Kris Jenner ‘Never Thought’ That Putting Her Family’s Private Life on TV ‘Would Be Harmful’

Keeping Up With The Kardashians poster (left), Kris Jenner attends the 2024 Met Gala (right).Credit : Kim Kardashian/Instagram; Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

The Kardashian family has been on TV for close to two decades now, and matriarch Kris Jenner doesn’t have any regrets about it
The 69-year-old mom of six said in a new interview that she “never” worried that putting her family’s private life out there on Keeping up with the Kardashians in 2007 “would be harmful”
“I just thought this was going to be a great journey,” she said of her mindset when the show started

Kris Jenner didn’t have many concerns when she decided to put her family’s life up for public consumption.

The mom of six was 51 when Keeping up with the Kardashians started, catapulting her family into mega fame and changing their lives — and their future kids’ lives — forever.

Looking back on her decision to go on the show, along with her kids — Kourtney was 28, Kim was 27, Khloé was 23, Rob was 20 and Kendall and Kylie Jenner were 10 and 9, respectively — Kris, 69, has no regrets.

“To be perfectly honest, I never thought the exposure would be harmful,” she told Vogue Arabia of her decision to make the show. “I just thought this was going to be a great journey.”

Kris looked at the opportunity less as a risk and instead as a chance for the family to “have the time of our lives.”

“Buckle your seatbelts, we are in for a wild ride, but we are going to have the time of our lives,” is what her mindset was in 2007, she told the outlet.

‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ season 1 (2007): Robert Kardashian Jr., Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Bruce Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian.E! Network/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I was very optimistic, and I’m also a girl who looks at the glass as half full,” she continued.

“We were working in our stores in Calabasas, and I thought this would be a great way to give exposure to our business, as it was like an instant focus group. This was an immediate marketing tool and something that could come in handy for other things.”

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“I knew this was not a gamble,” Kris said.

The origin of the show, which ended its run on E! in 2021 and moved to Hulu as The Kardashians, is something Kris has previously been candid about.

To mark KUWTK‘s 10th anniversary, the family did a sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter. At the time, Kris recalled, “I sat everyone down. And said, ‘If we’re going to do this, we have to be all in. We have to really be who we are.’”

‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ season 7 poster: Kendall Jenner, Rob Kardashian, Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian, Lamar Odom, Khloe Kardashian Odom, Kim Kardashian, Bruce Jenner, Kris Jenner, Kylie Jenner.E! Entertainment

Ryan Seacrest, an executive producer on the series, recalled Kris’ words. “I remember Kris saying, ‘In order for this to work, yes, there’s a glitz and glamour, but there’s got to be honesty and vulnerability. We need to make a pact that the show won’t just be pretty pictures.’”

“There was a deliberate intent to be vulnerable and capture that from the beginning,” Seacrest said.

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The momager did admit at the time that the show has had its challenging moments. “It always occurs to me, maybe this should be left out. Maybe this is too much. Every time I catch myself and I say no, this is what everyone who’s watched since day one deserves to see for one reason or another. We signed up for this.”

The family’s TV footprint is continuing to expand, as Khloé announced a brand-new spinoff series, Calabasas Behind the Gates, earlier this year.

“It’s very exciting, very new, very excellent,” she said of the all-new reality series at a Hulu event in April, where she was joined by Scott Disick. “We’re excited to continue developing.”

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Calabasas Behind the Gates will tell the story of those closest to the famous family — such as friends and neighbors — and Disney executive vice president Rob Mills said of the show, “We all want to know what’s happening behind the gates of Calabasas — who are all these people in the extended lives of the Kardashians?”

“So, we’re developing a show that we’re actually, at least for now, calling Calabasas Behind the Gates.”

Keeping Up with the Kardashians can be streamed in full on Peacock, while The Kardashians can be streamed on Hulu.