Reality television represents a unique sphere on the small screen, as basically anything is on the table. Through the years, fans have seen reality shows like Survivor, Flavor of Love, and even Welcome to Plathville gain legions of followers thanks to standing out from the pack.
In the 2000s, Paris Hilton was everywhere, and it was only a matter of time before she got a show of her own. Along with Nicole Richie, Hilton starred on The Simple Life, which many fans remember fondly. The show was entertaining, but how much of it was completely fake? Let's take a closer look at the show and see.
Paris Hilton Was Everywhere In The 2000s
Unless you were around to see it, it is really to hard imagine just how popular Paris Hilton was during the 2000s. This was during a time before social media was what it is today, meaning that famous figures weren't quite as accessible and up-to-the-second info wasn't always available. Despite this, Paris dominated the headlines.
Coming from a filthy rich family certainly afforded her the chance to live a life of luxury, but Hilton's time in the headlines made her plenty of bank on her own. Since her initial rise to fame, she has had her hand in a number of lucrative ventures, and while she is not as wildly famous as she once was, everyone still knows exactly who she is.
During the height of her fame, Hilton would star on a reality show that was both hilarious and over-the-top in nature.
'The Simple Life' Was A Hit Show
Back in 2003, The Simple Life made its debut on the small screen, and it looked to capitalize on all of the media coverage that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were generating on a regular basis. This was a stroke of genius by the network, as the show wound up becoming a success in no time.
Hilton and Richie were longtime friends before the show began airing, and they were a dynamic duo while the cameras were rolling. Despite the show's silliness, people simply could not get enough of watching these two posh public figures venture out to rural locations for a taste of the country life.
For 5 seasons and 55 episodes, The Simple Life was a mainstay on the small screen. Eventually, it reached its end, and suddenly, fans were scrambling to get their hands on the show's DVDs so that they could rewatch episodes and also catch a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that didn't make it onto the show.
Now, because it is a reality show from the 2000s, many people have started to wonder just how real The Simple Life actually was.
How Much Of It Was Staged?
So, just how much of The Simple Life was staged? Well, like most other reality shows, plenty of things about this reality television offering were fake.
Paris and Nicole's personalities, for instance, were manufactured on the show. Paris opened up about this, saying, "They said, 'Nicole you play the trouble maker, Paris you play the ditzy airhead.' We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into or what a huge success it would be and that I'd have to continue playing this character for five years."
"You kind of just get trapped in that character when you have to continue doing it on a TV show... I think if I was my serious self on the show it wouldn't have been such a huge success. I don't mind because I feel like I really parlayed it into a huge business and it was a lot of fun," she continued.
According to one reporter, Camp Shawnee from season 5 was completely fake. The List, via Reality Blurred, not that, "The season was actually filmed at Malibu's Camp JCA Shalom, referencing a no-longer-active blog that said the campers were not 'real.' In addition, the actual camp allegedly confirmed it had been paid by E!, and they planned to use that money 'to provide better services for their real campers.'"
Other alleged fake moments on the show include the spilled milk scene from the dairy farm episode, the ashes from the funeral home episode, and the fact that the girls actually got lost in the mountains.
A lot of The Simple Life proved to be fake, but honestly, the show was super entertaining and it kept people coming back for more, so good on them.
