Celebrity News October 13, 2023
Amanza Smith on Nearly Dying & 'Selling Sunset' Season 7 (Exclusive)
“Selling Sunset” star Amanza Smith sat down with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert to talk about her recent health crisis and the upcoming seventh season of “Selling Sunset.”
Amanza opened up about being in the hospital for 31 days after developing a severe blood infection that led to osteomyelitis, which required two major spine surgeries and blood transfusions.
Before her hospitalization, Amanza was suffering back pain that got “exponentially worse” and she “couldn’t walk.”
One of her friends encouraged her to go a hospital. She noted, “[Doctors] told me had I waited one or two more days, I might not be here to be talking about this.”
Smith is “grateful” to be alive, saying, “I wasn’t even fully aware of how severe it was until I was released and then they told me, you know, I almost passed away a couple of times… I’m still sort of processing everything.”
As for her health now, she said, “I’m still recovering. I’m slower than I used to be. Everything hurts. I’m still on a lot of medication.”
Amanza stressed the importance of getting things “checked out” if you are battling pain, saying, “You never know what it could be.”
After making it out alive, Amanza noted that she wanted to use her platform “for the better good.” She said, “I feel like I have been given a second chance at life, and it would be really unfortunate if I just, like, you know, let that go to waste.”
Since her traumatizing experience, she has maintained a “positive” outlook on life, even reconciling with “Selling Sunset” co-star Chrishell Stause. She said, “All the petty nonsense that we sometimes get wrapped up in on ‘Selling Sunset,’ nonsense drama, it really puts that into perspective… She reached out to me when I was in the hospital. That meant a lot.”
She stressed, “Just make sure that people know that you love them if there’s been any sort of drama in the past, just sort of squashing it, because life is so short and so unexpected.”
Calling it “nice” to have Chrishell as a friend again, Amanza added, “It’s really kind of like no time has passed, and we both have moved on in a really positive way, so I’m grateful for that.”
Smith also dished on what to expect when “Selling Sunset” returns to Netflix on November 3, commenting, “We go to Cabo… More amazing real estate… I think I find my voice this season.”
To hear Amanza's full interview, you can also download this week’s “Extra: The Podcast” on the Audacy app and everywhere podcasts are available. New episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays.