Being Kendra_ Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back - Kendra Wilkinson [76]
Let’s say on August 15 I film a scene where I’m driving in my car and I get stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and am late for an interview (50 percent chance that will happen this week or today, FYI!) and have a complete panic attack. The producers love that. It’s real, it’s relatable, and frankly, who doesn’t get all freaked out about being stuck in traffic when you need to be somewhere? So the story department will come back to me a month later and say, “We really like that scene you did, but we didn’t get quite what we needed, so we need you to be in the same outfit from that day, and we’re going to have to go out and get in a traffic jam on that same highway, but we need you to be angrier and more out of control.” So we’d have to drive back out and find the traffic jam (which, in L.A., isn’t that hard to do) and I’d have to react to the traffic jam again. It’s basically cleaning up the first month.
I try to give them what they need that first month. I try to be funny. I’m never fake. But I might push the envelope a little. Look, if I’m stuck in an hour-long traffic jam, my reaction is going to be frustration, anger, and panic. There’s no faking that. And if you drag me out to that traffic jam a month later, believe me, I will have the same reaction, if not harsher and even more pissed.
E! is kind of known as one of the glamorous cable networks, showing you the other side of celebrity. They get kind of angry with me sometimes because I don’t wear makeup and I wear sweats all the time. MTV is aimed at college-aged kids and younger, Bravo is all about the fashion and rich housewives, and E! has a little more personality and glam. They are looking for personality, pretty people, and really interesting stories. They are also looking for someone who looks good. I look good, but I don’t like makeup and I don’t like my hair done and I don’t like to wear high heels and tight Herve Leger dresses. I’m not a glamorous person at all, so if I wore that kind of stuff you’d know I was being fake. But look at everyone else on E!; comparatively I look like someone from Teen Mom. Sometimes I do have to suck it up and put on makeup in the morning to shoot.
Before shooting the fourth season, my executive producer, Kevin Burns, called me and said, “I would like to see more makeup on you and I would like for you to dress a little better this season.” He’s a really good friend and like a family member to me, but when he goes into work mode and tells me to wear more makeup it does offend me. My initial reaction is, “Wait. One of my friends is telling me not to be me.” Then I have to take a step back and think about why he’s telling me that. We’re trying to sell something—me. The whole “sex sells” thing really does exist. The Kardashians rule E! because they are the glamorous ones. They’re gorgeous and sexy and wear tight clothes and a ton of makeup, and they talk about sex, and dating, and bodily fluids—pretty much anything goes with regard to the female species in the Kardashian world. They play it up on the show. Then you go to my show and I’m like the biggest scrub of them all. And I burp and change giant number two diapers. My executive producer is worried because he fears that I’m not glamorous enough to keep a show running on E!. He just wants the best for me. He wants me to keep my job. He feels like he is saving me by telling me to put more makeup on. He’s probably right. I probably would be more successful if I dressed the part. I know the Kardashians get higher ratings than I do, but I can’t imagine that has anything to do with makeup.
At the end of the day I have fans who love me for being me. The network has allowed me to stay true to myself and I think people love that. And year after