A life lived on camera

Celebrated as reality TV royalty, their reign ends with season 20 of ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’, on E! Entertainment. We revisit some of their most memorable moments on the show, writes DEBASHINE THANGEVELO

IT’S been a journey and Eight episodes later, viewers then some with the were not just hooked, they Kardashians. It was on were hungry for more. And October 14, 2007, when so the cameras became a Ryan Seacrest introduced us part of the Kardashian clan’s to the blended Kardashian- daily life. Fans and detractors Jenner family with Keeping were drawn to the scandals, up with the Kardashians on E!

Season one centred on Kris and Bruce Jenner, sisters Kim, Khloé and Kourtney, their brother, Rob, half-siblings, Kendall and Kylie as well as their respective romantic partners. Eight episodes later, viewers were not just hooked, they were hungry for more. And so the cameras became a part of the Kardashian clan’s daily life. Fans and detractors were drawn to the scandals, breakups, hookups, personal struggles, emotional meltdowns and cat fights.

Below are 20 milestone moments

1 - Kim tied the knot with NBA player, Kris Humphries, on August 20, 2011. I mean, this was the stuff that fairytales are made of. No expense was spared. She walked down the aisle in a custom-designed strapless Vera Wang ball gown. Aside from a guest list including the who’s who in the industry, this wedding, which featured as a two-part episode in the sixth season of the reality show, wasn’t without drama as Khloé was disinvited after a heated argument with Kim. Not long after the newly-weds became a laughing stock when they decided to end their marriage – after 72 days.

2 - Rob suffered from a serious failure to launch. While his sisters were growing in their respective careers, he hopped from one bad business idea to the next. His studies also fell by the wayside. The only modicum of success he showed was when he was a contestant in season 13 of Dancing with the Stars in 2011. He was paired with two-time champion Cheryl Burke. He got to second place in the competition.

3 - Kim started dating rapper and long-time best friend, Kanye West, in 2012 when she was, technically, still married as her divorce wasn’t finalised. It was on June 3, 2013, that her divorce was finalised. On her 33rd birthday, Kanye popped the question. That was a big deal. He flew the entire family to San Francisco, where he set up a birthday surprise for Kim at AT&T Park. The couple tied the knot on May 24, 2014 in Italy. This time, her wedding gown was designed by Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy. This big event aired in season 9.

4 - Remember the movie, You, Me and Dupree. Well, Khloé had to deal with such a situation when Rob moved back in with her and Lamar in season 7. While her hubby was chilled about it, she was not. In fact, she took great umbrage with him using her garage as a storage unit. They had several fights over him being utterly rude to her. Eventually, Lamar had to step in as the man of the house.

5 - In season 10, Kim and Khloé went to Armenia to learn more about their ancestors. And in 2019, Kim returned with her family. She was baptised, along with three of her four children, at Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat, which is one of the oldest churches in the world. It was built in 301 AD.

Kim, Khloé and Kourtney

6 - While the Kardashians have their fair share of fans and trolls, Kendall found herself the target of a stalker but wasn’t sure whether or not to prosecute the unstable fan. This was at the start of season 13. In the same season, Kendall, who was named the highest-paid model in the world by Forbes in 2017, was also worried about the impact of a bad review from Vogue on her modelling career. Interestingly, it wasn’t her last run-in with a stalker.

7 - In 2016, Kim was robbed at gunpoint at Hôtel de Pourtalès. She was attending Paris Fashion Week. In the days leading up to the event, she was reportedly showing off her valuables. She was relieved of jewellery valued at millions of dollars. The trauma of the event led to the star going off all all social media for three months. The aftermath was documented in season 13.

Caitlyn Jenner

8 - Season 15 of Keeping up with the Kardashians was one of the most jaw-dropping ones. Aside from Kris and Bruce divorcing, rumours of his transition to a female were confirmed. Towards the end of the season, Bruce came out as a trans woman in a 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer in April 2015. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, she made the July 2015 cover of Vanity Fair. The headline read: “Call me Caitlyn”. Prior to her 20/20 interview, a two-part special titled Keeping Up with the Kardashians: About Bruce was made. The tribe turned on her, which explains why she’s no longer a part of the show.

Kendall and kylie Jenner

THE SPIN-OFF SHOWS

Kourtney and Kim Take Miami (2009)

Kourtney and Kim Take New York (2011)

Khloé & Lamar (2011)

Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons (2014)

Dash Dolls (2015)

Rob & Chyna (2016)

Life of Kylie (2017)

Flip It Like Disick (2019)

9 - Talk about unlucky in love. Khloé has the tears, angry outbursts and revenge body to prove it. She’s just never been able to find “the one”. A month after meeting basketball player, Lamar Odom, at a party, they tied the knot. But Odom’s substance abuse issues and infidelity eventually led to her filing for a divorce on December 13, 2013. Not long after filing for her divorce, she started an on-again, off again relationship with French Montana, eventually parting ways in December 2014. Her next rebound relationship was with basketball player, James Harden. It lasted eight months. It isn’t very clear when she started to date Tristan Thompson, another basketball player (spot the trend). And it looked like she was finally happy, having given birth to their daughter, True Thompson, on April 12, 2018. Sadly, last February, she found out that he cheated on her with Kylie’s best friend, Jordyn Woods.

