Prior to his divorce from Chrishell Stause, Justin Hartley’s Selling Sunset appearance never happened. Fans of the This Is Us star, 43, and his then-wife, 39, were often curious as to why he never once joined Chrishell on an episode of her Netflix reality TV series. Chrishell’s private relationship was a bit of an anomaly compared to some of her castmates, whose partners made the occasional appearance on the show. And while it’s one thing to avoid the spotlight if you’re not already a celebrity, Justin’s superstar-status had viewers questioning why he’d feel so camera shy. Turns out, the decision might’ve been a technicality.

“I think it was just contractual,” revealed Selling Sunset creator, Adam DiVello, in an interview with Variety on Thursday, August 20. “We certainly asked many, many times. I think it was just his contract with NBC.”

But despite never being present physically on the show, Justin became a major subject of Selling Sunset season 3 following his divorce from Chrishell after two years of marriage. The Passions alum filed for divorce in November 2019 and reportedly informed Chrishell of the decision over text. “He texted me that we were filed,” she said tearfully in an episode of Selling Sunset, “Forty-five minutes later the world knew.” Justin cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their divorce, and reportedly listed the date of separation as July 8, 2019—an entire four months before Chrishell was “blindsided” by the news just three weeks before filming wrapped on Selling Sunset.

In May, the Selling Sunset star told STYLECASTER that going through her divorce during these final weeks of shooting was “the most bizarre thing I’d ever lived through in my life. Even now, when I look back on it, it seemed like it was a dream. A nightmare, to be honest.”

Netflix.

The All My Children actress added at the time, “If I’m being perfectly honest, my knee-jerk reaction was I can’t do this. [Quitting the show] did cross my mind. This isn’t something that anybody would sign up for or do on purpose. I would’ve given anything if everything had happened after. It’s a lot easier to talk about a little blurb and move on and just talk about the show. However, that being said, it was out there anyways, so now it’s almost like ripping a Band-Aid off.”

It’s only a matter of time before we continue to learn more about led to the end of Chrishell and Justin’s relationship. In the meantime, fans are watching Justin’s new relationship with former The Young and The Restless co-star, Sofia Pernas, closely. Justin and Sofia all but confirmed their relationship in August 2020 after posting matching photos on Instagram. The pair were first linked in May 2020 after being spotted kissing in public. And while he seems to be moving on, it’s clear that his ex is still on his mind. According to a source with Us Weekly, the actor was “irritated that [Chrishell’s] airing their private information publicly,” on Selling Sunset. Needless to say, there’s a part of him that still cares.