Keeping Up With The Kardashians is finally coming to an end and, let’s face it, reality television will never be the same.
On Tuesday September 8, 2020 Kim Kardashian shared a post on Instagram announcing the family’s decision to stop filming the show after 14 years and 20 seasons. The family’s last season will air early 2021.
‘We are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us for all of these years – through the good times, the bad times, the happiness, the tears, and the many relationships and children,’ an excerpt of a caption announcing the news reads.
Read Next
For most devoted fans of the reality series, news of KUWTK's end won’t come as a complete surprise. In recent months, the family have hinted at futures away from the cameras, some have decided to keep areas of their life private while others have recently stepped away from the show altogether.
While the final episode of the show is yet to air, on June 9, 2021 the show dropped its reunion trailer, hosted by TV presenter Andy Cohen. And yes, it's as dramatic as you'd imagine it to be.
In the teaser, the family (minus Rob Kardashian) sit down to receive a grilling from Cohen, including questions about Caitlyn Jenner, Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloé Kardashian and whether the show affected Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick's relationship.
From family dramas to business empires, here are the eight red flags that signalled KUWTK was coming to an end:
1) Kourtney Kardashian quits ‘toxic’ show
After months of speculation, the mother-of-three announced that she would be leaving the reality series for good in July 2020 in order to spend more quality time with her children - Mason Dash, Penelope Scotland, and Reign Aston Disick – and focus on her lifestyle platform, Poosh.
‘I have been filming the show non-stop for 14 years, 19 seasons and six spin-off seasons,’ the star explained to Vogue Arabia last year. ‘I was feeling unfulfilled and it became a toxic environment for me to continue to have it occupy as much of my life as it was.’
‘Life was moving so, so fast, even after taking a break from the show and attempting to slow down and give more time to my kids… It wasn’t until this time that I have been able to learn their needs again, see their strengths, and be able to be connected as deeply as I once was, before juggling so much.’
The news came after episodes of the show showed the eldest Kardashian child embroiled in arguments (and one physical fight with Kim) about her lack of involvement in the series.
In an earlier episode of KUWTK, Kim said this of her sister: ‘Kourtney hasn’t really been open about her personal life on camera’, which she thinks has meant she and Khloé have had to ‘pick up the slack’.
‘Because if we’re not sharing our lives, then what is the show?’ the entrepreneur asked, rhetorically.
2) Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s marriage drama
Earlier this year it was widely reported Kim Kardashian had filed for divorce from her husband of seven years Kanye West.
The split is believed to be amicable and the divorce will honour an existing prenuptial agreement. According to Reuters, representatives for Kardashian have confirmed the reports as have representatives for the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The news came months after West publicly apologised to his wife on Twitter after sharing numerous posts about their private life with his fans.
'To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me,' West signed off a post, days after claiming that he and Kim considered aborting their eldest child North, suggesting that he had tried to divorce Kim and hinting about cheating allegations.
Kim later shared a statement on social media imploring the world to show ‘empathy’ for her husband, referencing his mental health issues.
West only appeared in the reality show a handful of times.
3) Kanye West is running for president
When was the last time you saw a presidential candidate on a reality show? Well, ok, Trump was famously a reality star before his campaign... But not during.
On August 30, 2015, West announced at the VMAs that he would be running for president in 2020 and weeks later reaffirmed to Vanity Fair that he was considering a presidential run.
Last year, he held a now controversial campaign event for his presidency in South Carolina during which he wore a bullet proof vest and spoke about abortion.
After announcing his presidency, West was put on the ballot in 12 states, including Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota.
After rumours that Republicans are paying West to run for president, in an interview with Forbes in July 2020, when asked if he was a spoiler candidate (to siphon votes from presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden) for the upcoming election, West replied: ‘I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.’
According to his first financial report submitted to the Federal Election Commission, West had spent more than $6.7 million (£5.1 million) towards his own campaign.
Whether West runs for president or not in 2024, it’s likely he would like to keep his political affairs out of the limelight and away from his family’s former reality show.
4) Kim Kardashian is expanding her empire
Following the success of KKW Beauty and Skims, we have a feeling the beauty mogul might want to pay more attention to her businesses and the launch of her upcoming lifestyle brand.
E! News recently reported that it has obtained documents about Kim’s decision to expand her business to include homeware.
According to the news outlet, Kim is launching 'towels, shower curtains, textiles for home furnishings, comforters, aromatherapy diffusers, bath products, body sponges, bathroom candles, household containers for storing and organising cosmetics’.
