Kriti Mehrotra
From the moment former soap star Vanessa Villela joined the cast of Netflix’s ‘Selling Sunset‘ in season 4, she surprisingly fit right in with her fellow real estate agents at The Oppenheim Group. After all, she has always tried her best to stay in a neutral territory by simply supporting the women (no matter how dramatic) in every possible setting, which has genuinely made her a fan favorite. As Vanessa didn’t have a significant role in season 5 and even contemplated giving everything up to be with her partner, many fans began wondering about her future on the show. So, let’s find out where she stands today, shall we?
What Happened to Vanessa Villela?
Mexican-American telenovela star turned realtor Vanessa Villela first stepped into the world of properties owing to her late sister Jackie (who was a realtor), yet she continued to be a part of it because it soon evolved into her passion. The luxury, the aesthetics, and the aspect of helping others essentially caused her to fall in love with the field, even though her lack of experience made things quite difficult in the early years. With that said, Vanessa made up for it with her extensive knowledge as well as her warm personality, which enabled her to establish a name for herself in more ways than one in California.
However, by Fall 2021, Vanessa began to feel conflicted between her personal and professional life since her man Nick Hardy — better known as Tom Fraud for his work as a photographer — is based in London. It was getting too difficult for the pair to maintain their long-distance relationship despite their constant communication and frequent trips to see each other, especially as they’d not only fallen hard but knew they were perfect together. That’s why Vanessa began considering the possibility of leaving her job/life in the US to travel with her love, an idea that only intensified once he gave her a promise ring.
Is Vanessa Villela Leaving Selling Sunset?
The finale of ‘Selling Sunset’ season 5 depicted Vanessa Villela at the airport, getting ready to board an international flight to see Nick. But from what we can tell, she hasn’t left the elite brokerage firm or the series. As per The Oppenheim Group’s official website, she is still a realtor associate at the agency while also supporting an animal welfare fund and a spiritual organization in California. In other words, the former telenovela star’s journey to Britain for the love of her life was like a vacation of sorts — Vanessa still resides in Los Angeles with seemingly no plans of saying goodbye anytime soon.
Nick has since proposed to Vanessa — at The City of Angels’ Griffith Observatory at sunset in late January 2022 — but it doesn’t seem like they’ve decided on a place to settle down just yet. Though, as of writing, they appear happier than ever simply to be strengthing their relationship by spending some quality time together through travels, which is honestly all that matters. That’s to say, Vanessa currently looks to be focusing on juggling both her personal and professional life rather than picking one over the other.
Coming to why Vanessa was missing from the Netflix original for a good portion of season 5, we have learned that it’s because she was severely ill and simply couldn’t get in front of the cameras, nothing else. “Out of 11 weeks of filming, I was sick for five,” she told Page Six. “I got COVID in August and we started filming right in that moment, so obviously they couldn’t wait for me… I have [a hormonal imbalance] and I have other imbalances. My vitamin D is super low. My calcium is super low. My lithium mineral is super low,” which further affected Vanessa’s health, but she seems okay now.
Read More: Is Maya Vander Leaving Selling Sunset?
