Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the series premiere of Keeping Up With the Kardashians this October, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with TV's most famous family about the show's beginnings, its various spin-offs, and regrets they've had over the years. Along with Kris, Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, Kendall, and Kylie, OG producer Ryan Seacrest and select E! execs (former and current) also chime in. Do give the whole thing a read if you're a true Kardashian fan. In the meantime, here are some highlights:
1. The origin story of the title, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, deserves its own episode. As Damla Dogan (senior vp development and programming at E!) recalls to THR, producers still hadn't found the right title despite landing an airdate in 2007. Initial contenders included The Kardashians: Krazy With a K (OMG), Living Kardashian (nope), and Krazy Kardashians (hell no). According to Farnaz Fargam (current programming vp at Bunim/Murray), she showed up to a title ideas meeting without any ideas and provided the excuse that she was "too busy keeping up with the Kardashians." She adds, "I came up with it on accident because I was living it."
2. Kris Jenner came up with the idea for KUWTK, despite what Caitlyn Jenner tells you in her memoir. When the issue is brought up in the THR interview, Kris offers this: "It's so absured. I'm not sure what the motivation was for her to say something like that. Maybe somebody should remind her that it's called Keeping Up With the Kardashians." Savage.
3. Khloé was never on board for the Khloé & Lamar spinoff, one of nine spinoffs that spawned from KUWTK. She tells THR, "I never wanted to do Khloé & Lamar; my ex-husband did. He sold it to E!, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy. I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much."
4. Kim had an opportunity to not go through with her wedding to Kris Humphries but did it anyway. According to Kim, producers even told her, "You don't seem happy. You don't have to go through with this." On the eve of her wedding, Kris also told her daughter she could "go away" and let her handle the rest. "I felt like, if I pulled out now, everyone's going to think I just did it for the show," Kim tells THR. "Then afterwards, people were saying, 'You have to stay married for a year,' but I physically couldn't do it. When I made the decision [to divorce], everyone said it was made up for the show. Everyone really wanted to take me down."
Ryan Seacrest also recalls getting a call from Kim after the wedding. "It was just a few days after, and she just didn't feel like it was right. She was very candid and open."
5. Kourtney hid in the bathroom during season one to cry off camera. "I'd cry in there as quietly as I could because I was still mic'd," she tells THR. Later, she laments on the "hardest episode to film": her break-up with Scott. "I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with. I sat down and started crying."
6. Despite airing their engagement and wedding on the show, Kim tries to avoid talking about Kanye's own issues on camera at all costs. "I'll talk about how I feel," she tells THR. "He knows that I'm really protective of him." That protection also extends to mama Kris, who shoots down Adam Stotsky's (president at E!) suggestion that Kanye could have his own show to tell his own story. "Kanye does not have time or have any desire that I know of to do a show like that," Kris says.
7. Kim's post-Paris robbery social media routine is dependent on how much security she has at any given time. "It really changed our lives," Kim says of being robbed at gunpoint last October. "This extra layer of security needed to happen. On social media, I'll never post something where I'm at home unless I know there's four to six security. We know when we're filming it doesn't air until months later, so we can share that and be free and always be who we are."
8. Kim produces the most on the show, according to Kim. "I think if you ask the crew, I probably produce the most, because I know what my sisters might not be sharing. So I'll tell them, 'Go over to Kourt's house right now. Something is going on.'"
9. Kris has the power to edit herself out—especially when cameras get the wrong side of her. "I mean, believe me, I'm not going to lie, there's been times where I've walked away from the camera and I've got a big bump in my hair and I'm like, 'Take that out, my hair looks like shit.' I'm too vain to leave really ugly, ugly angles in."
10a. Kim regrets being on camera too much during her pregnancies. "I looked like such a cow and I can't stand to see those episodes," she tells THR. "I would say, 'Try to film me more from chest up, so it looks better,' but I look like a blob. I would have rather seen my belly and shot farther away."
10b. Yes, Kim and Kanye are trying for a third baby. "I hope so. There have been a lot of things said and Kanye and I haven not confirmed anything," she says, possibly referring to recent reports that they've hired a surrogate. "We're definitely trying. We are hoping so."
11. Kendall really was very upset over the fallout of her Pepsi ad—but didn't want that footage of her crying aired. "We're not perfect, but you see these things in the media, like Kendall and [her Pepsi ad that was accused of trivializing Black Lives Matter], where I see her at home crying," Kim says. "But in the media she looks another way because she's not addressing it. I'm just like, 'This is wrong. You need to speak up.' She was like, 'I don't ever want to show that footage of me crying.' She was trying to not make excuses or be dramatic, but that was what she was going through at the time."
"I'm the most private one," Kendall says. "If there's a moment I don't want anyone to hear, I talk to myself or talk to someone in another room."
Read the full interview here.
