'Selling Sunset' Newbie Alanna Gold Claims She Owns a Desert Town—But Its Residents Say Otherwise

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The office environment on Netflix's hit reality TV show Selling Sunset can be pretty cutthroat, but new addition Alanna Gold is ready for the spotlight. The model-turned-realtor made her debut on Selling Sunset season 8, and just hours after its September 6 release, she's already winning fans over with her chic professional looks and relatable reactions to the drama that pops off among the Oppenheim Group agents.

So who is this mystery blonde arriving on the scene with a stylish wardrobe and a desert town? Read on to learn all about Selling Sunset standout Alanna Gold.

Alanna Gold is a luxury realtor who grew up near Toronto, Canada.

Alanna Gold (née Whittaker), 32, grew up in Nobleton, a small town located outside of Toronto, Canada. According to her LinkedIn, she attended Ontario Tech University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Science. She also completed a Digital Marketing certificate from Cornell University in 2020.

She almost became a veterinarian before getting scouted as a model.

Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of the season 8 premiere, Alanna revealed that she could have gone down a much different career path. “I was originally studying to be a vet, so I was going to university and I got discovered for modeling in the middle of it,” she told the outlet. “I took the opportunity because I'm actually allergic to animals, so that was not a good path for me.”

Looking back, the now-realtor seems to understand that her career as a vet wasn't meant to be (you know, beyond the allergies). "The path I was headed when I was studying to be a vet is not the path that I see myself on today. I'm so grateful that I got thrown in a different direction," she said.

In addition to real estate, Alanna's still an active model, managed by the Miami agency CGM-Caroline Gleason Management. Over her career, she has worked in print and digital modeling, including with high-end brands like Tom Ford. Per PEOPLE, she was based in N.Y.C. for five years before moving to L.A.

Alanna got her real-estate license during the pandemic.

According to her LinkedIn, Alanna began her real estate career in 2021 and spent a few years at Westside Estate Agency before joining the Oppenheim Group. In her pre-season interview, she recalled deciding to take the plunge and get her real-estate license during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When everything kind of shut down, I knew that was an amazing chance to get my license. So I really spent those months just studying and I went for my license and got it,” she says. “When I started working in this industry, I loved it and I realized that I didn't want to go back into modeling. I really wanted to put all my time into real estate.”

Alanna married her husband, Adam Gold, in 2022.

In addition to plenty of gorgeous travel pics, Alanna's Instagram includes several loving tributes to her husband, Adam Gold. The couple and "best friends for life" got engaged in January 2019, and were wed in July 2022 at their Joshua Tree attraction Pioneertown.

Per his Instagram bio, Adam works in hospitality as part of the private members' club Living Room, which opens for business this fall.

Alanna has a "deep connection" to the desert attraction Pioneertown.

Though she grew up in small-town Canada, Alanna revealed in a PEOPLE interview that she has a "deep connection to the desert," which she shares with her husband Adam. The couple took their love for the California deserts to the next level when they obtained a part-ownership in Pioneertown, a "functioning" town in San Bernardino County near Joshua Tree National Park. (Alanna and Adam's Instagrams link out to event venues, vacation rentals, and other hospitality businesses based near Pioneertown.)

Per its website, a group of old Hollywood actors (including Dick Curtis and Roy Rogers) founded the attraction in 1946 as a "filming location, vacation destination, and permanent residence for people working in the entertainment industry, ranchers and desert lovers alike." The town currently hosts several functioning businesses and false 1880s-themed fronts, and there's even a staged gunfight on some summer weekends.

“[Adam and I] always really loved it, and it was actually where we went for one of our first trips,” Alanna said of Pioneertown. “We always knew we wanted to own a piece of property out there or be a part of the community somehow."

In a separate interview with TODAY, Alanna said she, Adam, their business partner David Corso, and investor Gary Friedman, founded Pioneertown Land Management “with a mission to restore Pioneertown to its original vision and purpose."

“In 2020, when we learned that a large portion of Pioneertown was for sale, we saw an incredible opportunity not only to strengthen our ties to the community but also to preserve a piece of history,” she added.

Following the release of Selling Sunset season 8, the residents of Pioneertown criticized Alanna for claiming that she "owns Pioneertown." On September 9, the local news organization Pioneertown Gazette shared a post on Instagram requesting an apology from Alanna and the series for their representation of the town. Neither the Golds nor the show's producers have responded yet.

"The baseless claims by Selling Sunset’s Alanna Gold that she ‘owns Pioneertown’ undermines 78 years of internationally celebrated film, arts and cultural history," the statement reads. "These claims belittle generations of artists, neighbors, nature lovers, community members, musicians, small business owners and otherwise magnificent people of Pioneertown."

The statement continues, "Pioneertown is a mile-square census designated community with over 400 residents and is privately owned by more than 100 independent parties. Mrs. Gold has a small minority non-controlling interest in an entity that owns six of thirty five parcels in the Mane Street area, constituting less than 1% of Pioneertown's total 640 acres. The claim that she owns the ‘entire town’ is verifiably false."

The post was signed, "Respectfully, THE RESIDENTS OF PIONEERTOWN."

Alanna's family encouraged her to join 'Selling Sunset.'

When presented with the opportunity to join Selling Sunset, Alanna recalls that she "jumped at" the opportunity, though she did naturally feel "a bit of hesitation" at the huge life change. She told PEOPLE of her decision, “I did go through all of the emotions, but at the end of the day I was like, ‘What is life for?’ Just put yourself out there and take opportunities as they come.”

Luckily, she also had the support of her husband and the rest of her family, with Adam being a source of calm throughout the process. "He was very helpful through the process and I think he was actually one reason why I felt very confident to be able to do it. I knew I had his support and I knew we're a team through everything," she said.

Once she began filming, Alanna says that her new co-stars Chrishell Stause and Mary Bonnet Fitzgerald were especially "sweet" to her.

Hinting at the drama in season 8, Gold says she was able to navigate it in a way that she’s “proud of” as she came onto the show with an “open mind.” She added, “I just kind of made a promise to myself to stay true to who I am and really stick up for the things that I believe in, but also not get involved with things that don't involve me."