Josh Altman & Wife Heather Say MDLLA Season 15 is 'Roller Coaster’ as Delicate Friendships Backslide (Exclusive)

Buckle up, because season 15 of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles is going to be a “roller coaster,” according to Heather Altman.

Heather and husband Josh Altman chatted with PEOPLE about what fans can expect when the long-running Bravo series returns on July 10.

“It's always going to be fresh because it's real and it's the market and what we're dealing with, but also on the personal side,” says Josh, who leads the Altman Brothers team at Douglas Elliman with Heather and his brother Matt. 

The celebrity realtor adds that some of the challenges they face in the new season include navigating L.A.’s “mansion tax,” which was passed in 2022, moving to Newport Beach, and expanding into San Diego, Scottsdale and Las Vegas. 

A sneak peek at the new season showed Josh declaring, “There’s going to be some turbulence,” and he clarifies that he’s referring to both the market and the cast’s personal relationships.

“Some of our relationships that gradually got better, better, better have now gone back the other direction,” he says.

As for costar Josh Flagg, he observes, “It's always kind of a moving target as far as where our friendship is. For many years, it went from bad for a while and then started to get a little better and better.”

“I think right now we're amicable,” he adds of Flagg. “I think that we have been better, for sure. So it'll be interesting to see how this season plays out and if our roots of our friendship are strong enough to keep us going.

Flagg also had tensions with fellow agent Tracy Tutor last season, which Josh Altman describes as “intense.” 

However, he says of Tutor and Flagg, “They're that couple that need each other.”

“They're like Will and Grace,” Heather adds. “Will in Will and Grace was not as needy and high-maintenance,” she jokes. “So Tracy's got her hands cut out with him, but they have this dysfunctional-functional relationship that works for them."

She says they're like best friends, "but also Tracy's like a mom to him and takes care of him. So they've got an interesting dynamic that works somehow.”

In March, Flagg announced that he left Douglas Elliman after just over two years, and was joining Compass, which Josh and Heather say happened after they wrapped filming.

Before Flagg’s departure, there was a new arrival at the brokerage: Nick Dubrow, who began interning for the Altmans after Josh sold Chateau Dubrow, the infamous Orange County home of his parents, Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow and her husband, plastic surgeon and Botched star Terry Dubrow.

“So basically, if you sell a $55 million house with the Altman Brothers, your child gets a free internship,” Josh says of their 20-year-old son. “No, he did great. I think if he wants to continue after college and really pursue the real estate side of the business, the agent side of the business, I think he'll crush it.”

“I like him,” he adds. “I mean, I'm friends with him. It's less of a boss/intern role, and I've hung with him multiple times. He's a great kid. So definitely could easily be a rock star real estate agent if that's the direction he wants to go, and he's definitely welcome back for the next internship.”

As for their own family, Heather says it’s been “crazy” juggling their business with parenting their two children, Ace, 4, and Lexi, 7.

“I think the key to making it work is being able to step outside of the box, outside of the crazy pressure-filled environment that we're in nonstop, even if it's just for a little bit,” says Josh. “I try to laugh as much as possible, try to not take things as serious as we have to a lot of the time.”

“Look, no matter what deal we're in, no matter what situation, whatever high-priced or high-pressure environment, we see our two kids, Ace and Lexi, and none of it holds a candle to the fun, smiles, importance of our children,” he continues. “So I think that actually helps us the most, our kids.”

Heather says the couple made a commitment this year to spend nights and weekends on activities their kids enjoy.

“We decided to just really carve out that time in the evening with the kids to make sure that we're sitting down and having dinner with them, taking away the phone for an hour to really disconnect and have that quality time,” she says.

“We had a sit down and said, ‘Okay, how are we going to do this where we're still committed to our business, but also committed to our children and us as a family and getting good time?’ So we can disconnect, be with them, but also then when we're at work, we feel good where we're focused.”

Lexi, who recently got her ears pierced, has been excited to build her earring collection, living “every little girl's dream, going to Claire's and running up very quickly a large bill there,” Heather says.

And Ace, Josh adds, is “such a boy.”

“All he wants to do is beat up his daddy every time and just get dirty, do sports, run around,” he adds.

“He's well-rounded,” Heather says. “He likes to beat up on his dad, but then Mom walks out and he is very much a gentleman, [saying], ‘Mommy, you look so good. Wow, Daddy, did you see Mom? She looks so good.’”

Josh adds, that “When he gets dressed, he says, ‘I'm getting dressed like Josh Altman.’ He has these little suits, and it's so funny to everybody in the house.”

While there’s no shortage of real estate TV these days, Josh calls Million Dollar Listing “the big cheese.”

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Reflecting on the show’s longevity, Heather says, “We're real real estate agents on our show working, real real estate agents with real properties that are actually selling and transacting. Nothing against the other shows. I enjoy watching some of them because the fashion is just fun and it's more about a Sex and the City-type vibe rather than the actual negotiations and the knowledge and experience behind the deal.”

Josh, who joined MDLLA in 2011, says, “When I do my speaking engagements, it's so much fun just for people to come up and say, "Look, I got into real estate because of you and your show." 

“But we feel, like Heather said, we did pave the road for all that. And at the end of the day, you do have four superstars on the show that are well-known for being some of the biggest closers in the game. And I know that no other show has that.”