On Display with Melissa Gorga - How To Sell The City (w/ Eleonora Srugo)

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

Star of Netflix's Selling the City Eleonora Srugo chats with Melissa about the casting process for the show, her falling out with Jade Chan, why Steve Gold is such great eye candy, the crazy real estate market in Manhattan, the sacrifices she made in her social life to get where she is, and dating life in the city! We have deals for you!! Naked Wines: Get 6 bottles for $39.99 with shipping included at NakedWines.com/melissa - click Enter Voucher and use code MELISSA for both the code and password! Orgain: Want more protein? Go to Orgain.com/ondisplay and use code ONDISPLAY for 30% off your order! AquaTru: Stay hydrated! Get 20% off any AquaTru purifier with code MELISSA at AquaTru.com  Apartments.com: Need a place? Head to Apartments.com - THE place to find a place! Booking.com: Traveling? Head to Booking.com - Booking dot YEAH!

I don't feel comfortable doing that when cameras are on. And certainly there's no amount of alcohol that could get me there. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! excited to talk to you guys today. I hope you guys are somehow trying to enjoy like the mid winter freezing situation going on here in the East Coast. But I have an awesome Titan in the East Coast real estate game today. And you can now see her on her brand new show selling the city where she and her team list and sell some of the most insane properties in New York City. Please welcome Eleanor Ceruvio on the show today. Hey, girlfriend.

You've been on this whole journey with me. Wait, I really have. I feel like like so guys, for those of you who don't know, me and Eleanor have known each other for years. I feel like, right, we've been to fashion weeks together. We've been we've had dinners, we've had parties, we've done lots of things together. Before any of this even happened. So then Netflix came calling and here we are when I needed glam, right? Like basically everything, every tip, every piece of advice for the show. So yeah.

You know what? I love that you guys did an interview with page six and you guys said like all the good glam comes from Jersey, which is true, right? They do the best glam in Jersey. I literally see who did your glam, right? And I asked you about so many people. And then also just like I get my lashes done in Jersey. I mean everything, right? Like my lashes, my blushing. Well you guys have like a Jersey girl vibe to all of you. I just feel like you guys,

you could jump right on the Jersey housewives, all of you, and you would mesh just fine with all of us. That's what I feel like too. I mean, do people say that to you? I mean, that would be an honor. I would love to. I'm like such a, I'm a New Yorker. If I ever did Housewives Jersey are like, obviously,

cause I know you, but I also think that Jersey is the most fun and the best show. Yeah, I guess, I don't know. Could I be a Jersey Housewife? I like Jersey guys. So I hope to one day be a Jersey Housewife, maybe on the weekends. There you go.

I feel like every guy you dated is from Jersey. Every with all the ones you told me about are mainly all from Jersey. Yeah, I've done South Central and North Jersey. So crazy, crazy. Well, I want to talk to you a little bit about the TV world. And then we'll get into a little more of your personal life. I want to say, and I'm not just blowing smoke. We all got sprinkle cookies last week.

They're absolutely incredible. Really not just saying that they changed the game. I don't like, I'm not like loving going here as a cookie connoisseur. These are excellent, excellent cookies. They're delicious, they're cute, they're soft, they've got a bite on the outside. They're actually fantastic.

I had to send my real estate girls in the city some Galentine's cookies. You guys are so cute and you post the cutest like girl photos. I'm like, oh no, they need the Galentine's Day cookies. Honestly, like we need quick client closing gifts, holiday gifts. Like it was easy. It's great. Thank you. Yeah.

You know what? You would die, Eleanor. It's so funny how many people are sending them as gifts. Like 90% of them are gifts to other people with the funniest, cutest little messages. They're really great. So, but thank you for saying that. Okay. So you like, you need to tell me like since joining the TV world, obviously you and I've been friends and I feel like you are one of those girls for people who don't know you. Like you know everyone. Like you know everyone. You're five degrees separation from anyone I know. You're like, oh, I know this one or I know that one. You're just that girl. And I feel like that's, that's what makes the best real estate agent, by the way, somebody who has a little black book, someone who has contacts,

someone who networks. And I just feel like you are fantastic at that. Have you always just been a networker? Is that your thing? So funny. I was like, actually, when I was a very young girl, I was like, sort of shy. I was weird. I think my parents were like Israeli. They dressed me funny. I was like not the most social. But like once it broke broke and I realized like how to do it. I just, I got good at it. Like it was so, I don't know. Once I realized that like, you just need to connect with someone a little, and then you

like become cool and popular. It sort of just became, I was like, Oh, this is it. Like I grew up, I grew up in Soho, which was like not a cool neighborhood initially. And then in 1999, 2000, it completely evolved, right? Like the Prada store suddenly opened and the Apple store. And so this like neighborhood that had been traditionally known for artists was suddenly like a retail hotspot. So suddenly like I lived in a cool place and my mom was like, you have no friends. Like why don't you tell people to come over?

