Selling Sunset Star Issues Apology After Facing Backlash From Residents of Old West Town She Claimed to 'Own'

Alanna Gold is apologizing for confusion regarding recent statements she made in the latest season of Selling Sunset.

Gold, who just made her debut in the series' eighth season, revealed during the show that she and her husband, Adam Gold, purchased a portion of a Pioneertown — a town in San Bernardino County, Calif.

But after the series dropped all 11 episodes on Friday, Sept. 6, she faced some backlash from Pioneertown residents after claiming she owns the town.

Alanna issued an apology to the town's residents on Monday, Sept. 9. 

“I want to reach out to personally say I am so deeply sorry for the confusion I have caused,” the reality TV personality began the apology, which was shared with PEOPLE. 

“I certainly do not own Pioneertown, I never should have said that and I apologize for doing so. I want you to know that I did not mean any harm, I absolutely love Pioneertown and I simply got too excited talking about it,” she continued. 

The Selling Sunset star continued by noting that her first date and wedding with her husband were in the town. Alanna also clarified that she’s working to “correct the record.”

“We wanted to become part of the community, so we invested in a home and other properties there,” she wrote. “Again, I am so sorry to the people of Pioneertown, I would never want to disrespect the town’s history or any of the people who make it such a wonderful place.”

Alanna’s apology comes after Pioneertown residents posted their own statement on Instagram earlier in the day, calling Alanna’s claims “baseless.” The post noted that her claims “undermine 78 years of internationally celebrated film, arts and cultural history.” 

“These claims belittle generations of artists, neighbors, nature lovers, community members, musicians, small business owners and otherwise magnificent people of Pioneertown,” the statement read. 

The statement clarified that over 400 residents live in the town, which “is privately owned by more than 100 independent parties.” Alanna “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 statement continued.

“The claim that she owns the ‘entire town’ is verifiably false,” the town’s statement concluded.

In a previous conversation with PEOPLE, Alanna said she and her husband “always knew we wanted to own a piece of property out there or be a part of the community somehow."

Alanna explained that when the couple saw a piece of the town was available for sale in 2020, they thought of it as an "opportunity to really make it vibrant again" as well as "preserve a piece of history."

The TV personality told PEOPLE that Pioneertown was “created in the 1940s,” and singer and actor Roy Rogers helped establish it. "It’s really cool because most film sets function as ghost towns, and to this day, it still is a functioning town."

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All eight seasons of Selling Sunset are available to stream on Netflix.