Yahoo Movies Who is Peter Cornell? Meet The Man Behind The 'Selling Sunset' Love Triangle
If you inhaled Selling Sunset season 4 as quickly as I did you likely have one question on your mind: Who the hell is this supposed ex of both Emma Hernan and Christine Quinn?
Gather 'round, Selling Sunset fans, because I have the tea.
Who is Peter Cornell?
Peter Cornell, 45, is a professional basketball player turned—you guessed it—realtor! A source told Us Weekly that Peter, who it should be noted is 6’ 11” tall, is the man at the center of the drama in season 4. And after a thorough background check (a.k.a Internet stalking) I can see why!
After attending high school in Piedmont, California (which is about 20 minutes from San Francisco) Peter took his talents to Loyola Marymount University in sunny Los Angeles. He had a full ride to the school to play basketball. After his graduation in 1998 he played for more than 30 teams, 15 leagues, and seven countries, Peter said on this episode of a podcast called Lost Lakers, which I honestly somewhat enjoyed, despite having n0 interest in basketball. Anyway, Peter did training camp with the Lakers. And overall, he seemed to have a good sense of humor about his career, which seems pretty chaotic! (He played for 12 years, but 30 teams still seem like a lot...more than two a year!)
Peter worked as an NBA Player Agent.
After retiring from basketball in 2011, Peter worked as a player agent and negotiated basketball and marketing contracts for players.
He is also an NBA record holder. “I am the player to have signed more than four NBA contracts, but never appear in a regular-season game in the NBA,” he said on the podcast. (Peter signed six contracts, for the record. I did my homework.)
He was on Million Dollar Listing.
Peter is not a total stranger to reality television himself. In 2015, he appeared on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, representing none other than one-time Mr. Kimberly Kardashian, Kris Humphries. (He later sold that home for $8.25 million no less, $2 million more than what Kris bought it for).
Peter works for the Oppenheim Group and comes from a 'prominent' real estate family.
Much like my beloved stiletto and design-wearing, rosé-sipping, mansion-selling ladies of Selling Sunset Peter also works for the Oppenheim Group and has been there since 2015. Peter works as a realtor and is the director of the sports and entertainment division. His bio on the firm's website also notes he is a part of a "prominent" San Francisco real estate family.
Peter sells, like the rest of the O Group, sells gigantic multi-million dollar homes. A quick scan of Peter's listings on Zillow reveals all sorts of houses where Peter represents buyers and sellers in the Golden State.
Peter dated both Christine and Emma.
While it's true that Peter dated two of my favorite blondes, it's important to take note of when. Take out your notepads, because this is where the web gets complicated. These relationships happened approximately five years prior to filming—so we’re talking 2016.
“When you watch the show, you need to pay very close attention to the timeline,” Emma told Women's Health in an interview. Christine’s version of events just doesn’t add up, per Emma.
Christine, 33, maintains that she was engaged to Peter when she found him walking and holding hands with Emma. And, she tells season 4 newcomer Vanessa Villela at lunch (while dressed in a head-to-toe Versace) that the end of her friendship with Mary Fitzgerald was caused by her closeness to Chrishell Stause, which we all saw play out in other seasons. But also because of Emma. Dun dun dunnn. (Mary and Christine were famously besties in season 1, but their relationship soured in later seasons. Mary even claims that Christine refused a baby gift from her. Drama!)
“[Mary] actually became really close to someone who I really didn’t expect her to be close to me,” she told Vanessa, before laying out the Christine Quinn version of events. “Long story. My ex-boyfriend was dating this girl at the same time he was dating me. I had no idea. I caught him red-handed during the day with her. So we broke up and Mary started becoming really close with her.” Christine says in confessionals she doesn’t really want to dig up all of this stuff from years ago, especially when she is married and has a new baby. And yet...she continues to talk about it for the whole season. Noted!
Who is Emma?
Emma, 30, is also a member of the O Group who came on full-time during Christine’s pregnancy leave. She even sits at Christine’s desk, and if you’ve seen Christine for more than 30 seconds on the show, you know how well (or truly unwell) she took this news.
When she is not selling multi-million dollar listings, this Boston-native also founded a frozen food company called Emma Leigh & Co. during the pandemic. The plant-based frozen food company is best known for its vegan empanadas. Now, Emma remembers this run-in with Christine quite differently. For those of you keeping notes, this run-in supposedly happened in March 2016.
“I found out about [Christine] the day that I met her. It was not pleasant,” Emma said 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 eff is this?’ and started screaming, ‘This is my boyfriend.’ I rolled down my window and she started screaming bloody murder. She was nothing but a nightmare for me.”
Who was engaged and when?
During a truly fascinating interaction at a lavish party for Mary and Jason’s dogs, Zelda and Niko, Christine drops a shocking piece of information. She was engaged to Peter in January 2016 (or was she! I honestly still don’t know).
“I was with him for two and a half years, he proposed to me!” said Christine, who claims he proposed to her two months before this altercation with Emma. “He said I was the only person he had ever proposed to.”
In her confessionals, Emma breaks it down for viewers: “Everything that is coming out of her mouth is bullshit.”
She tells Christine that this is the first she is hearing of it and that Mary and the brothers Oppenheim all confirmed Peter and Christine were over at the time of their new romance. He even asked his coworkers for advice picking out Emma's ring. Meanwhile, Mary who lived with Christine at the time said there was no engagement.
What do they say about it now?
In interviews after the release of the season, Christine says she doesn't really care about the drama but brought it up to make for fodder for a good season: “Part of being on a reality show is you have to talk about things that you wouldn’t necessarily even give a s--t about in real life, but that’s just the way that it is,” the star told Page Six.
Emma said she and her ex are on good terms—but ultimately they just weren't the right match. "I came to this with facts and openness, and I know the viewers will appreciate that," she said. "I am real."
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