{"id":301613,"date":"2025-12-06T04:56:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T04:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/301613\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T04:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T04:56:19","slug":"how-to-deal-with-disliking-a-friends-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/301613\/","title":{"rendered":"How to deal with disliking a friend&#8217;s partner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Annabel RackhamCulture reporter<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764985267_95_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/5d0ef150-cba8-11f0-9b12-8751a987e19a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Netflix Picture of Emma Hernan and Chrishell Stause, stars of Netflix's Selling Sunset\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Netflix<\/p>\n<p>On the Netflix show Selling Sunset, Chrishell Stause (right) has fallen out with Emma Hernan (left), which has started a debate about friends&#8217; partners<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It&#8217;s supposed to be a TV series about Los Angeles&#8217; biggest and most beautiful homes &#8211; but the people selling them often steal the show. And the latest episodes of Netflix reality series Selling Sunset, now in its ninth season, have started a debate about how to deal with a friend&#8217;s &#8220;toxic&#8221; partner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Two stars of the programme &#8211; real estate agents Chrishell Stause and Emma Hernan &#8211; have been feuding on and off-camera over Emma&#8217;s boyfriend Blake Davis, who Chrishell dislikes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It boiled over during an end-of-season reunion and led to online debates about how, or even whether, you can stay friends with someone whose partner you dislike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">We&#8217;ve spoken to a woman with first-hand experience of that dilemma and two relationship experts about what to do in this tricky situation.<\/p>\n<p>Friends falling out<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764985267_95_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/8a1c7370-cba8-11f0-9b12-8751a987e19a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Netflix Picture of Chrishell Stause and Emma Hernan during Selling Sunset scene\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Netflix<\/p>\n<p>Stause and Hernan became friends by starring on Selling Sunset together<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In the show, Stause, 44, says she&#8217;s never approved of Hernan&#8217;s relationship with property developer Davis. She claims he &#8220;love-bombed&#8221; Hernan early in the relationship and that there were &#8220;huge red flags&#8221;. <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cp3wgn7k226o\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Love bombing<\/a> often involves someone showering a partner with gifts, attention and various promises.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Hernan has told <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/selling-sunset-season-9-reunion-emma-hernan-interview\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Netflix&#8217;s online publication<\/a> she &#8220;doesn&#8217;t fault&#8221; Stause for trying to protect her but that she would like Stause to &#8220;step back and realise&#8221; her level of love and support. She has also said: &#8220;I have enjoyed my time with him&#8230; Everyone can say what they want &#8211; or they can either love him or hate him. But ultimately, it&#8217;s my choice who I end up with.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Some of us will have experienced similar situations first-hand. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Hannah, who didn&#8217;t want to give her last name, told BBC News she fell out with her long-time friend, Georgia &#8211; not her real name &#8211; over a partner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Hannah says Georgia &#8220;had a history of dating not very nice people&#8221; and moved away from London with a new partner who &#8220;proposed to her fairly quickly, I think within about a year&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It felt like Georgia was &#8220;under his spell&#8221; &#8211; and then on a night out before the wedding, Hannah says, Georgia&#8217;s fianc\u00e9 made sexual comments about Hannah. &#8220;He came over to me and started to tell me all the things he wanted to do to me in a very graphic, explicit way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She says the experience was &#8220;very uncomfortable&#8221; and &#8220;came out of nowhere&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">When Hannah told Georgia about it a few days later, Georgia &#8220;tried to minimise it and was saying things like &#8216;he does that with all his female friends&#8217; and I was trying to explain to her that he was saying really inappropriate things&#8221;, Hannah says.<\/p>\n<p>What you can do, according to a relationship expert<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764985267_95_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dce79f00-cc37-11f0-bee0-bb78b7c7ba87.