Paris and Nicole Get New Lease on “Life”
Their friendship may be a thing of the past, but Life goes on for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.Â
After enjoying a major ratings boost courtesy of the fourth installment of the dueling duo’s reality series, E! Entertainment Television has ordered another season of The Simple Life for 2007, the network announced Tuesday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California. (E! Online and E! Entertainment Television are divisions of E! Networks.)
E! acquired the series last year, after it was dropped by Fox. Simple Life 4: ‘Til Death Do Us Part, which debuted last month, features Hilton and Richie putting their own spin on domesticity–separately.
Lest viewers be under the mistaken impression that what they see on the show is for real–it being a reality series by definition–Hilton was quick to clear up that misconception in a recent interview.
“Simple Life is a reality show and people might assume it’s real. But it’s fake,” Hilton told London’s The Sun. “All reality shows are fake basically. When you have a camera on you, you are not going to act yourself.”
Backing up her own theory, the hotel heiress turned recording artist revealed that the Paris Hilton she plays on TV is a character she created and nothing at all like the real Paris Hilton.
“Before I started the show I thought I’d make a character like the movies Legally Blonde and Clueless mixed together, with a rich girl all-in-one,” she explained.
“Even my voice is different and the way I dress is different from me in real life. It’s a character I like to play. I think it’s carefree and happy. The public think they know me but they really don’t.”
They may not agree on much, but Richie shares Hilton’s opinion that her Simple Life persona is not necessarily representative of her true personality.
“It’s a character,” Richie told TV Guide. “Paris plays the bombshell who doesn’t know a lot of things, and I play the jokester. That’s what the show’s about.”
Despite the well-publicized rift between the ex-friends, Richie has chosen to take the high road when it comes to discussing her relationship with Hilton.
“You have to understand that, regardless of Paris’ announcement a year ago that we are no longer friends, we really haven’t been friends in maybe three years,” she told TV Guide. “We grew apart. It’s that simple, in my eyes.”
However, Richie said she has no problem maintaining a professional relationship with Hilton.
“I’m very used to working with somebody who I don’t get along with,” she said. “Work is work.”
Good thing, because this is one job both Hilton and Richie are required to show up for–it’s in their contracts.
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