Chrishell Stause‘s story is one of incredible resilience, a journey from a deeply challenging and unconventional childhood to becoming a star of reality television. Her life was profoundly shaped by her parents, Ranae and Jeff Stause, whose struggles and ultimate passing left an indelible mark on her. While Chrishell has openly shared the difficult parts of her past, including her mom and dad’s battles with addiction, she does so with a protective love, ensuring the world knows the full picture of who they were and the love they shared.
Her background is as unique as her name, a story that began at a gas station and weaves through a childhood marked by periods of homelessness, all while being supported by a large and complex family network. To understand Chrishell is to understand this foundation—a story of navigating hardship, overcoming tragedy, and building a chosen home of her own. While she experienced immense loss, with both parents dying from lung cancer just over a year apart, their memory continues to be a powerful force in her life and career.
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A Foundation of Love and Struggle
Chrishell Stause’s early family life was far from traditional. She was adopted at birth by her stepfather, Jeff Stause, a drummer, and was raised by him and her mother, Ranae. She has never met her biological father, whom she has described as being half Japanese and half Spanish. She has stated that her mother is of mixed European descent. This made for a rich ethnic heritage that Chrishell has since explored through a DNA test.
Her parents “struggled with addiction and mental health,” and Chrishell has been candid about the instability of her upbringing. She has shared that she was forced to live in a tent for a full year during middle school, a period where she recalls washing her hair in a river and relying on food stamps, all while hiding her circumstances from her classmates.
Despite these hardships, she speaks of her folks with a deep, complex affection. Jeff was “the heartbeat of the music” and thus the heartbeat of their family. Ranae was a “free spirit” who was working at a Shell gas station when she went into labor. A station attendant named Chris helped her, inspiring the portmanteau that would become her daughter’s unique name: Chrishell.
Chrishell is not an only child; she has four sisters. Her oldest sister, Shonda, has even made appearances on several seasons of Selling Sunset and lives in St. Louis. This network of sisters provided a sense of family constancy that her immediate home life sometimes lacked.
The family’s struggles were thrust into the spotlight during the ninth season of Selling Sunset when Chrishell’s co-star, Nicole Young, made a brutal comment during an argument. After Chrishell referenced Nicole’s alleged drug use, Nicole retorted, “Honey, you’re confusing me with your parents, okay? You seem to be obsessed with drugs.” The comment, which insinuated that Chrishell’s mom and dad died from drugs, was immediately condemned by their co-stars as a “below the belt” attack and led to Nicole being dismissed from the Oppenheim Group office. Chrishell later clarified that while her folks had done drugs, the way Nicole phrased it was misleading and hurtful, falsely implying that drugs were the cause of their deaths.
Navigating Loss and Honoring a Legacy
The greatest challenges for Chrishell Stause came in a devastatingly short period. Her father, Jeff, passed away in April 2019 after a long and difficult battle with lung cancer. Chrishell shared a touching tribute to him on Instagram, writing, “I grew up in an unconventional family, and my dad was a drummer – the heartbeat of the music. Today we lost the heartbeat of our family, but I am happy knowing he took his music to heaven.”
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Tragically, just as she was grieving her father, Chrishell received more heartbreaking news. In February 2020, her mother, Ranae, was diagnosed with the same disease, stage 4 lung cancer, and was given only one to two months to live. The COVID-19 pandemic made this period even more agonizing, as quarantine restrictions prevented Chrishell from visiting her mom in person. In a bittersweet turn, this forced separation brought them closer than ever before, as they began speaking on the phone every day. Chrishell was ultimately able to be by her mother’s side, and Ranae passed away in July 2020.
Following her mom’s death, Chrishell Stause penned another emotional tribute, finding a small measure of peace in the thought of her parents being reunited. “Absolutely heartbreaking watching you take your last labored breath,” she wrote, “but there is a peace knowing you two are together again, free from the pain that plagued your time here.” She has since dedicated seasons of her show to their memory and uses interviews to share positive stories about them, ensuring their legacy is defined not by their struggles, but by their love and her enduring connection to them.