10 - Of all the members in the Kardashian clan, Rob is probably the most unsuccessful. He’s what you would call the black sheep of the family. He’s had several failed relationships, the first being with actress Adrienne Bailon. They dated from 2007 to 2009. In October 2012, he had a short fling with Rita Ora, which ended in December. And then in January 2016, he started dating model Blac Chyna. This is where things got somewhat murky as she used to date rapper Tyga. They separated in 2014 when Tyga started dating Kylie. So there was understandable beef between the Kardashian sisters and Chyna. Let’s just say, plenty of stuff went down in season 12. But they reached a sort of understanding when Chyna got pregnant with Rob’s daughter. Shortly after he also proposed to her. Dream was born in November 2016. They even landed their own reality spinoff show, Rob and Chyna. However, it was a short-lived as their tumultuous relationship.

11 - As far as success stories go, Kylie set a benchmark with hers. The model, socialite and businesswoman – along with sister Kendall – was named most influential teen by Time Magazine in 2014 and 2015. This isn’t surprising, though. At age 14, along with Kendall, they partnered with PacSun and launched their own clothing line. Kylie then launched her own cosmetics line, Kylie Cosmetics. She’s also partnered with her sisters on the cosmetics line. Let’s not forget Kylie Skin, which launched last year. It was a great year for her, clearly, as, according to Forbes, her net worth made her the youngest self-made billionaire at just 21.

After her public split from Tyga, Kylie started dating Travis Scott. They met at Coachella, where he was performing on tour. A month later, suspicions of the two being a couple were confirmed when they were spotted at the Met Gala. What really threw fans and the media for a loop was how well Kylie hid her pregnancy. In fact, it was on February 4, 2018, when the couple announced their daughter, Stormi, was born at the beginning of the month.

13 - Even though Kylie and Travis split up, when Covid-19 hit, they were found to be. While she claims they were just coparenting, perhaps there is more to this. We will probably have to wait until season 20 to find out.

14 - The first-born in the family, Kourtney’s rocky relationship with bad boy Scott, who is also the father of her children, has been part of the ongoing drama on the show. Last year, she released Poosh, a lifestyle website.

15 - Kris is the mother of momagers. She’s been managing her daughters’ careers with military precision and care. She is the glue that holds the clan together. There’s no two ways about it. But she’s had In season three, she was upset when Khloé got a DNA test to confirm that Kris is her biological mother. Of course, that was not the only question mark.

16 - Fame doesn’t mean freedom to do whatever. That was the lesson Kendall and Kylie learnt when they launched a vintage Rock vs Rap T-Shirt line, where they put their superimposed faces over images of icons like The Notorious BIG, Tupac Shakur, Metallica, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Ozzy Osbourne, and Led Zeppelin, in 2017. This didn’t go down well at all. They got serious backlash from fans and celebrities alike. Sharon Osbourne was among those seriously displeased with the line. The sisters eventually apologised and pulled the shirts from retail.

17 - Scott is a rich playboy. He has been a part of the lives of the Kardashians since their early days of fame. However, his relationships with family members have not always been easygoing. He’s had his fair share of run ins with Kris, Khloé and Kim. But he’s not a bad boy in every sense of the word, despite his issues with substance abuse. He’s a great father. He’s also tried to be there for Rob. And he shares a pretty close bond with Khloé, too. Where he did seriously rock the boat, though, was in season 15 when he introduced Sofia Richie to the family without Kourtney’s consent. Ouch!

18 After her divorce from Bruce, Kris moved on with Corey Gamble after meeting in Ibiza at Tisci’s 40th birthday party. However, it wasn’t easy for him to be openly accepted into the clan. In fact, in season 16, Khloé didn’t trust Corey while on a family trip to Palm Springs. Aside from this making things pretty awkward, it left Kris terribly hurt.

19 - With Covid-19 disrupting 2020 for everyone, the Kardashians were not spared either. After concerns about contracting the virus, Khloé tested positive in season 19 of the series. South Africans are currently watching this season. What was harder for her was the fact that she couldn’t be present for the birth of her bestie Malika’s firstborn.

20 - The talk of the current season 19 has been around feuding sisters, Kendall and Kylie. Even though Kris tried to ease the tension by planning a trip to Palm Springs, these two couldn’t seem to put their differences aside. What was the fight about? Apparently, the two sisters really got into it after Kylie refused to drop Kendall off after a night out in Palm Springs. But there were underlying issues between the two, some accredited it to tardiness and others to a clash over an outfit. Sadly, Corey found himself trapped in the middle of it, trying to pry these two off each other. Of course, this isn’t the first time, things got physical with the sisters. Remember the altercation between Kourtney and Kim last season?

Kris and Bruce Jenner