And like suddenly, like after school, I would tell people to come over. And then like my I lived in a loft and so on was like the coolest place to be like that's where you'd go on the weekends. And then suddenly, you know, just easy to be cool. You have people over you hang out with them, like, your parents aren't home. And, and I was like, Okay, like you can adapt and sort of build your own network, right? I didn't I wasn't born privileged, but I realized that like there are skills that allow you to connect with people and these are actually skills that like inherently are given to like kids who go to prep schools or day schools or private schools, but like you know For us sort of more inner city kids or publics you have to like learn it

But once you learn it was great and then yeah, that's like what the city is all about. I always say like, the best thing about living in New York is that like, and this doesn't exist for anywhere else in the world is you can live in a shitty studio, an hour and a half outside of the city, but still be at the same party with the person who has a hundred million dollar apartment on Central Park South. Which is the best part of Manhattan, right? Like that's, isn't that insane? I feel like a lot of people don't realize that you literally are, you grew up in Manhattan. Like that's where you grew up. That's your last name though. Okay. So explain to

me why, like if I say Eleonora, your last name is, sounds so Italian to me. It's so weird. It is. So like, people don't realize Jews are like the forever refugees were always kicked out of wherever we're from. So like, if you go to like our ancestry, we are we're from the Iberian Peninsula. So like, I always we always thought it was Portugal or Spain, I actually did my 23 and me and it was like, it said Italian. But then in the Spanish Inquisition, like we were kicked out. So they sort of spread to other regions and my family ended up in Syria.

So a lot of the Jews in Syria took these like S sounding names. So those sort of they took whatever names they had and that's how they evolved. Right. Got it. Okay, good. Yeah. Just so we get a little background on you. Did you ever think that this was going to happen like in your real estate world? Like this is

pretty huge to get a show on Netflix. I feel like you have main character energy completely like you're completely the main character on this show. And that's not shade to the other girls. I feel like they're all amazing and everyone plays their part. But how did this work out? I feel like they're all amazing and everyone plays their part. But how did this work out? I feel like you kind of put this together. Is that how this one? Yeah. I had been obviously, I'm in Manhattan, I'm out, I'm social. I know other people who've done shows. It's not like I hadn't been approached. People are always casting. People don't realize

this actually for your show. There's like everyone's now up in arms like Real House Stars of New York is casting. I don't think this actually for your show. There's like, everyone's now up in arms, like, oh, Real Housewives of New York is casting. I don't think people realize they cast every year all the time. There was a right. They always sort of want to see what's out there. Yeah, even from it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Like I was cast on million dollar listing in 2016. They like I went through a whole casting process.

They actually selected me. I filmed for two weeks and then they were like, actually, like, we're gonna just go with like the three guys that we have. So like they're, they're always looking on these shows, right? They're always want to find talent. And yeah, this, I, I did just like, I'm at an age where like any show where I'd have a roommate

didn't make any sense. Like any of the sort of dating shows, you have to go pack your things and live somewhere else. I'm an only child and I've never had a roommate, so I don't think I could share a room with other girls. And I don't date often, so dating is not my strong suit. I don't wanna compete. I can't do any physical shows.

So I really was only interested in the concept of like a real estate show. When Netflix reached out to me, it was so bizarre because usually it's a casting producer. This was a network. So that was sort of odd also. But then yeah, the minute they mentioned Adam de Velo, I was like, okay, that's the guy. I mean, there's no way to ignore the fact that he created shows that were game changing that I grew up on. Did he produce the hills? Yeah, he did the hills and the beach. So those, I think that really changed the narrative. Like those were shows, that was the first time the hills where there wasn't a confessional or like an interview in a reality show, right? Where you just sort of like watch

it like you're watching, you know, a TV show and you know, there are obviously a lot of different ideas about what was real, what wasn't but it was obviously was a great story and it resonated with a lot of young women and then selling sunset is probably the biggest franchise on Netflix. So how could I not unscripted franchise so how I could not ignore that and like if if someone who has that kind of vision could give that treatment to New York City that was really special. Adam is actually from Jersey. He is. I'm gonna probably need to call Adam soon too and be like, I'm gonna need a let's go like, selling the shore or something. Yeah, yeah. No, I

mean, maybe not real estate but something else. I watch you guys. I'm like, I'm just gonna jump on with Eleanora. Like, you know what this whole Bravo thing what's going on over here? These girls are run for their money. I would like if you walked in this office right now, people would get scared. I see them all behind you. They're already wondering what's going on. We would have to. We'd be drinking. I'd be having an espresso martini right now with you because it's 12.30. I know. And it's only because we had a really big important pitch this morning that I really stayed up really late for. And now the rest of the day is sort of,

