Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiered in 2007 and quickly propelled the Kardashian family to superstardom. While many people know the story of how the Kardashians became famous through their reality show, not everyone is aware of why they even chose to film KUWTK in the first place. In fact, there was one important reason why the Kardashian family wanted their lives to be shown on TV.
The Kardashians wanted to film a reality show to promote their clothing stores
Before the Kardashians were reality TV stars, they were just a non-famous family in California. Some of the family members ventured into the fashion industry by owning clothing stores.
In 2003, Kourtney Kardashian and her mom, Kris Jenner, decided to open Smooch, a children’s boutique. Then, in 2006—a year before KUWTK premiered—the Kardashian sisters opened a more high-end store called Dash.
When they were approached by E! to film a reality show, the family decided to do it in order to promote their stores.
In 2015, Kim Kardashian told Variety, “When the opportunity for our TV show came about, I wanted to do it to bring attention to our stores.”
Meanwhile, Khloé Kardashian revealed to Harper’s Bazaar in 2016 that she was initially hesitant about filming a reality show. However, she was convinced when the producers allowed her to film her work at Dash.
The Kardashians now own other types of businesses
The Kardashians no longer own Smooch and Dash. Smooch was closed in 2009 while Dash went out of business in 2018.
However, the Kardashians are own much more lucrative businesses. For example, Kim is the founder of the makeup company KKW Beauty as well as the shapewear brand SKIMS. Both of these have made her the wealthiest member of her family.
Meanwhile, Kourtney owns the lifestyle brand Poosh while Khloé owns the clothing brand Good American. Their youngest sister, Kylie Jenner, who was only a kid at the time of the show’s premiere, now owns a successful makeup brand as well—Kylie Cosmetics.
‘KUWTK’ has mostly been about drama and scandals in the family
Although the Kardashians use KUWTK to give fans some exclusive peeks into their businesses, the show mostly focuses on the drama and scandals surrounding the family.
For example, romantic relationships are often featured on the show. Kourtney and her ex-boyfriend, Scott Disick, had many ups and downs that were documented by the cameras. Kim’s marriages to Kris Humphries and Kanye West have been seen on KUWTK as well.
The family also uses the show to address scandals in the media. For example, after Kim found herself involved in a traumatic robbery incident in Paris in 2016, she later shared with KUWTK viewers how the experience greatly affected her. Similar, last year, Khloé was involved in a highly-publicized scandal after her boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, cheated on her with family friend Jordyn Woods. The show utilized this event to get ratings and hooked viewers in.
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