Gio Helou probably assumed he’d be the one to unveil the biggest surprise at his $100 million–in–sales party in the form of his unnervingly lifelike ice sculpture. But on the new season of Selling the OC, that honor belongs to Kayla Cardona, who confronts fellow agents Tyler Stanaland and Polly Brindle at the event about an alleged hot and heavy hookup. What’s more, there’s a tape to prove it.

Cardona drops the bombshell in Episode 2, sending shock waves through the friends, foes, and frenemies at the Oppenheim Group. The agents also learn that the entire incident went down on the Newport Beach office’s pink couches, and there are receipts to prove it. But what did footage actually show? Who’s seen it? And why did Cardona even bring it to light in the first place? 

When it comes to the tape, everybody has their own side of the story, but it’s safe to say absolutely no one saw it coming. Below, the Oppenheim Group agents set the record straight about how it unfolded, and where they stand now. 

So what actually happened with Polly and Tyler?

While all eyes (and noseys) were on newly single Stanaland’s post-divorce flirtations with fellow agent Alex Hall, it took just one boozy night before the season even began to turn up the temperature on his friendship with Brindle.

“Going through something like a divorce, let alone a public divorce, people are just running with rumors,” Stanaland tells Tudum. “It was by choice to keep things as quiet as we could for as long as we could. And when Polly and I kissed, there was nothing wrong with it. I was a single man.”

Brindle, meanwhile, boils down the moment to just a “drunken kiss with a friend,” insisting the two never denied the hookup. “It was not a secret,” she tells Tudum. “It was not something that Tyler and I regretted or felt bad about. We laughed it off because it was nothing. It was just a kiss and I very firmly want that to be said.”

And for the record, the pair say they had no absolutely no idea their intimate moment would ever be recorded. “I wasn't aware that there was a video that was even taken,” Brindle says. “I mean, I was obviously busy at the time. I wasn’t looking around, and honestly, when we did kiss, there was nobody there.”

The cast has been tight-lipped about the exact details of the video because it was taken by “somebody that's not in the cast,” according to O Group agent Brandi Marshall. “It was after our Christmas party that it happened,” she says on the most recent episode of the We Have the Receipts podcast. “There are other people in the video and they're like scanning the room, and boom, you see it on the couch.”

But why did Kayla confront Polly and Tyler at Gio’s party? 

The hookup that launched a thousand rumors is first mentioned in Episode 2 by Cardona, who has historical beef with Stanaland. Last season, she was accused of trying to kiss Stanaland while he was still married, and many of her fellow agents, including Brindle, publicly blasted her for the misstep.

In an interview with Tudum, Cardona claims she only decided to speak about their documented dalliance when it became clear it would be mentioned on the show. And since Brindle never gave her the benefit of the doubt, Cardona felt she had no reason to extend the same (dis)courtesy. 

“I knew about the video long before anyone knew about it and thought it was funny because the hypocrisy was real,” she says. Cardona wouldn't divulge how she first came across the tape, but maintained she didn’t plan on spreading the rumor.

“I don’t care what you’re doing, but I’m going to call you on your sh––,” she adds. “I got crucified for the past year and was called a homewrecker. Before this even came out, I said specifically, ‘I was never the one that you guys all needed to worry about.’ And I was right.”

Stanaland, however, pushes back on the comparison, as he sees a “huge difference” between what happened with Cardona and Brindle. “When Kayla made attempts at me, I was very much married and she knew that,” he said. “Those attempts are completely different than what Polly and I did.”

At the party in Episode 2, Cardona demands an apology for her perceived past mistreatment, but Brindle isn’t exactly willing to comply — and in fact, seemingly denies the kiss entirely. “I don’t owe her an apology for having an issue with her trying to f–– a married man in front of me,” she tells Tudum. “There’s no apology.”

Brindle later explained that the only reason she denied the kiss at the party is because she was uncomfortable with how Cardona was depicting the situation. 

Why did Brandi lie about seeing the tape? 

As whispers of the tape spread throughout the season, others get roped into the controversy, including Marshall. In Episode 7, it’s revealed that Marshall once admitted she saw the video. But in yet another case of tape-related whiplash, she then denies every laying eyes on it. 

So did she see it or not? And if she actually had seen it, why lie? Marshall later explained she’d already become too involved with Stanaland’s personal life after expressing concern over his flirtations with Hall. 

“I did see a video,” Marshall tells Tudum. “Unfortunately, I wish I didn’t, because there were people around that caught them in the back of their video. It wasn’t like an intentional thing: They’re in a video making out and I happened to come across it.”

“The only reason why I wanted to see it was because, Polly and I were friends and Polly was really down playing the kiss,” Marshall adds on the We Have Receipts podcast. “I wasn't sure because Kayla told me. Polly never told me.  I'm like, ‘I need to see things for my own and know for my own sanity how I should move.’”

Marshall says she knew the footage was “going to be a big deal,” and wanted to avoid all the drama — and when she was confronted in the penultimate episode, she decided to lie to remove herself from the situation. 

“I did not want to get sucked into it,” she says.

What was actually on the tape? 

Although Stanaland finds out about the tape in Episode 2 (spoiler alert: it doesn’t go well), he says he couldn’t get answers about the footage itself. 

“Nobody would fess up to it,” he recalls. “Who has the video? What's on it? So we were playing detective of what the video actually was for months.”

Brindle, on the other hand, says she didn’t learn of the tape’s existence until weeks after the event, and adds she was completely blindsided by the news. 

After the season wrapped, both Stanaland and Brindle got their hands on the footage. While Cardona claims in Episode 2 that she saw Brindle on top of Stanaland with “her hands up his shirt and down his pants," the pair say her description is wildly inaccurate. 

“I have seen the video where we are on those sofas,” Brindle explains. “We are not kissing, we’re not touching, and so it’s all bullshit and it's all for the drama.”

Stanaland confirms Brindle’s account. 

“We finally just recently saw the video and it doesn’t show the kiss at all,” he says. “In fact, the kiss happened hours later. It was an interesting feeling of relief, but also Polly and I each felt more hurt because this was used as a smoking gun. Once we found out it wasn’t even the situation at hand, it was upsetting, but, given the character of the people who brought it up, not surprising.” (Of course, Cardona and Marshall have a different recollection of what’s on the tape.) 

Where does everybody stand now? 

Today, the Oppenheim Group is an office divided. Both Stanaland and Brindle want Cardona to take accountability for her actions, but they might be waiting for a long, long time. 

“Polly owes Kayla zero apologies. In fact, I think Kayla owes us one for using this video that doesn’t even show what happened against us,” said Stanaland “I’m not totally surprised that that's something that Kayla would do. It just is not the kind of people that I want in my life.”

Brindle said she’s disappointed in Cardona, who she thought would let her know privately about the video, as a friend. “Having it come out that there’s a video and someone who I thought was my friend had seen the video and was lying and making up was hurtful,” she said.

But not everyone shares the sentiment. 

“I don’t regret a thing,” Cardona said. “I just came in fully, authentically myself and didn't really care about what anyone thought about me. If anyone was trying to cross the line or anyone tried to call me out, I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to call you out.’ I bit my lip too hard last season. I was way too nice and I let a lot of sh–– slide, but that’s never happening again.”