I get to hang out with you. And then I have a doctor's appointment. So I'm good. I'm like, I'm going to have myself a drink. Yeah, you should have a drink. I swear I'm going to like copy Andy Cohen. Everyone who comes on my show is going to need to have a cocktail on their in their hands suit. You gave me a good idea before when you told when you told your girls to grab you a drink. It's so funny. This podcast is sponsored by Naked Wines. It's 2025, do you still shop for wine like it's 2005? Have you ever wanted to learn more about wine but you cannot figure out where to start?

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If someone doesn't do selling Manhattan, we are missing the boat. I mean, the penthouse is the money. I can look at Manhattan real estate all day long. Even if the cast wasn't interesting, which I think you guys are all special in your own way and awesome. I want to see real estate in Manhattan. It's just, it amazes me. And the prices are just so insane. It's crazy, mind-boggling. I mean, look, I sell it and live it every day. I sell parking

spaces for a million dollars. I sell staff apartments for six to $7 million. We sell cages, like a little three by five storage cage for $40,000. So I know what real estate is here. And he gives it definitely gives it the beauty treatment. It looks incredible on screen. But yeah, I mean, look, I'm not someone who can look at a house. I've seen so many houses on these shows. And to me, it's like they're sort of end up feeling the same. New York City real estate is always going to be different, right? There's like brand new, there's pre-war, there are townhouses, the, you know, water views, park views, city views. It's not just like that same thing. So, so yeah, I think that it was about time for Netflix to like do the show here. I think it made sense. And yeah, I agree with you. I think it's a good cast. We're a smaller cast than some of the other shows, which is nice. And we

had a lot of fun doing it. I hope that we get another chance. We're actually... I'm excited after this. I have two more appointments and then we're flying to LA to see if maybe we'll do something there. I have a big listing that I'm bringing to market and on the West Coast. Maybe a little crossover action with the selling sunset crew. We're definitely in a dinner with them. So we'll see how that goes. Have you met any of the selling sunset cast yet? Have you met any of them? Um, Brent and Jason, like very coincidental. I, at the time that I met them, I hadn't,

we hadn't been green. We'd shot a sizzle. We, I'd already been talking to Adam for like a year and a half, but we hadn't gotten the official green light from Netflix on the show. But I was randomly just at Craig's with a girlfriend and like they were at a table next to me and we all started chatting and I didn't know if I should mention to them or not mention to them. But we hung out, we had a great night and then I texted Adam. Adam was like, yes, of course you can. And that was it. And they became great friends and like really supportive of this whole process. I kind of love that our Bravo, our fellow Bravo castmate, Steve Gold kind of did a little, a little jump over to Netflix with you guys. Tell me about your relationship with Steve and how he got, how did he get involved with

all this? Steve is amazing. Steve is actually the only one that's not at our company. So it was sort of like, we didn't know how to like really get Steve on the show, but we wanted him on the show. Steve aside from Bravo, like in the real world is a very respected and gracious broker. We all like him. We like working with him. But his story has really changed since his days on Bravo. He started that show single and fun and building his business and then ended it

with a fiance. He fell in love quickly. And I think that's around the time that the show was put on pause. And now he really has become like a family man, right? He has an incredible strong wife who I love and I hope that we get to see more of her if we get a season two. He has two daughters and he lives part time in the suburbs, part of the time in the city. And he has an incredible team and he represents some of the biggest new developments in the city. So I think he had like more of a story to tell, like he wanted to tell the other side of it.

And yeah, and that's it. And he knew Adam. And so we just tried to figure out like he's a good friend. We have a long history with him. So it made sense, but there's definitely like an educational component to the show because the other selling shows like you just watch and it's just like the one team. Our show has like my team that it has like Steve as a character, you know, Justin is an old friend, Jade is sort of like a new development person. It gives you a more broader ecosystem of the real estate world.

For sure. I also laugh by the way, every time Steve's scenes come on, it's like, sure, it's muscles, it's chest hair. It's not just chest hair, it's like lower stomach hair. You know what's funny? Yeah, he was down. I mean, I actually love this show because the men like got more into it than the men take their clothes off more than the women.

