'Selling Sunset' Star Amanza Smith Opened up About Her Health Issues

The Gist:

• Amanza Smith has been open with fans regarding her mental and physical health.
• In June 2023, Amanza landed in the hospital after developing a severe infection in her back called osteomyelitis.

Fans of Selling Sunset are undoubtedly familiar with show star Amanza Smith. Amanza joined the popular Netflix series in Season 2 and has been an integral part of the reality show ever since. Amanza has used her time on the real estate show to speak candidly about her health, her previous marriage, and the struggles of being a single mother. Prior to joining the cast, Amanza worked as an interior designer.

It was during this time that she met Jason and Brett Oppenheim. Amanza revealed on Selling Sunset that she previously staged homes for the Oppenheim Group, before deciding to sell properties herself. “After I had my license, when they got picked up for Season 2, it made sense to join the cast because we’ve been family for two decades,” Amanza told Good Housekeeping in 2020. Since then, Amanza has revealed heartbreaking details about her life.

In Season 6 of Selling Sunset, Amanza explained that she was gearing up for a biopsy after doctors noticed something during a scan. Amanza revealed to Mary Fitzgerald that she may need further testing.

“When they did the ultrasound, my uterus on the screen looked … There’s a lot of stuff there and I don’t know what it is. It doesn’t look good,” she said, adding, “There’s a wide array of things that it could be, and then the one thing that we pray and hope that it’s not.”

In a June 2023 post on Instagram, Amanza explained what she's been going through. "I thought that I had a bulging disk or a slipped disc or something wrong with my lower back that was regular. I laid in pain in my house for several days," she wrote. After a month of "excruciating pain" and trying to treat it with Tylenol, Amanza got an MRI and CT scan.

She was admitted to the hospital immediately and found out she had a blood infection that spread to her spine called osteomyelitis. Her doctors immediately started her on antibiotics, and she was also having surgery to try to remove parts of the infection. "I’m still in pain, but I am hopeful that with the surgery my back pain will diminish," she wrote.

In the post, which was accompanied by a montage of clips of her in the hospital, Amanza thanked the staff at Cedars-Sinai hospital, and she ended with a calm and optimistic message: "This, too, shall pass."

While fans knew Amanza's condition was serious, they didn't realize the extent of it. In an August 2023 interview with People, the Selling Sunset star shared that her doctors later informed her that had she spent "one or two more days at home," she "could have been dead." She also revealed that she had to undergo a second surgery due to her deteriorating vertebrae. "The risk was the antibiotics wouldn't penetrate the bone, and my entire back could collapse," she explained.

Amanza's second surgerical procedure lasted six hours and involved doctors inserting "a titanium mesh cash in her back with rods and screws keeping her spine together," reported the outlet. She joked, "I am an iron woman, with rods and screws." Although Amanza was able to return home on July 3, 2023, her recovery would last six months, which entails taking antibiotics, participating in physical therapy, and light movement.

This is not the first time Amanza has shared details of her personal life. In March 2021, she took to Instagram to reveal that she was struggling with her mental health. “This was me last night at 4 a.m. when I couldn't sleep because so much was on my mind,” she wrote, alongside a teary-eyed selfie. Amanza has since revealed that she was sexually abused as a child but has decided to share her story in hopes of inspiring other survivors.

“I was chosen to go through that. Now I can be a voice to help others get through it,” she told Mr. Warbuton (per People).

Amanza has continued being transparent with her 1.2 million Instagram followers. On April 7, 2023, she took to the social media platform to raise awareness about mental health – with a selfie and a reminder that it is “OK” to cry.