Kourtney Kardashian Reveals Why KUWTK Almost Didn't Happen
After over 10 years of keeping up with the Kardashians, it's hard to imagine a world where "America's Royal Family" wasn't sharing every intimate moment of their lives with their fans. From the birth of Kourtney's oldest son, Mason, to the aftermath of Kim's Paris robbery to Kylie's meteoric rise with Kylie Cosmetics, the KarJenners are always willing to open up about all of the highs and lows of their wildly entertaining lives.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians first premiered on the E! network in October of 2007 and spawned 11 spinoffs during its 20-season run, including Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian, and Life of Kylie. Though every single KarJenner sister has well over 100 million followers, multiple successful business ventures, and enviable personal lives, it's undeniable that none of this would have ever happened if it weren't for KUWTK. Ahead of the series finale, eldest Kardashian sister, Kourtney, reflected on the origins of their iconic show.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians struggled to find a home network
Kourtney Kardashian recently went on the pop culture podcast Emergency Contact, co-hosted by Kardashian family friend Simon Huck and Melissa Gray Washington. She told the hosts that it was very difficult to find a network who wanted to make a reality show about her family. She remembered that the idea for the show didn't gain traction until her sister Kim met a television producer, who thought she was interesting and wanted to film her at the family's clothing store Dash. Kourtney said, "They came to the store and the girl was like, 'Oh my God, you and your sisters! This is everything.' So then we started trying to pitch a show, like, [about] the sisters. I remember we went to E!, we went to everything — I think no one wanted it or something."
Luckily, after struggling to find a network to give the Kardashians a chance, a casting director went to dinner at the family's house and decided to get Ryan Seacrest involved. Kourtney said, "They introduced Ryan to my mom and then we made a reel, and it just was picked up right away. I think something happened with like, Lindsay Lohan's show and they needed filler, and so they were like, 'Oh, this is going to be a one-season thing.'" But, as we all know, the series would continue on for a long time.