They do. They're showing them as the sexy, I guess they know that women are watching this show and women need eye candy. So I think it's very smart on the producer's behalf. And I'm like, look at this. Every time Steve's in the scene, he's like, psh. But I love Steve for doing it too.

That's amazing. He came, his opening scene, he's like, but I love for doing it too. Like, that's amazing. He came his opening scene. He's like, I'm calling him. He's like getting out of the shower. It's like pick up my yes, yes, yes. Like you see the right the body here the like little happy trail and the happy trail the wrap the towel. I'm like, what is happening? This is Netflix for real. They're giving us like the other day I was like re watching the show and I was like, he did all'm like, what is happening? This is Netflix for real. They're giving us like, the other day, I was like, re watching the show. And I was like, he did all that, like, obviously, it's TV magic. But I

was like, he was I call, I'm like, I'm like, Siri, call Steve Gold. And then he's like, it's like, he's in the shower. Then he like, gets out, puts his watch on, puts his shirt on, dries off. I'm like, all that happens. And then he picks up the gets his coffee. And then he's like, Hey, isn't that amazing how TV works? Like, boy, that is I think that's the exact scene that I'm talking about. Because I'm like, Wow, like, what was that we watched him glide the watch on it was like watching a five second monologue of him modeling. And then it went back to Hello, Eleanor,

how are you? Right? So now he's like, got this Hugo Boss campaign he's posting about on Instagram. So he's working it. He looks great. He can, by the way, he shows that you can do both. You can be really smart and respected, and you can be a father who's committed and loyal and also have sex appeal. And then yes, the other scene is that he like played basketball with Justin, with the other guy on the show, which was great. Cause neither of them are really basketball players. They both kind of suck, but they were like, let's do it. Like let's give like a New York, like street basketball scene. And they both like took their shirts off and like one on one.

They're just giving the girls what they need. They're giving the girl, and I love his wife. She's so sweet. Are they married? I can't even remember. They are married. Yes. I love her.

She's sweet. We've had dinner with her before. She's great. She's great. You sold a listing for $75 million. Is that correct? Am I right on that? And that was what? A couple years ago? It was not like a year and a half, a year and two months ago. And I was technically at the end of 2023. And it was at a time when like the market wasn't great in New York and people were still like there was a perception that people were moving to Miami. It's not the highest sale that ever existed in New York. It's one of the highest price per square foot sales. So on that basis, and it was yeah, I mean, it's a big number. So it's like exciting to talk about, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I've sold many other nice apart 10, 15, 27, 34.

There've been other big numbers, but yeah, this one definitely pushed the limits. And honestly, you go into it, you never know. You just go and look to find your buyer, the best apartment for them. And what I said in that first episode is like, you don't really look at the commission at those price points, like who cares, right? Yes. Like it's going to be good no matter what. And that's it. And you try to find them the best fit and good value and know that you can get them out of it. So that's like the most important thing to

me is that like, I know that that apartment is probably worth more today. So those are exciting. That's what makes it exciting. That's what pushes the buyers. Was that, that was an apartment? It was a $75 million apartment for like one human? Yes, essentially. But yeah, it's a great, yeah. I would say this, it's a great apartment. I think people neglect to talk about the fact that we buy apartments and there's great amenities like a doorman sometimes there's a building restaurant or infrared sauna steam and all of that. But like really people are also buying community. Like there are all these private clubs exist now in New York, Casa Chebriani, Shea Margot, but like your building where you own is also a version of a private club. Those are the original private clubs in Manhattan.

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it anywhere else? Like, what do you think it is? One, there's a very high price point. People in New York are still traditionally renters. 70% of the people here are renting. It's not you can be a first time home buyer anywhere else at a way lower barrier to entry. Here it's just harder. It's also a city that's dominated by real estate.

Like you know, whereas DC is politics and LA is entertainment. In New York City, everyone is related to real estate or finance in some ways. So they're much more informed. Like this is our, whereas in LA people read like Hollywood Reporter and Variety, like our trade is real estate. We read the real estate section here. So everyone is sort of invested in it anyway. It's, that's what, that's what sort of dominates the city. That's, you know, the empire is Rockefeller, Astor. They built it on, these are real estate empires that all started here.

