Did you have strategies for dealing with that negativity?
Mary Fitzgerald:No.
I wasn’t expecting that, actually.
I didn’t care as much about my cast members, weirdly enough, because they wanted me happy.
They were trying to protect me.
On social media, that’s where it was a bit different, though … Everyone was nice.
Most people were nice to me.
Some people were mean, saying, “You’re an idiot, what are you thinking?
He’s using you.
He’s a gold digger.”
Romain Bonnet:Mua ha ha ha.
Everybody always apologized, but I never responded to negativity.
That really bugged me when people would attack him.
Once we got married, it never happened again.
I didn’t give a damn.
Fitzgerald:He never cared.
Bonnet:At the end of the day, I knew how I was feeling.
I knew how she was feeling.
I’m like, “you might talk as much as you want.
You know what you see.
You don’t know me completely.
There’s so many factors that come in that you’re free to’t know.”
So many people look like such a perfect couple, and they are not.
I knew how I was feeling, and I’m like, “It’s good publicity.
Fitzgerald:We’re solid.
I just don’t like people attacking my man.
But I was biting my tongue because I wanted sometimes to tell her …
I was telling her that in a way, it was funny.
I knew it was totally wrong, but it affected her.
After, at the end, I wasn’t saying anything I was just reading it.
It makes me mad more than anything.
It sounds like you guys received [criticism] really differently.
You’re kind of unbothered.
Bonnet:Not at all, yeah.
But once we got married, it’s true that everything went away.
You’re so cute.
What has it felt like to take on the new managerial role in Season 5?
Well, Season 6 was stressful.
Season 5, I don’t … That was so long ago.
I don’t think it was that bad; no, it wasn’t bad on Season 5.
Season 6, it got a little rough.
Nothing’s perfect, but it definitely challenged me, and I like a challenge.
Well, we have a lot to look forward to in terms of your leadership.
It seems like you’re doing a great job as far as the audience has seen so far.
Romain, it’s been fun seeing you work with Mary on real estate projects.
What are you working on at the moment?
Fitzgerald:Our house.
Bonnet:Yes before Bali.
Fitzgerald:We were killing ourselves.
Bonnet:[I was] sleeping and working at the same time.
No, that was brutal.
That wasn’t healthy.
But I’ve done most of the work that I wanted to be done that was necessary.
Otherwise, we are working on the new Oppenheim office.
Fitzgerald:Our new office.
Bonnet:He is going to have a new office at some point, maybe even more.
Jason’s going to move in soon.
Congratulations on the next place.I’m excited to see what hasn’t been revealed.
I’m glad that you guys are going to get to see a little bit more.
Was it difficult to have that fertility journey talked about on the show?
Fitzgerald:No, I don’t think so.
It was difficult to have it fail.
Bonnet:We don’t like failure.
Fitzgerald:I don’t like to fail, so I didn’t anticipate that.
It came as a shock to me, and that was difficult.
Everyone’s winning a little bit later in life.
Most of the time, it’s in your forties.
I felt like with my platform, it’s the right thing to do.
I don’t care about talking about it.
It is what it is.
Fitzgerald:They don’t think that it’s urgent, because I didn’t think it was urgent.
When I tested and did my fertility testing two or three years ago?
Bonnet:Season 4, probably.
But [she was] close to being 40.
Then when she went, they were saying that she was off the chart still.
Fitzgerald:Back then … but it was only a couple of years.
They did tell me that once you hit 40, it halves.
Every year, your fertility halves.
I was like, “Oh, I’ve still got time.”
Because I was so fertile at that point, they were not lying.
It definitely took a dive.
If I would’ve known …
I froze egg embryos a long time ago with my ex.
I was like, “Dude, I could have had 30-year-old eggs.”
That would’ve been amazing.
Now I’m struggling for it, but we’re trying naturally now.
Bonnet:We’ll see.
We tried once; it didn’t work.
Fitzgerald:We just started trying to do it naturally.
Bonnet:We might have made a
Fitzgerald:A little Bali baby?
Bonnet:A Bali baby.
Did that add some extra pressure, or was it more exciting?
Fitzgerald:It did.
Well, not pressure but it added more complications.
You have count everything you need, and you want to make it …
There’s stuff that you want to be more careful of.
Fitzgerald:There are filming restrictions.
Our first venue fell through because of restrictions with production and the venue.
The venue wanted a bunch of stuff, and Netflix was like, “No.”
We couldn’t do that one, and we’d already planned everything for it.
We got our second venue, and the couple [who owned it] got divorced.
Bonnet:They were getting divorced.
Fitzgerald:Then they were like, “We don’t want a wedding here.”
But we [had] to change that.
You had to double-check that we have the space for everyone and then them and a private room.
Fitzgerald:It turned out really well because it was my dream venue.
If I didn’t already have mine, I would totally want to do it here.”
Then ours fell through.
That’s when we were like, “Okay.”
Bonnet:Was it you or was it Jason [Oppenheim] that said that you should ask?
Fitzgerald:Jason said we should ask.
I wouldn’t have asked.
I’m way too polite for that.
I’m not going to mess up my listing.
Jason’s like, “No, I don’t care.
I’ll ask him.”
Bonnet:You sold it on your day.
Fitzgerald:I did promise him.
I was like, “I will not let this get in the way.”
Bonnet:What could have happened better?
You have pictures; you have everything.
But to be able to … Fitzgerald:You feel it again.
Bonnet:It’s so nice to be able to see it as a movie.
It’s pretty great.
Fitzgerald:I felt sorry for my dad because he’s not a big city guy.
He is a small town, country, very quiet person.
Because he was not liking all the cameras and all the people and everything.
He was like, “Get me out of here.”
He’s like, “I’m only doing this for you, babe.
I love you, but I would never do this ever again.”
I really appreciated him being there and doing that because that’s his worst nightmare.
Can you tell us anything about the new season?
Romain Bonnet:New cast.
That’s a big change.
Mary Fitzgerald:We have two new cast members.
There’s no shortage of drama.
If you could be on any other reality show, which one would it be?
Fitzgerald:I would do something …
I would do some sort of a travel show.
Bonnet:Yes travel the world.
That’s a done deal.
We’d sign it.
Bonnet:I don’t even need villas.
I just want to travel the world [and] meet people.
Fitzgerald:There has to be a point.
Bonnet:Okay, fine.
But what I’m saying is I don’t even need to have a villa.
I can go and
Fitzgerald:Go show villas.
There has to be a point to a show for a spin-off.
Bonnet:No, just show people what is good to see in each city of the world.
It could be like “House Hunters International.”
Fitzgerald:We’ll give it some more thought.
Bonnet:Whatever it is, I’m signing up to travel the world.
Fitzgerald:You’re ready to go.
Bonnet:We love traveling so much and meeting people, new cultures and foods and everything.
It’s so fun.
Fitzgerald:I want to move every time I go someplace.
Bonnet:She wants to buy something in Bali right now.
Fitzgerald:I’m British, I’m … Every place I go.
I go there and I love every single culture in every place I go to.
I don’t know how long.
Maybe in the spring?
I’m not sure.
The first five seasons of “Selling Sunset” are available to watch on Netflix.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
