team
Matt and Josh Altman promoted Josh’s wife, who we’ve seen often on Million Dollar Listing, to CEO of The Altman Brothers.
“I’ve been doing this, basically, since about month three of Josh and I dating. I was the CEO,” she quipped to BravoTV.com. “[He and Matt] just didn’t realize it. They didn’t want to acknowledge it.”
In the season premiere, Heather joked in a confessional with Josh by her side, “It’s so nice to finally get the title and the recognition from Josh and Matt. Everyone else in the office knew it. Everyone else in the real estate world knew it. But now we’re all on the same page. And I get to call all the shots.”
Josh Altman told Inman that one of the things he’s most excited about this season is seeing Heather having “a much bigger role in the show” as she “finally gets the recognition she deserves.”
Also during this season, we’ll see The Altman Brothers expand with a new office in Newport Beach.
Unrivaled real estate on Bravo
With Million Dollar Listing New York on pause, essentially, we’re down to three real estate agents out of the many who have come through cities like Miami, San Francisco and, of course, LA, to give us Million Dollar Listing.
With only the three agents on the last surviving franchise, one has to wonder if there’s more pressure to “perform” as reality TV stars, whether internal or external. But Altman doesn’t seem concerned. When asked about the recent changes with the show, he pointed to LA’s longevity.
“We started it 14 years ago. There was Miami — that lasted a season. There was San Francisco — that lasted a season. And then I think New York had like eight seasons,” he said. “Some things make it because of the location. Some things make it because of the talent on the show.” If he’s not worried, we’re not worried. But we’ll definitely be watching.
