When Chelsea Lazkani first got the opportunity to join “Selling Sunset” in 2022, she felt like she didn’t have a choice but to accept the offer. She had never seen anyone that looked like her in the luxury real estate space. “Watching it and not seeing any representation [of women like me] meant that if they had given me that opportunity, then there was a reason behind it,” Lazkani tells PS.
A daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she grew up in England watching her parents hustle to succeed. “That just instilled in me a level of hard work that I don’t feel like I would have if I didn’t have immigrant parents,” she says. Going into reality television, she wanted to ensure that that work ethic – and her diverse upbringing – were portrayed on screen. “Being able to celebrate my culture and my Blackness across the diaspora is so important because there’s so much underrepresentation of people like myself,” she says. “I celebrate the fact that I am also now American. So it’s nice to be able to mesh a bunch of cultures together and celebrate each part of where I’m from.”
So when Lazkani’s personal life – including her marriage – was the subject of major plot points in the latest season of the series, she held her head high. Viewers, particularly women of color, were quick to point out that the scrutiny of Lazkani was unfair and that Black women are often held to stricter standards, especially in the workplace (and certainly on TV).
The reason why someone like myself finds it so important to remain in real estate is because the more of me there are, the less critical people will be of me.
But Lazkani understands that with representation can come responsibility, or as she puts it, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
“I think when there are only few examples of us in certain rooms, people find it really hard to hold us to the same standard,” she says. “The reason why someone like myself finds it so important to remain in real estate is because the more of me there are, the less critical people will be of me.”
Ahead, the real estate agent and mother of two opens up about the importance of representation, navigating microagressions and racism in both real estate and reality TV, protecting her family, and her future on “Selling Sunset.”
PS: In response to your storyline this season – including Mary’s criticism of your outfit and the conversation around your marriage – Black women have spoken up about how they’re often held to higher standards than their white counterparts. Does that sentiment resonate with you?
Chelsea Lazkani: I look very different from every other cast member, so it’s a lot easier for you to pinpoint little differences or little things I may do wrong because there’s only one of me. If there was 20 of me, you’d be like, “OK, well, Trisha did the same thing and Monica did the same thing.” But when I do it, it’s just a little bit louder, not because of the tone of my voice, not because of the way I explain myself – because I know how to carry myself – it’s because it’s different from what they’re used to. And that’s why representation is so important.
PS: How do you feel about being that example?
CL: I didn’t seek it, but I say this all the time: Heavy is the head that wears the crown. When you are met with massive opportunity, you can only rise up and do the best you can. I don’t believe God will put me in any situation that I can’t handle. I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job so far. When I see little Brown girls or my sisters telling me that I represent them well, there’s no better feeling. I’m grateful that I was given that platform to do that because sometimes I think I’m not worthy, to be honest.
PS: What is your advice to other Black women navigating these predominantly white spaces?
CL: Keep your foot on the gas, do not let up, continue going, but it gets better. It’s hard.
PS: Do you feel like you’ve encountered microaggressions or experienced racism in real estate or while filming the show?
CL: I don’t like to put that term directly on anybody because part of culture is giving people resources to learn. I think my experience on the show more so correlates to a lack of understanding, a lack of exposure, and a lack of people being around people like myself. My background of friends is very diverse, but I don’t think other people on my cast have such diverse friend groups. They don’t understand even what microaggressions are, to be honest with you. If you don’t understand what a microaggression is, you’ll never understand when you are displaying a microaggression. So I try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, as this season has come out, it’s a good opportunity for everybody to look into some resources and educate themselves because that’s not my job.
I wish people understood how hard it is for people of minority backgrounds to get in those rooms. So once we’re there, we work 10 times as hard to stay there.
PS: You’ve said before that in rooms where there is a lack of representation, you feel like most are “committed to misunderstanding” you. Tell me what you mean by that.
CL: When I turn up on set on time, I’m the last person to leave set, or I do a certain task to the best of my ability, people think that it’s easy for me. I wish people understood how hard it is for people of minority backgrounds to get in those rooms. So once we’re there, we work 10 times as hard to stay there. I wish they respected it. I wish there was a precedent set that was like, “You know what? Chelsea’s crushing it. Let’s give her flowers a little bit.” Not, “Chelsea always crushes it. Of course she does.” I feel like my personality is constantly misunderstood, but I’m very patient and I work really, really hard to have people understand me and over-communicate.
PS: You recently clarified that you were the one who set up the scene between you and Bre, in which she tells you about the “tea” surrounding your ex-husband this season. Why was it important for you to get ahead of your own narrative?
CL: Honestly, I refuse to comment on Bre moving forward. But it was because I was protecting my family – even if it’s breaking – at all costs. I always will be protecting my family.
PS: Since the season aired, racist tweets from a potential new cast member, Amanda Lynn, have surfaced online. I know you already said you would be leaving the show if Amanda joined the cast.
CL: I think people just need to do a better job vetting the people they put on TV to protect people from stuff like what we witnessed.
Is there anything you can tell us about your future on the show? Will there be a season nine?
CL: I wish I could, honestly. I really do, but I don’t even know. I couldn’t tell you something I have no idea about.
PS: How do you navigate working in a demanding industry and filming as a mother of two young children?
CL: I’ll be honest; it’s virtually impossible. I like things done a particular way and I would take on all the load myself, but I’m learning to designate a lot of work and make time just for my children. If it’s between the hours of 5 to 8 p.m., it’s no phone, getting them dinner, giving them bath time, reading them a book, playing, and finding out about their day. You can’t do it all. You can do the best you can and it will be more than good enough, but you can’t do it all at all times.
PS: Why did you make the decision to keep your family life and your kids private, particularly on the show?
CL: My children are so young and I think it’s really important as a mother to give my children the freedom to just be kids. I have a number of followers, so the last thing I’d ever want to do is put my kids in any harm’s way. The last thing I ever want to do is for my children to go to school and people say their mother’s on a TV show or give them anything other than a pure, happy, vulnerable childhood because that’s what kids are meant to have. I’m going to protect that until the very end.
PS: Do you think anyone really dresses “appropriately” at the O Group?
CL: We’re all aware that we’re building a TV show. Everybody’s level of appropriateness depends on how much they want to be seen on the TV. Some people take it a little bit more seriously than others, which is why the criticism of my outfit was a little bit much. Like, girl, those cameras are rolling. Save it, please. Did Christine build the fashion on the show or not? Because y’all are forgetting how we got here.
PS: We have to give credit where it’s due – Christine did bring in the fashion.
CL: Absolutely. No offense taken, [the criticism] was just more humorous than anything else. It’s like, leave me and my skirt alone. We’re having fun. It’s a way to express yourself. We don’t really dress like that in real life. I’ve seen all of the cast when we’re not filming and we all look very different, including myself. We’re all aware of the fact that we have a duty, and our duty is hopefully to continue getting more seasons.
Yerin Kim is the features editor at PS, where she helps shape the vision for special features and packages across the network. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, she has over five years of experience in the pop culture and women’s lifestyle spaces. She’s passionate about spreading cultural sensitivity through the lenses of lifestyle, entertainment, and style.