So those, those two things, and then separately, like in today's world, New York City is now the secondary home capital of the world. It's the most international city that exists. So, you know, if you are new wealth and a lot of by the way, there's so much new wealth that was created over the pandemic, whether it was like in crypto or, you know, healthcare, I mean, there's so many, but all of those people who live in, even if they do live in Miami or Dubai or Singapore or London, they do want to still have a piece of New York. So, there are a lot of people that want to have a pied-a-terre, a second home in the city. Yeah. I feel like everyone wants, the goal for a lot of people is to have the house somewhere else, Miami, the Hamptons here, that whatever, but they want that pent a lot of people is to have like the house somewhere else,

Miami, the Hamptons here, that whatever, but they want that penthouse in New York just to have like that home base in New York City. Yeah, always. You know, I tell Joe that all the time for me. I'm like, I need my house at the Jersey Shore. Like you know, once all my kids are off, they're not, I'm not there yet, but I want my house at the Jersey Shore. I want a house in the Hamptons and I want a penthouse in the city. That's what I want.

So many New Yorkers who've left and go to Miami, they don't want to stay there from Miami. You still want to say you're from New York, right? You still want to have your place here. No, you need to be a New Yorker at heart. There's just something about it. How's the market right now? Any updates? Anything new happening? Are like things moving? Is it easier or harder right now? It's a weird market, but I'm actually like very optimistic and very bullish about New York. I think that like 22 through 24, we're not great. But now we still have low inventory. What's beautiful about this market is that Manhattan is still an island. So there's like

a limited inventory. It always sort of corrects itself. Like you'll never, there'll never be a drastic collapse or anything. It's generally will always appreciate because like there's really nowhere to go. But now like this particular time, I think there's an expectation rates are still high, higher than average, but there's an expectation that they're not going to go up if anything will go down. I think there's like a new administration, which makes things always exciting. Markets have been doing well, not a lot of inventory. I think it like leads to 2025 being a really good year in New York and like big projects coming here. The only thing I'll say is that we have, we locally have a mayoral race coming up, which in New York City, historically is a circus. You know, like we've had everything in the mayoral race. Like we've had

candidates like busted for being with hookers and Yes. Candidates jumping parties, mid-election. Like this is the craziest local election in the country, I think. And so we're getting into that. So I think the next like five months will be kind of funny, but I do overall, I think 25 will be a great year. You've actually introduced me to the mayor of New York. You're friendly with him and you've known him for quite a while too, right?

I knew him before he was mayor. Got it, yes. He was so fun, he's nice guy, he's really a nice guy. He's fun, he's charismatic, he's sort of, you know, yeah, he's fine. He's great. I mean, it's cool. He's like a real after we had to we had many years of having a mayor here who was from Boston, who like basically no one liked. I mean, he had, you know, it's no secret, forget his approval ratings on his policies. Like people just like didn't even like love him so much as a person. Like he wasn't, you know, he didn't feel it didn't feel like he represented New York. He ate remember he ate a

pizza with a fork and knife. Yes. Now you got to fold the slice and the oil needs to drip down your mouth. That was offensive to New Yorkers that he was like a Red Sox fan eating pizza with a fork. So after that, it was I think very important to have like a very, what people perceive to be like a cool native New Yorker, like one of us kind of mayor. Right, right, right. All right. Well, let me get back to Selling the City for a second. Did the drama make you uncomfortable?

Like when it came to arguing with the other girls? Because obviously these shows, this is how it goes, right? Like you, you know, you know the game, you've known me for a while, you know, we want to see the real estate we want, but we also need like a little bit of drama. Did that part, it looks to me like you do not want to argue. Like you're not, you don't want to be part of the drama. Am I right on that? As much as I love watching TV where like you get up and hit the table or a fork is thrown, you know, I don't feel comfortable doing that when cameras are on. And certainly there's no amount of

alcohol that could get me there. I there was no way I mean, I hopefully this is not that show there is a professional even though this is a show about our personal lives, like there's a professional element to the show, it still shows what I do and I anticipated that people that I work with and clients would watch it. I also have a mother that was like a single mom who came to New York with nothing and worked really hard to give me every opportunity. Like I try not to conduct myself in a way that embarrasses her in my real life, let alone do it on international television. And like, you've done a great job of this. You've been on a show that's like entertaining and you've not take, you know, you can, you can handle conflict without

taking the bait. I said to the other girls on my team, like there is a way for women to handle conflict without using words that are sort of platitudes. Like we don't need to go at each other and say that like you're psycho or crazy or delusional or aggressive or nasty. Like we can specifically say what bothered us without going to like that. Right? Like those are just like big generalizations that people take personally and then they escalate a situation. And that's like actually the perfect way to say it because it's those couple words that

you just said that when people are mad, they just throw that out there and that's where it gets messy. Yes, because then like you're not talking about the one specific fight anymore. You've just made it so much bigger. And so for me, like that first episode, when my friend asked me like, why are you being nasty? I immediately was like, I have to get up and leave because I can't, like, unless she's willing to specifically tell me what I did that upset her. So I said, like, what did I do? Like, I called you a bunch. Well, you didn't you called me once

and I didn't answer like we can talk, you know, there are ways to like specifically address conflict. And I think that generally is like women, if we can handle conflict better and deal with it and move on, a la the way men just like slap each other around and then get over it, then like we would be the most powerful people in the world. But yeah, certainly. And I also just like at this point, don't appreciate I'm a strong woman. I go out in New York.

I've been called, you know, I've been called angry or rude or aggressive. And I just think like, I'm tired. I've heard that before. And like, they don't say it to any guy. Like if a guy, I've seen this, it's like so obvious. I see it like basic restaurants. If you go to dinner and a guy is like, you know, I wanted sparkling, not still. And a woman says the same thing. For some reason, there's like a connotation that she is being difficult. Right. No, you're 100% right about that. Like we're just being whiny and we're complaining and demanding. It's more palatable and acceptable to hear it from men. So anyways, I just, I was

like tired of that storyline. So I just didn't want to go there. So yeah, that was tough for me. And like, I also was, I understand that there is a story to tell. And, and it's not I'm not like, I'm not going to act like I'm immune to it, or I'm a perfect person. I've certainly had like my moments I've, I've broken before, I happen to not do it on camera. But like, you know, I get it, I've been there, I've been upset and riled up, but there was really nothing that felt so important or consequential on the show. Also, career-wise, I've achieved so much. I'm so proud of what I do. There's not much you can say that will rile me up. Like the big accusation was that my listings are fake. I mean, it's just like, how can you? Okay. I don't even know. How could that be? You can't even. How does one could that be you can't even how does one do that?

Exactly, right. How does one do? well you will learn in this world to kind of drown out the noise and that the noise is just that noise and when people are accusing or Assuming or doing any of that you're gonna learn really quick to shake it off and like rise above it or else you'll fall into the sinkhole of like trying to correct yourself, right? Like trying to make everyone believe you. And I always feel like let them think whatever

they're going to think. Like when we start like running around trying to clean things up that aren't even true, it almost makes people look guilty, right? So let them speak. Totally, and at this point, like people have said so much that it doesn't matter. I mean, when I first saw it, I was shocked. I was like, oh my God, they call me a hoe. But it's like, it's fine. You know what it is?

I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but I'm like, it's crazy. Like this is crazy. Yeah, and I think that like you get it. At first you think things are gonna be like so damaging or hurt your your life or your family. But you kind of have to realize that the only people that are saying it are like people have done a lot less, right? No one's punching down. People are only

just trying to level like beat up to you. So like anyone is just like they're they're fishing, they're trying to hook on to something. It's I'm not going to say it's not hurtful, but it doesn't. I've heard it. It's funny. It's like it's like when people used to accuse me of like or suggest that something was going on with the mayor, like I initially took it very personally. And then I was like, okay, maybe I should be flat. You know, it is what it is. You can't, it's only coming, it's not coming from anyone that I like want to meet or be in a room with. It's literally coming from the bottom. Yeah.

And you know your truth. So it is what it is with that. This episode of On Display is brought to you by Booking.com. Booking dot, yeah. Every time I use Booking.com to find a place to stay in the US, I know they'll have exactly what I'm looking for. They have a huge variety of options from hotels to vacation rentals, and I'm always able to find something

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Yeah. There was one girl on the show that you had like a tighter, it seemed like you have a little bit more of a history with, but the two of you were kind of butting heads a little bit along the way. How are you guys right now? We're not talking. I mean, I'm not talking. Oh, no, not at all. So I can ride with her. I actually like her. If you ever met her, you think she's like

fun. She's cool. She's pretty. She presents like the cool girl. I actually like her. If you ever met her, you think she's fun. She's cool. She's pretty. She presents the cool girl. I just don't think she was ready for a reality show. She didn't realize that everything was on the table. She very much separates her personal life, her dating life, didn't want to film in her home. She thought, I think on some level that this was more of a professional only show just like we're going to show ourselves at like showings all the time. And I think that you kind of have to understand that if you go into this genre, like all bets are off, right? Everything is on the table. I've there's there's nothing to hide. At least

on for me. I don't know that I don't know that anything is really sacred. You have to accept that everything can come up. And it will on reality television. It will a thousand. That was Jayden. So I just think she wasn't ready for that. And so instead of when the producer, when she was put in situations,

instead of just like speaking about her own personal feelings, she sort of started to try to tell my story, which I didn't like. And so there were a lot of things that I saw on the show that just like didn't sit well with me, especially as like someone who had given her this platform. I was the one who recommended her to production. I thought she'd be perfect for the show. Don't you love when you recommend someone for a show and then it bites you in the ass?

