Kourtney Kardashian is the true mastermind behind her famous family’s star power, a brand new book taking a look at Kris Jenner’s life has revealed.
While Kim Kardashian is undoubtedly the most famous in the family – and perhaps most recognisable person on the planet – she might not have been a household name had it not been for her older sister.
Dirty Sexy Money: The Unauthorized Biography of Kris Jenner, takes a look back at the Kardashian matriarch’s life – and the family’s rise to fame.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which is airing its final season later this month, made the family known around the globe.
Kourtney was the first star among the Kardashian sisters (Image: Getty Images North America)
But it turns out Kourtney, who is now known to be the least on-board with television work, was the first star in the family.
The new book, written by Cathy Griffin and Dylan Howard, tells the story of how Kourtney landed a spot on the short-lived reality show Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive.
And because of her hard work and determination on the show – which put wealthy socialites to work on a remote US ranch – she had some sway with television bosses.
The Kardashian-Jenners are the most famous family in the world (Image: Getty Images North America)
Television producer Brady Connell, who has worked on shows such as The Amazing Race as well as Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive, spoke very highly of Kourtney.
“Shortly after the show was cancelled, Kourtney called me and asked for a meeting to pitch a show,” he said, according to Dirty Sexy Money.
She turned up without Kris or Kim, instead bringing her best friend and Filthy Rich co-star Courtenay Semel, the daughter of former Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel.
Kris Jenner had been desperate to get her girls on television (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
And the show Kourt was pitching was of no interest to Connell, who was “more interested in outdoor transformational reality shows”.
Despite Kourtney not landing the show with Connell, Kris continued shopping it around Hollywood the following year.
At the time, their step-brother Brody Jenner was a familiar face on reality TV as a cast member on The Hills, and Kim even filmed a cameo which ended up being cut.
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Kourtney was on television long before Kim (Image: Getty Images for PCA)
Before long, all of the Kardashian girls – including Khloe Kardashian – thought a reality show was a good idea to “catapult their stores to greater success”, as they ran fancy boutiques back then.
The girls was put forward to producers who were on the hunt for a Hollywood family to front a new reality show for the E! Network.
And, despite the rumour being that Kim’s leaked sex tape was the thing to seal the deal for the reality show, showbiz agent John Ferriter has said that was not the case.
“It was of zero important to getting the show on the air,” he said. “How the video was utilised after the fact, I have no idea.”
Either way, the show launched in 2007 and spawned a number of spin-offs as well as millions of viewers worldwide.
It was announced last year that the upcoming 20th season would be the final run, though Kourtney had been filming less and less in recent years.
Dirty Sexy Money: The Unauthorized Biography of Kris Jenner is available now
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
