Jonathan Normolle set the record straight on why he wasn’t on season 2 of Owning Manhattan — and it wasn’t because he didn’t get an offer.
“A lot of questions are coming in about season 2 of Owning Manhattan and right now — where we are in business and the stuff that I’m doing and the projects that I’m doing — a TV show just doesn’t make sense to me,” Jonathan shared in a TikTok uploaded after the second season premiered earlier this month.
Jonathan included screen grabs from an alleged conversation between him and the showrunner discussing a possible return. There was initially a conversation about filming with Jonathan but ultimately he appeared to change his mind before anything was captured.
“I like everyone that was on Owning Manhattan. I have a great relationship with Ryan [Serhant]. I am genuinely very, very happy for those people,” he noted. “I got a lot of opportunities out of the show but my day to day lifestyle currently just doesn’t include wanting to be creating drama and friction and all these different things with people whom I actually enjoy.”
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The real estate agent didn’t see the Netflix show as the right fit for him anymore, saying, “The people that I’m working with currently wouldn’t want to be on those shows. We want to do something and it’s not to say that I’ll never do it again. But it’s going to be on our own terms. It has to be something different.”
Owning Manhattan follows Ryan and the agents at his real estate firm as they tackle New York City’s most expensive listings in their pursuit of becoming the number one firm in the city. The first season starred Jonathan, Chloe Tucker Cane, Nile Lundgren, Tricia Lee, Jade Shenker, Jessica Markowski, Jessica Taylor, Jordan Hurt, Jordan March, Savannah Gowarty and Jeffrey St. Arromand.
After having friction with his coworkers on season 1 because of comments he made on a podcast about the company, Jonathan found himself on the outs. He was then accused of being rude at listings, which is what forced Ryan to fire him during the season 1 finale.
“There’s five different TV shows in Manhattan right now with real estate. For me, there’s other opportunities and other paths that I want to pursue first,” Jonathan continued. “I want it to be entertaining and I want it to be interesting. But it cannot just be another drama filled reality TV show.”
Jonathan pointed out that he didn’t want to be considered a reality TV star.
“I want to have something of merit and I want to have done things,” he added. “So that’s where we are. But truly, I have nothing against any of those guys or women. The drama and all those different things. That is just too much. I don’t want to have to create that to make something entertaining. It should be entertaining by itself. So that’s where I stand.”
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While Jonathan didn’t return, most of the rest of the cast did. Ryan, meanwhile, spoke exclusively to NewsPlop recently about how working on a show like Owning Manhattan meant going all in.
“I made a deal with myself and my family and my company and Netflix. I said, ‘If we’re going to make this show, we’re going to put it all on the table. We really make sure that people know when they’re watching it, ‘Holy s***, this is real. This is authentic. This is uncomfortable at times. This is hilarious at other times, and this is really inspirational right now,’” he told Us. “The CEO side, though, is a big part of the struggle. There’s going to be professional and personal sacrifice for anybody who has ever loved what they do. Sometimes when you love it too much, it could potentially be a bad thing. I have fallouts with three of the main cast members this season and it’s brutal — and it has to be on camera because it’s real.”
He concluded: “It’s always really hard and I’m actually super nervous for people to watch it. I just do the best I can and hopefully the world sees that I’m trying my hardest.”
Owning Manhattan is currently streaming on Netflix.