Isn't that always amazing? I mean, but then, you know, on some level, like, it sucks. You know, it really sucks on a real level, but I actually thought it told a good story. It did tell a good story. And you can see, I kind of enjoyed the fact that there was some history there between the two of you. Yeah, but she like, you know, look,

she spoke about like my sex life or my sexual history in a way that like I was like, it's not so it's not her story to tell you exactly. So that didn't sit well with me. And and more than all of it is that like if we had watched it and she said, you know what, like, I messed up. Like if she had just said to me like, I messed up. I wish I had just said to me like, I messed up. I wish I hadn't done that.

I learned now. It was a learning experience. Like I'd love to come back and talk about myself. If she had on some level really been like, I am so sorry for how this looks. I think we'd be fine today. But since I haven't heard that yet, I'm just sort of like, whatever. Wow. Interesting.

Okay. Well, we'll see how that goes. Season two, season two, we need a season two to the Netflix gods. I want to talk to you. One thing I thought was really interesting was you talked a little bit about like your personal story and how there was a time in life that you didn't feel like an it girl, or you didn't feel like, like, I don't know if you use the word like popular or like you were kind of shy and kind of felt like you didn't have a lot of friends that you told that story on the show.

Basically, to summarize, I was sort of a loser. I got really cool in high school. I was like the girl downtown. I had friends from all different areas. But like, I don't want to say that it felt like I was living a lie. But yeah, I mean, I went to BU, which was a great school, but I was on a $200,000 of debt on student loans, staying out with a bunch of like, wealthier, like Jewish kids from Long Island. And I was playing a part like I worked at Intermix so that I could afford at a discount the same clothing that everyone else did and going to clubs like, And I just got to a place at age 23 where I broke. I was like, I can't keep going to a girl's strip to Miami when I have $30 in my checking account and these girls have daddy's credit card. It just wasn't working for me. None of it. Not the dating, not the socializing. I couldn't be broke, like I didn't like, like, you know, living on someone's

couch. So I literally 23 was like, I'm done, I'm just going to focus on building this career. And I think there are two angles, right? Girls that were in that position, like sometimes they'll like, maybe look for like an outlet, like to get married or have a guy. And that was not me. I need, I needed to do it for myself. So I really just shut off. And I would say for eight years, it's funny, like, even my nightlife friends were like, Where'd you go for that time? But for eight years, it actually was the most freeing thing ever. I didn't care about boys. I didn't care about who texted me. I didn't care how I looked. I got to like, I really

built an amazing career. I built an incredible charity with my mentoring program. I, I incredible charity with my mentoring program. I didn't go to the gym, which was probably a bad thing, but I would go to work and then come home at like nine. I finally made money. I could order whatever food I wanted. It sounds like a great life to me. It sounds nice.

Yeah, you don't care. I mean, it was like, I was like, but I was asexual basically. I mean, I wasn't, I was like, but I was, but I was asexual basically. I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't dating. I wasn't drinking. I wasn't hooking up, but I was building a very different network. You know, I was so, and I didn't have relationships with other women. I had like basically two gay friends in my life and like, which we were more aligned

because they also like didn't have the pressure of a timeline to get married or have children. But I built this whole career. And then it really was like after I turned 30 or 31. And I was like, okay, wait, like I need to maybe think about a future here, because this does look funny. Like I've now established myself. I'm respected in my industry. I have a lot of clients, but I don't feel good about myself.

