Chrishell Stause confirmed her relationship with Jason Oppenheim because they were about to be 'outed' by someone else

• Chrishell Stause confirmed her relationship with Jason Oppenheim on social media in July.
• Stause said she went public with their romance because they were about to be "outed."

In Chrishell Stause's ideal world, her relationship with her "Selling Sunset" costar Jason Oppenheim would exist outside of the spotlight.

Early in their romance, the Kentucky-born reality star tried to keep hints of their relationship off of social media and far from the paparazzi's prying eyes.

Her strategy worked for several months - until it didn't.

"We were about to get outed, so it was either I post it, or somebody else was about to post it," the 40-year-old told Bustle on Wednesday while promoting her forthcoming memoir, "Under Construction: Because Living My Best Life Took a Little Work."

So, Stause decided to beat the outsider to the punch. The real-estate agent revealed she was dating her 44-year-old "Selling Sunset" costar in a series of photos taken during the cast members' trip to Italy in July.

Captioned "The JLo effect," the Instagram round-up included a picture of Stause kissing Oppenheim's head followed by an image of him nuzzling her neck.

"I just wanted the freedom to be able to hold my boyfriend's hand," Stause said, adding, "I knew it was going to be a thing."

The couple met in 2018, the year Stause joined The Oppenheim Group, the brokerage owned by Oppenheim that sits at the center of Netflix's popular reality show "Selling Sunset."

Though Oppenheim is the head of the firm, he's not technically Stause's boss since the agents are independent contractors. "It's not the same as going into corporate America and dating your boss," she told Bustle.

According to Stause, neither party predicted the relationship. And the evolution from friends to lovers didn't happen overnight.

"I became best friends with someone platonically before it started to become romantic, so I just think that over time we both were surprised by it," she said.

Prior to her relationship with Oppenheim, Stause was married to fellow soap opera star Justin Hartley before they ended their two-year marriage in 2019 (a moment featured on season three of "Selling Sunset"). She also briefly dated "Dancing With the Stars" pro Keo Motsepe after she appeared as a contestant on the show.

As for Oppenheim, he was previously in a relationship with his "Selling Sunset" costar Mary Fitzgerald before season one aired.

Both Stause and Oppenheim are set to appear on the fourth season of "Selling Sunset," which premieres November 24.