Selling Sunset‘s mystery man has been revealed. The fourth season of Netflix’s real estate reality show featured Christine Quinn and newcomer Emma Hernan arguing about a mutual ex-boyfriend, and Us Weekly can exclusively reveal his identity.
A source close to the cast tells Us that Peter Cornell, a fellow realtor as well as the director of the sports and entertainment division of The Oppenheim Group, is the man that dated the real estate agents.
In Selling Sunset season 4, Hernan, 30, was introduced as Quinn, 33, took time off to have her baby, Christian, now 6 months. Hernan hadn’t previously been onscreen, but she has been with The Oppenheim Group for years. The Emma-Leigh & Co founder took on some of Christine’s workload while she was on maternity leave, but viewers learn that they share more than just business.
They allegedly dated Cornell, 45, at the same time several years ago, and Quinn claims they were engaged months before he proposed to Hernan.
“I found out about [Christine] the day that I met her. It was not pleasant,” the Boston native recalled on the show. “I was leaving the gym with who I thought was my boyfriend and she pulled up with her friend and was like ‘Who the f–k’ is this?’ and started screaming ‘This is my boyfriend.'”
Quinn, however, called it a “long story” before giving the short version. “My ex-boyfriend was dating this girl at the same time he was dating me,” she explained. “I had no idea. I caught him red-handed during the day with her. So we broke up.”
Cornell, a Loyola Marymount University alum, is a third generation real estate agent, but before selling property, he played professional basketball. He was in the NBA with the Lakers before playing for several overseas teams. He retired from the sport in 2009 after a decade on the court.
Photos seem to indicate he dated Quinn in February 2015. They attended the Hot Tub Time Machine 2 premiere in Los Angeles together, and they looked cozy on the red carpet. Quinn (who went by Christine Bently at the time) wore a skintight red latex dress while Cornell wore a grey suit.
The former models had some disagreements about their engagements to Cornell on Selling Sunset. While Hernan believed she was the first woman Cornell proposed to, Quinn claimed she was secretly engaged to him months earlier — and she only told Davina Potratz. However, Davina wasn’t actually working with the women at the time and hadn’t met the Dallas native yet.
The How to Be a Boss Bitch author claimed that her real issue was with Mary Fitzgerald, her former BFF. Quinn was unaware that Hernan and Fitzgerald were still close.
“I know this happened years and years ago, but this is all coming back to life now because I wasn’t aware Mary continued her friendship with Emma after the cheating came out,” the Christine Quinn x Shoedazzle collection designer shared.
Fitzgerald, 40, believes there was not overlap with Cornell’s relationships.
As the past kept coming up, it was eventually revealed that Heather Rae Young, who married Tarek El Moussa earlier this month, was also involved with Cornell. She made it clear that it was a brief fling. “It wasn’t even a boyfriend, it was so short-lived,” she said in season 4.
Hernan recently told Cosmopolitan that she tried to just be herself in the face of past drama resurfacing throughout her first year on Selling Sunset. “I stay true to who I am and I definitely try to take the high road with everything in life,” the realtor associate told Cosmopolitan of their feud. “And I mean, you’ll definitely see that play out. Just pay very close attention to the facts.”
Quinn, meanwhile, claimed she didn’t care much at all about their shared history in a Wednesday, November 24, interview with The Cut, but as the show’s villain, she understands that Netflix needs the drama.
“I played ball, I was willing to play the game,” she said. “They’re trying for a story line, and bless their hearts. Do you think I want to sit there and talk about a relationship from 10 years ago? No, but I want to give people what they want.”
