Selling Sunset's Davina Potratz Is Leaving the Oppenheim Group: 'A Purely Business Decision'

Davina Potratz will be leaving her job at the Oppenheim Group — but she’s not done with the real estate industry. 

The Selling Sunset star revealed exclusively to PEOPLE that she will be moving on from her current job and her team of coworkers-turned-costars on the hit Netflix reality show and joining rival Douglas Elliman in Beverly Hills.

“I’m really excited to be a part of Douglas Elliman and their very sophisticated and global new development division,” Potratz tells PEOPLE, explaining that she had connections at the brokerage and they presented her with an offer that she couldn’t refuse.

“My background is in new development sales and marketing, so this is just a wonderful opportunity for me," she says. "It’s just very in tune with my skills.”

And there's no bad blood between Potratz and her former boss, Jason Oppenheim. “Davina has always been a tremendous asset and a valued agent at the Oppenheim Group, and she is also a friend whose career decisions I very much respect and support,” he told PEOPLE in a statement. “I will always want the best for Davina, and I hope that we continue to work together in the future.”

“He was sad but he absolutely understands,” Potratz says, adding that she's also shared the news of her departure with Brett Oppenheim, Jason’s twin brother who left the family business recently to branch out on his own.

While Potratz hasn't yet broken the news to her Selling Sunset costars — including Chrishell Stause, Christine Quinn, Maya Vander, Mary Fitzgerald, Amanza Smith and Heather Rae Young — she’s certain they too will be sympathetic to her decision to make the move. 

“We all know each other so well. So I think they’ll be excited and supportive,” Potratz says, adding, “It’s not that I wanted to leave, but I had a great opportunity. It was a purely business decision.”

Despite the show centering around the lives and listings of the Oppenheim Group’s team of agents, Potratz says she has no plans to leave the show once she makes the move to Douglas Elliman. 

“I certainly hope that I’m still part of the cast,” she says. “Brett is not at the Oppenheim Group anymore either, so I don’t think that that’s going to be an issue at all.” 

A representative for Netflix could not be reached for comment. But, a source tells PEOPLE, “No decision has been made on an additional season pick-up at this time.”

“We haven’t filmed anything. There’s no confirmation. We just don’t know anything,” Potratz said of the future of the popular series. 

The one thing the former model does know: she’s not done with reality TV. 

“You know, Douglas Elliman has some of the reality TV talents as well…” she says. Several cast members from Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles work out of Douglas Elliman’s Beverly Hills office, including Tracy Tutor and Fredrik Eklund. 

Stephen Kotler, Douglas Elliman’s CEO of Brokerage for the Western Region, tells PEOPLE that in addition to her expertise in marketing new developments, Portratz’s reality star status is part of what made her so attractive to the company. 

“She’s a great, amazing salesperson, and working in reality TV gives you the ability to really hone your skills because you’re being watched by everybody,” Kotler says. “I think that she’s going to be a superstar at Elliman and we’re excited for her to be here.”

“Elliman is a very big platform and we’ll give her the ability to open up her business in many ways. [At] the local firms, you just don’t have those opportunities,” he adds.

Despite being cast as one of the main antagonists on Selling Sunset (alongside Quinn), Potratz is more than grateful for her time in the spotlight so far, and all that it has taught her.

“It certainly is overwhelming to get a tidal wave of attention — for anyone, that’s really hard to prepare for, you know,” Potratz says of her newfound fame. “But it’s created so many opportunities in all various different forms. I appreciate it so much."

"It’s a lot," she adds. "But it’s also a huge blessing.”

Seasons 1-3 of Selling Sunset are streaming now on Netflix.






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