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"James Rudland Picture of Anna Williamson smiling in a blue and white dress\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>James Rudland<\/p>\n<p>Anna Williamson says it is important to be careful when dealing with friends whose partners we don&#8217;t like<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Relationship expert and counsellor Anna Williamson, who works as a dating expert on Channel 4&#8217;s Celebs Go Dating, says trying to support a friend if you&#8217;re concerned about their partner can be difficult.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It&#8217;s important not to judge or tell them what to do, she says. Judging your friend can lead to them behaving defensively, but finding the line between supporting and judging is a &#8220;real challenge&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;We need to be really careful to compartmentalise our own emotions and not project onto a friend, as they might not recognise they&#8217;re in a toxic relationship,&#8221; she tells the BBC. &#8220;They might be carrying feelings of shame and masking it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She advises starting a conversation with a friend by telling them something like: &#8220;I care about you so much but I want to check in because I&#8217;ve noticed that you seem really stressed lately.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Williamson adds it is important to &#8220;stick to facts&#8221; and only discuss things with them that you have observed. She recommends avoiding phrases such as &#8220;I really don&#8217;t like them&#8221;, &#8220;I think they&#8217;re toxic&#8221; or &#8220;I think they&#8217;re abusive&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">If you still want to see your friend but don&#8217;t want to be around their partner, Williamson says it can be handled delicately. &#8220;I&#8217;d say something like, &#8216;I really care about you, but I need to take some space from your partner because I&#8217;m not comfortable with their behaviour, but I really want to spend time with you.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It&#8217;s also important to make sure you have support around you, as looking out for someone else all the time can be draining, she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar, a relationship and trauma counsellor, says that from watching Selling Sunset, some of the tension comes from cast members talking behind each other&#8217;s backs and then being confronted about it later on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Avoid gossiping and talking about your friend or about their partner to others who could whip up hysteria,&#8221; Shaheen-Zaffar tells the BBC. She says it&#8217;s important to &#8220;keep yourself safe&#8221; because anything you say &#8220;could be taken out of context or used against you&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Try to remain civil&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">What if you disagree with the views or values of a friend&#8217;s partner?<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">On Selling Sunset, Stause and Hernan argue over Davis&#8217;s views on politics. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Davis was set to appear on the ninth season of Selling Sunset, but had his scenes cut after another storyline involving Hernan was deemed more relevant. It&#8217;s not known whether any of the scenes featured disagreements between Davis and Stause, but Hernan has denied that Davis expressed &#8220;political views&#8221; in front of Stause.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Shaheen-Zaffar says that ultimately you &#8220;have to respect individual people&#8217;s decisions&#8221; and &#8220;try to remain civil&#8221; if you still want that friend to be part of your life. &#8220;I think we have developed a culture where if someone doesn&#8217;t agree with what we think we don&#8217;t like them,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">This is not the advice she says she would give if someone is being openly &#8220;bigoted&#8221;, but more if they just have views you don&#8217;t agree with. &#8220;It takes a lot of self-development and digging deep to understand and accept other people&#8217;s views,&#8221; she adds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Whether you can cope with a friend&#8217;s partner&#8217;s conflicting views depends on what &#8220;aligns with your values&#8221;, she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Sometimes, a partner&#8217;s actions may be too much for you &#8211; and it can break friendships entirely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">After what happened with Georgia&#8217;s partner, Hannah came to the conclusion that she could not see her friend again if she chose to stay with him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I told her &#8216;I love you, the door is always open but I can&#8217;t have him in my life&#8217; &#8211; he wasn&#8217;t a good, healthy presence and I was very uncomfortable and frightened,&#8221; Hannah adds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She says her and Georgia haven&#8217;t spoken since and the friendship ending &#8220;really hurt&#8221;. Her and Georgia had &#8220;been friends for a long time and had a lot of fun together&#8221; &#8211; although she ultimately wouldn&#8217;t have done anything differently in hindsight, she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Annabel RackhamCulture reporter Netflix On the Netflix show Selling Sunset, Chrishell Stause (right) has fallen out with Emma&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-301613","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}