When it comes to finding homes for the super-rich, Jason Oppenheim certainly knows his stuff. So it’s no surprise to find the real estate guru’s £7.5million Hollywood pad is the stuff of dreams.
Jason – the star of reality TV series Selling Sunset – has an outdoor pool that’s so perfect it looks like it should be in the pages of a glossy magazine.
And the sleek, open-plan interior is better than any show home you could imagine.
But where’s the TV? “Underneath your feet,” he says, pointing to the living room floor. “It comes out of the ground.” Of course it does.
This is a man who has everything money can buy. But one thing that seems to elude Jason is true happiness.
Ask whether he’s watched season five of Selling Sunset – which showcases staff working for his elite property firm, The Oppenheim Group – and he looks a little downcast.
Get all the latest news sent to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror newsletter
Although Selling Sunset has boosted his business by as much as 25%, Jason’s not keen to watch the new Netflix series when it airs on April 22, because it will document his split from colleague Chrishell Stause.
“Season five is going to make me relive a lot of sadness, pain and loss,” says Jason, 44.
“That’s not something I’m looking forward to. I’m not ready to talk about what happened with Chrishell, but we just wanted different things.
“Usually I’m good at getting on with business but right now, I think about her every day. It is really tough.”
The couple split in December, just five months after making their relationship official – prompting some fans to brand their relationship a “showmance”.
But Jason hits back angrily at the accusations. He says: “That was the most real relationship I’ve ever had, so the idea it was somehow not real is something I just don’t feel the need to comment on or respond to.
“I will always have unbelievable love and respect for Chrishell. I hold her in the highest regard.
“I’m still working through a lot of pain. That could take a while.”
Jason, a straight-talking former law student, is endearingly honest – and the ladies clearly love that.
Since finding fame on Selling Sunset, he has had more than his fair share of admirers. “I get a lot of nudity, certainly… I get sexts and women asking if I want to cuddle,” he says.
“Some even get my phone number and text me. It’s just weird.”
But Jason says that after his painful split from Chrishell, he will not be rushing back into dating.
“I’m not looking [for anyone else],” he says. “I’m just not in the right headspace.”
Unusually, Jason started going to couples counselling three years ago – with his twin brother Brett, the other half of the Oppenheim goldmine.
“We started going because we were fighting a lot,” Jason explains.
“I think that can happen a lot in life… that you take the person you love the most for granted and can be the cruellest to them.”
Jason admits the counselling “really helped” and for all his fame and fortune, he seems very down-to-earth.
“I feel quite comfortable with where I’m at in life,” he says. “I go the gym, I like watching crime documentaries and things like The Tinder Swindler, I like to be with my Chihuahuas, Zelda and Niko…”
He also loves collecting antiques. Jason is the proud owner of a phone that he believes comes from a Second World War naval ship – and has since been linked to his mobile phone. And above a gargantuan clock in his study sit row upon row of tightlybound history books.
“Those are from the 15th and 16th century,” he says. “I think I’ve got maybe 150 in total but they’re in Latin so I’ve not read them.”
In his open-plan living space, a neon wall sign also quotes a poem that Jason has been influenced by over the years. It says that life is a series of choices – and it’s no surprise such a sentiment hits home with Jason.
When he and Brett were five, their parents divorced and the boys’ behaviour went from bad to worse. There were numerous school expulsions, jail time for fighting – and Jason was even done for driving.
He could easily have chosen a different path – one that landed him in prison for longer. “It [the trouble] probably put a chip on my shoulder,” Jason admits.
“I felt like I had something to prove and at the same time felt like I had nothing to lose.
“If you combine those two, I think it leads to someone who’s definitely going to go out there and take some risks and work really hard.”
Working hard has certainly paid off handsomely for Jason – but he refuses to talk about his A-list clients.
Since Selling Sunset took off though, some seem more in awe of him than the other way around.
Jason says: “Brett and I were at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and Jamie Foxx came over and asked if he could take a photo, which I thought was pretty amazing. He and his girlfriend are apparently fans of the show.
“I’m also a huge fan of the series Entourage and there was another time when I was sat near to Adrian Grenier, who stars in it, and people were shouting over at me.
“He just turned around and said, ‘Who are you?!’”
Jason will be turning 45 on April 12 and has few things planned for his birthday, such as a pool party, a trip to the music festival Coachella and parties with staff at his Newport and Sunset Boulevard branches.
Jason is very close to his team and says that ultimately, the future of their hit reality show is down to them.
“When we do make a decision to end Selling Sunset, it will be very much a group one, and one made with our friends at Netflix,” he says.
“But right now, I think it brings a lot of joy to the people around me and to see them happy goes above all else for me.”
