'Selling Sunset's Amanza Smith Opens Up About Her Rough Childhood This Season
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Selling Sunset just dropped its seventh season on Nov. 3, and there have been a slew of new faces added to the mix since the breakout hit debuted in 2019. But fans who have been watching the show since season 1 know that the OG cast members are the reason this show is still a Netflix staple (I'm lookin' at you, Chrishell Stause).
This season, reality show veteran Amanza Smith takes the driver's seat, filling in as peacemaker while the usual go-between, Mary Bonnet, took a step back due to her pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage. Unfortunately, this all kinda backfires on Amanza, and she gets into some pretty heated disagreements with several cast members.
During filming, Amanza has always been open about her difficult life. And between the fact she was carrying around a $7,500 Chanel basketball like a purse in episode 1 and her open discussion about her mental health struggles with Chelsea, it’s understandable to have some questions.
So, who is Amanza again? Here’s what you need to know.
How old is Amanza?
Amanza is 46. Her birthday is on December 11, so she’ll be 47 pretty soon.
Who is her ex-husband?
While Amanza doesn’t name her ex-husband on the show, she’s talked about him a lot: He’s former NFL player Ralph Brown. The two got married in 2010 but divorced two years later in 2012, per People.
Brown went missing in 2019, which was a big storyline on the show. There are no updates today, and his whereabouts are still unknown.
Amanza claims he hasn’t paid child support, and that his family has blocked her when she attempts to reach them, per an interview with Dear Media’s Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. "Anytime I reach out to anyone, I get blocked," she said on the podcast, with regards to trying to contact her ex's family members. She added that it was “especially traumatic for the family” because the kids were "very close to their grandparents, aunts and uncles.”
In 2020, Amanza shared that she'd "had at least 20 of his ex-NFL teammates reach out to me saying, 'Hey, have you heard from him? Do you know what's going on?’" per Entertainment Tonight.
At one point shortly after his disappearance, Amanza hired a private investigator and filed a missing persons police report, but didn't get any answers, per People.
How many kids does she have?
This O Group realtor is part of the mom crew! She has two kids—son Braker, 12, and daughter Noah, 13. Noah was part of her parents' wedding, per People, and Braker was born one year later. Both have briefly appeared on Selling Sunset over the years.
Two years after Amanza's ex went missing, in 2021, an LA court awarded her full custody of their children, and he was not granted visitation rights.
Amanza has talked a lot about motherhood on the show, and balancing work with family life. She has talked on Instagram about the joys and struggles of being a single mom.
Where did she grow up?
Amanza was born in Indiana. She went to school at Indiana State University with a major in interior design, according to her Oppenheim Group bio. She moved to Los Angeles after graduating, where she modeled and was on two seasons of Deal or No Deal. Fun fact: She was also once a cheerleader for the Indianapolis Colts.
What has she said about her past and childhood?
Amanza has opened up about her rough childhood in interviews and on the show.
In a 2022 article for Mr. Warburton's digital magazine, she claimed that she was sexually abused by two members of her family between the ages of three and 11. She told this same story during a heart-to-heart with Chelsea Lazkani on season 7. And Chelsea thanked Amanza for being open about her mental health struggles on Instagram.
"I put on a very strong face, which comes from the fact that from the time I was three years old, I was sexually abused by somebody very close to me, and you have to pretend like that's not happening," Amanza told Mr. Warburton's, per People.
"Until God gave me a baby girl, it did not click," she said. "It hit me one day when my daughter was almost two, and I was pregnant with my son. I imagined everything that happened to me happening to her. And it changed everything."
What disease did she have?
Amanza has been through a lot lately. First, she had a cancer scare during Selling Sunset season 6 after finding a mass on her uterus. After much back and forth, she ended up getting a biopsy, and the results came back indicating that the tumor was benign, meaning she was cancer-free. And then, this year, Amanza spoke openly on Instagram about a potentially fatal illness she dealt with in the spring after filming had wrapped.
Amanza shared that back in May, she had two invasive spinal surgeries after developing osteomyelitis, a potentially rare and life-threatening bone infection. She had noticed her lower back was hurting for a while, but the pain became so bad that she collapsed at home and ended up in the hospital five days later, per People.
“One or two more days at home and you could have been dead,” she said her doctor told her, the outlet reported.
She stayed at the hospital for nearly two months, and ended up having to get an IV, antibiotics, and go through two surgeries once the doctors found the infection in her vertebra had spread. Amanza didn't arrive back at home from the hospital until July 3, and her recovery involves six months of rest, antibiotics, and physical therapy.
She told People that she's "very anxious to be able to do the things that I love to do. I like to decorate. I like to rearrange. I want to be able to hang things, but I'm very limited right now."
Everyone is cheering you on, Amanza!
What is her net worth?
There’s not a ton of reliable information about how much Amanza is worth, but most online estimates put her around $1 million. She works for a lucrative real estate business, and definitely wears a lot of nice clothes, so I'd say she's doing pretty well for herself.
She also does interior design, and was working on a project with Chrishell and G Flip before her, er, fight with Chrishell derailed things. So it sounds like she makes some money on the side from that gig, too.
Who is she dating now?
Amanza previously dated actor Taye Diggs for five years. But this season, she talks a little about her love life in the first episode (which was filmed back in the spring). She also shared a photo of a new guy on Instagram in August.
“When I needed you most there you were. Love really shows up when you least expect it so grateful for this man! 🙏🏽♥️,” she wrote in the caption.
It’s not clear if they’re still together, but perhaps she will let everyone know at the reunion, which drops Nov. 15.
Stay tuned for more!
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