The Simple Life star Nicole Richie doesn’t think a reboot in today’s age would serve the series well due to increased competition and phone usage.
The Simple Life star Nicole Richie doesn’t think a reboot in today’s age would serve the series well. Fans met the daughter of music superstar Lionel Richie when she appeared in a first-of-its-kind show alongside her best friend, Paris Hilton. The reality program that showcases two wealthy socialites as they struggle to do manual, blue-collared jobs aired from December 2003 to August 2007. The first three seasons ran on FOX, with the final two airing on E!.
At-home entertainment looked a little different back then, so when Paris and Nicole starred in a show that flipped their normal life upside down, many viewers were immediately attracted to the program. In fact, the show didn’t have much competition as reality TV was a new concept at the time. Since then, many networks have tried to create unofficial remakes without Nicole and Paris, but it hasn’t taken off in the way The Simple Life did. Since the show’s cancellation, Paris has become an international DJ and starting a cooking series for Netflix. Nicole on the other hand, founded a lifestyle brand called House of Harlow and published two fiction novels.
In a new interview with ET, Nicole discussed why she believes her time on The Simple Life was such a success. While Nicole was reflecting on her blast from the past, she admitted that while she’d love for the show to get a second chance on the TV screen, it wouldn’t logistically work.
First of all… there were only two reality shows before then. It was The Osbournes and The Real World, and this show wasn’t that, so it was a completely new concept altogether. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into or where we were going. And I think one of my favorite things about The Simple life and one of my favorite things about doing it was, it really took us out of our everyday lives and put us in somebody else’s world so I was always able to maintain a level of privacy and able to have my own life.”
“I think it would be hard now because we’re older and we have traveled and we have been everywhere. So, I think that concept was so great because you were able to take people’s phones away for a month. I think if you took someone’s phone away right now, you’d have to have a therapist on site and make sure they were OK. No one’s trying to deal with all that, including me. So, I think it would be a such a different thing.”
Nicole is now enjoying life with her two kids, daughter Harlow, 13, and son Sparrow, 11, and her husband, Joel Madden. When she was asked if she’d allow her children to star in their own reality show, the former TV personality was skeptical. “I think it would be a different thing going into it now, it just depends on what it is,” she admits. “But if my kids said to me, ‘I want to try this new thing that hasn’t been done before.’ You just say… Well, obviously now they’re preteen, so I’m going to say no. But yeah, if they’re 18 and they want to go do whatever it is, as long as if feels good and authentic to them, I’m fine with it.” That said, Nicole doesn’t really envision reality TV, fashion, or music in her kids’ futures. She just hopes they find the thing they’re most passionate about in life and follows that dream wholeheartedly.
Watching Nicole gush about her children is incredibly heartwarming and slightly hilarious as her relationship with them has funny little quirks. For example, Nicole admitted that her daughter has started to love her mom’s sense of style and has begun stealing her clothes. Since then, Nicole has taken a sharpie to her fashionable items marking them with the letter N, so her daughter knows to keep her sticky fingers away. It’s wild to see how much Nicole has grown up since The Simple Life days, but that’s just what happens when life really is that simple.
Source: ET
