How much did Paris Hilton make when starring on the reality series The Simple Life and how did that lead to a successful career?
In the last few years, Paris Hilton was in the public eye perhaps more than ever before. She starred in the emotional documentary This Is Paris and shared the sad truth about being abused at the Provo Canyon School. She married Carter Reum and had her first child named Phoenix through a surrogate. And Hilton wrote Paris: The Memoir, which was published in March 2023. Still, it’s hard not to think about the reality show that started Hilton’s career: The Simple Life.
Alongside her co-star and friend Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton learned the ins and outs of living in the country. The show has been the subject of a lot of conversation. The Simple Life could have been fake, and Paris Hilton admitted the secret that she was acting while filming the series. But there’s no denying that the reality show made Paris Hilton a lot of money. And it led to some other great opportunities.
What Was Paris Hilton Paid For The Simple Life?
While The Simple Life had fun celebrity cameos, it also put Paris Hilton on the map. And it gave people something to talk about besides the intimate tape of Hilton and her former boyfriend Rick Salomon, which had been made public in 2003, which is also when The Simple Life premiered.
It’s likely true that reality TV salaries have increased over the past few decades. The earliest reality shows might not have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per season as is the case now. The genre was just getting started. But Paris Hilton was paid a high salary to star in The Simple Life.
via Twitter
According to Parade, Hilton was given $5 million for each season. The publication reported that people don’t think that Nicole Richie was paid the same, although her salary doesn’t seem to be known. And while Richie definitely has money, as Celebrity Net Worth puts her net worth at $40 million, Paris Hilton’s net worth is $300 million.
Even if Paris Hilton had been paid $5 million total for The Simple Life, that would have been a lot of money. But since she is said to have been paid $5 million for every season, and the show lasted for five seasons, she did extremely well.
What Was Paris Hilton’s Career Like When The Simple Life Ended?
It was smart of Paris Hilton to star in The Simple Life because she became very famous as a result. Of course, her last name was always going to get her attention because her great-grandfather started the Hilton Hotel empire. But once The Simple Life was on the air from 2003 to 2007, Hilton had something of her own to talk about.
Her reality TV job led to some acting opportunities like the 2006 movie National Lampoon’s Pledge This! However, it was the 2005 horror movie House Of Wax that really got people’s attention. It was a big deal to see Paris Hilton in this type of film. Her character, Paige Edwards, is one of Vincent’s victims. In this attention-grabbing scene, Paige and her boyfriend Blake Johnson (played by Robert Ri’chard) are camping when Vincent appears. It’s one of the more brutal moments in the movie.
via Warner Bros. Pictures
In an interview with Hollywood.com, Paris Hilton talked about acting She said she had been dreaming about becoming an actress for a long time. She was thrilled that everything came together. She said, “I’ve been training for acting like forever, so it was just easy…I love it. I’ve always wanted to be a movie star since I was like a two-year-old, so this is just a dream come true and I love it. It’s fun.”
Hilton was also interviewed by IGN about House Of Wax. The article mentioned that when Hilton’s character Paige is killed in the movie, people clapped. When asked about that, Hilton said, “I think they just think it was a good scene, so I don’t think people don’t like me. I think people like me.”
In the past few years, Paris Hilton has gone back to her reality TV background. She starred in the Netflix series Cooking With Paris where she shared her joys and failures in the kitchen as she tried to learn to cook. She also had her celebrity friends join her.
via: Instar
Hilton also starred in Paris In Love, a Peacock reality series that focused on her wedding to Carter Reum.
The star definitely stays very busy and has a line of perfume, cookware, and clothing. She also has a podcast called “This Is Paris” where she interviews celebrities ranging from Rob Lowe to Noah Centineo. She also talks about lighter topics like Christmas, fashion, and celebrating New Year’s Eve.
How Does Paris Hilton Feel About The Simple Life Now?
Considering the fact that The Simple Life came out 20 years ago, it must be pretty wild for Paris Hilton to look back on that part of her life. She told Good Morning America that she appreciates that people still love the show. It seems like she really loves hearing people say that they are going back and rewatching episodes.
Hilton said, “It’s so amazing just how timeless that show is and generation after generation just love it.”
In 2022, Rob Lowe interviewed Paris Hilton for his podcast “Literally! with Rob Lowe” which fans can watch on YouTube. She shared some great stories about filming The Simple Life. Right away, Hilton said that as this was an early reality series, she didn’t know what would happen, and shooting it was “fun.”
Via YouTube
The Simple Life was such a defining time in Hilton’s life that it even factored into how she thought about starting a family. In 2023, she was interviewed by Glamour UK and she explained that she watched a baby come into the world and felt afraid. And that is why she hired a surrogate.
Hilton told Glamour UK, “When I was in The Simple Life, I had to be in a room when a woman was giving birth and that traumatized me as well. But I want a family so bad, it’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared… childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world.”