I don't love how I look. You know, if a guy even like looked at me, I wasn't ready for that yet. So I, yeah, so then I started to like shift. I was like, okay, I need to like join a gym again. I can like maybe go to instead of going to the office like eight, I can go at like 930 and I can work out. And then I started to, and then I was like, wow, this actually feeling good and looking good feels like, is it, it's kind of awesome. And the, and what was more awesome about it was that my clients could relate more. Cause like a lot of my clients could not relate to someone who just like had no life or interests. But then like suddenly when I was like, I've been to this restaurant

or I go to I work at a Tracy Anderson, like people could find or you know, I or you listen to this music, people could find ways to relate to me. And have more in common. Well, let me tell you, you look amazing now. Like you are so put together. You always have the cutest outfits on. Your hair is always done. Your makeup is always done. You look insane. So I'm sure you're feeling your best. Like I know you're single, right? You are single right now. Tell me about dating in the city. Is it hard? Like do you date? Do you go on any dates? So I always say I'm like still like a 16 year old date. So really I've been dating now for not five and a half, six years,

right? Since I've like re-emerged. I talked about this on the show. I ended up getting drunk one night and having sex with a colleague. So that like broke for like eight years. That was fun. And it was good. And that was actually a good awakening moment to me where I realized like, okay, wait, like intimacy is cool. Dating, I don't know, dating sucks in the city. Someone told me last week that there was like four, you know what, actually, I always admire about your relationship. I feel like even how long you guys are 18 years? 20 years. It's like you're still dating. Even though it's only you know what I mean, you have this like,

great dynamic. Yeah, we flirt, we still get jealous. We still like we come out to dinner. And you know what I mean? You have this like great dynamic. Yeah, we flirt. We still get jealous. We still like we come out to dinner. And you know what else? And you know this, Eleanor, because we just were at dinner with you and like, we hang with single people still where it's like we will go out with couples. Well, single like it doesn't matter. Joe and I are just like happy to kind of be out together. And we do like we do flirt. And I think that's important for when you do find the guy. I worked you know I work with a lot of couples that's like the one thing I'm not no expert but I do work with couples and I understand sometimes like these relationships

and I see the ones that are really strong and that work and they have separate interests there's certainly a push and pull they have independent lives outside of each other that they, there's certainly a push and pull, they have independent lives outside of each other, that they that there's a mutual respect there. And there is an element of dating of like, we're gonna if we go out tonight, I'm going to dress up for you still. There's no yes, I don't like insulate this relationship to just the couples and or just friends of no one wants to be like no guy wants to get married and think that For the rest of his life his friends can only be the parents of his kids friends Oh boring boring boring boring. No, I put an outfit on sometimes and I know that Joe's gonna like it

I think it's funny like I'll come out of my closet and he's like, oh my god, like, you know I still play when marriages were like really successful in thes, people still traditionally had different bedrooms. You would get ready in your own room and you would tell your husband or your spouse to come to your chamber and meet you for a cocktail and pick you up for dinner. Wait, what? I kind of love that. I think we should bring that back. What is that? Look, it made marriages really successful. It's still a date. You have your sense of privacy in your room. I, you know, I understand, but you would sleep over. It doesn't mean that you don't sleep together. You would sleep over in your husband's bedroom or he would, you know, come over to yours late nights. But traditionally bedrooms were separate. They were different.

Why did I not know that? I did not know this. And I actually, I think that makes for a good relationship. But yeah, dating side, that's right. So if you have a good one, make it work. But dating, it's okay. Do you ever see yourself getting married? Do you ever see it happening? Yeah, I do. I mean, I think the marriages work and last better when you wait and you're older and you know who you are.

Obviously, the divorce rates are even lower when you do that. I froze my eggs twice. So like, you're good. You know, I'm not that good, but I'm good enough. Like I don't want to be that old, but I want to do it. But yeah, you're doing all the things you're doing all the things. You know, on the show, like my friend Jordan, Jordan on the show, like accused me of being closed. I'm like, I don't think I'm closed. I go out. I'm open minded. I, I don't know, you know, you know who I've sort of

been driving. It's a balance, right? Like you like the bad boy look. You like that bad. You like the tough guy. You like a tough guy. I feel like you like a Jersey guy. Like you do. You like that. I don't see you with a guy in finance. I see you with like, you know, I don't know, like just a tough guy. I'm a tough girl and I understand that and there are some guys who are like, oh, you should turn the volume down like 30%. I'd rather just a guy who's like can put me in my place and they exist. I find them sometimes. They exist. They exist and they can be a little give and take of both.

But listen, I can't wait because I'm coming on a double date when you do find out. But either way, we still go to our dinners and we still have fun. Eleanor, thank you so much for hopping on the show today. I know that you're crazy busy. I love seeing all the people in the background like at your offices running around. Yeah, you're doing amazing things. You're killing it. All right, guys, be sure to check out Selling This City on Netflix

because they have an awesome cast. These girls are amazing. They're so much fun. They're giving you personal story and you need to see the properties because they're pretty insane. Eleanor, thank you for coming on and let's make dinner plans soon.

We have to. Yes, for sure. Thank you. I will see you soon. Yeah!