Suffice it to day, the mogul looks set to be pretty darn busy over the next few years with her numerous businesses.
Oh, and let’s not forget that the 40-year-old also hopes to become a lawyer in 2022 after calling on Donald Trump to commute grandmother Alice Johnson’s crime and have her released from a 1996 life sentence for cocaine trafficking last year.
5) Kendall Jenner rarely appears on the show
With a modelling career that sees her fly across the world for runway shows, presentations, photo shoots and lavish film festivals, it’s no wonder Jenner struggles to find time to film with her famous family.
However, when a fan quizzed the stars on why the model and her younger sister Kylie Jenner feature so little on the series in 2019, Khloé Kardashian revealed her younger siblings have entirely different agreements to her older sisters when it comes to shooting commitments.
‘Kendall and Kylie have different contracts. Kourt, Kim and I have an equal contract,’ Khloé explained.
Kendall, who is notoriously more private than her siblings, has been spending more time focussing on her fashion career in recent years and largely stays away from the limelight when she can, preferring to socialise with her close friends.
As a result, it's no wonder she isn't continuing to film the show and there are no signs of a spin-off series focussed on her (despite our prayers that this would be in the pipeline!)
6) Khloé Kardashian rekindles romance with Tristan Thompson
It’s long been speculated that the Good American co-founder and her basketballer ex might be back together after Thompson cheated on her prior to their daughter True’s birth in 2018.
And while Kardashian has downplayed rumours of a reconciliation, revealing on social that she and her ex are happy co-parenting their daughter, recent outings of the couple suggest they might be giving their relationship a second go.
Last year, Kourtney’s ex Scott all but confirmed things were back on for the pair, tagging Tristan on a snap of Khloé with the words ‘a lucky man’.
In recent months, the pair have featured on each other's Instagram accounts countless times, prompting rumours that the pair are officially back together.
Whether the pair are an item or not, in addition to the success of her fashion brand Good American, we have a feeling Khloé may want to dedicate time to her business and family for a while, away from the cameras.
7) Scott Disick has his own reality show
Following the success of Netflix shows like Selling Sunset, it wasn’t too surprising to hear that Disick decided to launch his own house-makeover show, given his love of the finer things in life.
In recent years, the businessman has been buying and selling houses in California, remodelling ultra-luxurious mega-mansions like that of Steve Aoki and giving them the ‘Disick touch’.
Flip It Like Disick premiered on August 4, 2019 to an estimated 455,000 viewers, with ‘momager’ Kris Jenner acting as executive producer on the programme.
‘The truth is that there’s so many people on the “Keeping Up” show, and there’s so much going on, that there’s really not a lot of time to get every single little thing that everybody’s doing,’ Disick recently said in an interview about his show.
Disick was previously in a relationship with Kourtney, with whom he co-parents their three children. He subsequently dated model Sofia Richie, but the pair called time on their romance last year.
8) Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott might be back together
Instead of referencing her family’s show coming to an end on social media, the 23-year-old instead shared photographs of her daughter Stormi and ex Travis Scott on social media. As a result, we have a suspicion Jenner might be glad to see the back of KUWTK in many ways.
Since she and Scott split last year, Jenner has regularly kept her fans guessing as to whether she and the rapper are back together and rarely speaks publicly about their relationship and parenting of their two-year-old.
In addition to keeping her family life somewhat private (let's not forget how long she hid her pregnancy for), it’s likely that the success of her beauty brand Kylie Cosmetics means the star has less time to spend in front of the camera.
The youngest Jenner member has made it clear to fans that she hasn’t been so keen on filming the show in recent years.
In a throwback clip of her reality show Life of Kylie, Jenner told her then-BFF Jordyn Woods: ‘I just don't know who I'm doing it for. It's like I see Kendall, Bella [Hadid] and Hayley [Bieber] they're just out here like every day, they put their outfits together, they're made for this, which isn't a bad thing.
‘They look so good every day. Sometimes I wish I could do what they do but It's like that's not me. I don't want my picture taken, I don't want people to see what outfit I'm wearing. Every time there's paparazzi I cover my face. I would rather wear this hoodie and Heelys and sweats every day.
‘The only reason why I keep it up a little bit is because of Kylie Cosmetics but it's so much pressure. I want to grow as a person the way I wanna grow on the path I want to take.’
20 Rules You Didn’t Know The Kardashians Have To Follow While Filming ‘KUWTK’
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
In need of more inspiration, thoughtful journalism and at-home beauty tips? Subscribe to ELLE's print magazine today! SUBSCRIBE HERE
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
