Selling the OC’s Gio Helou Says Sean Palmieri Tried to ‘Validate His Existence’ with Austin Rumor (Exclusive)

Gio spoke to TooFab exclusively about the wild rumor that dominated Season 3 of his Netflix series, while he was out supporting Selling Sunset star Mary Bonnet at the launch of her book “Selling Sunshine” at The Godfrey Hotel in Hollywood on Tuesday night.

On the most recent season, Sean Palmieri claimed that his Oppenheim Group coworker Austin Victoria and his wife, Lisa, propositioned him for a threesome one night. The rumor shook up the season, with the drama leading to a near-physical confrontation between the former friends in the middle of the real estate office.

“I think we are a very friendly office in OC. However, swinging is way out of line and completely has no base or standing,” Gio told TooFab, before sharing his opinion on Sean since the rumor came to light.

“That was really brought about by Sean, who was grasping at straws and just was trying to validate his existence in the office since his business was really suffering,” he continued.

Gio then added that while the rest of the cast is “friendly” and like “one big happy family,” he clarified, “but by no means do we cross that line into swinging.”

The drama began after Sean was having drinks with his coworkers, Alexandra Jarvis and Kayla Cardona, on the most recent season — which dropped back in May. He said his friendship with Austin ended after Austin and his wife, Lisa, tried to have a threesome with him when he was over for dinner one evening.

Austin denied Sean’s allegations, claiming he’s “never had a threesome,” before throwing jabs of his own. Sean ultimately left The Oppenheim Group, announcing his exit in November.

The drama wasn’t only down in the OC. Selling Sunset definitely had its fair share too, so much so that cast members, including Chrishell Stause called out production for how the show was edited.

Chrishell tagged Done and Done Productions, in an angry social media post calling them “disgusting,” for how the Emma Hernan affair allegations from Nicole Young were handled, mainly because Emma was not given a chance to respond to the affair during the episodes.

However, Gio doesn’t feel the same happens for Selling the OC and believes it’s just the “nature of reality TV.”

“I think when we sign up for this sort of thing, we have to understand that production only has so many hours and minutes to to put these shows together,” he explained.

“They’re not responsible to air every single fraction of every conversation. They’re there to tell a story. And unfortunately, for better or for worse, not every side is always shared,” he continued. “And I’ve been on the bad side of that. And that’s the nature of it. And you have to live with it if you want to be on these amazing shows.”

Selling the OC Season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.