Kim Kardashian has described Caitlyn Jenner’s transition as ‘TV gold’ during a discussion about the differences between reality and scripted television. Speaking on the latest episode of The Kardashians, the family’s Hulu series, Kim reflected on how Caitlyn’s public coming out as a transgender woman in 2015 provided compelling content for their former reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
In a confessional interview, Kim said she felt more pressure filming a scripted show because of the ‘judging meter’ on acting ability, whereas reality TV involves ‘just living your life’. She added that viewers can be disappointed when a reality star’s life becomes calm, quipping: ‘It’s like, what happened to the days when your stepdad turns into a woman? That was TV gold.’
Kim had previously made similar remarks on The Graham Norton Show, claiming that the intrigue surrounding Caitlyn’s transition helped keep Keeping Up with the Kardashians running for two more seasons. She said: ‘Once, when we wondered what might happen next, my stepdad turned into a woman and there were two more seasons right there.’
However, Kim also acknowledged the difficulty of handling Caitlyn’s transition in the public eye. During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she described it as the ‘hardest thing’ her family had to go through publicly, noting that her mother Kris Jenner did not know how to handle it and that her sisters Kendall and Kylie felt they were ‘losing their father’. She recalled learning about the transition for the first time while trying to be supportive and avoiding saying anything offensive, all while cameras were rolling.
