These Women Earn Big Bucks For Their Reality Shows

Since the birth of reality shows, audiences worldwide have been glued to their TV sets and eventually to the internet to follow their favorite stars around in their on-cam and off-cam life. The appeal of reality shows to people stems from the thought that the supposed real-life drama that unfolds in celebrities’ daily living comes alive right before their very eyes. The various locations to where viewers are taken add a somewhat vicarious experience that is more realistic than your typical made-for-TV film or soap opera. Reality show stars seem very much willing to exchange their privacy for popularity and ratings, and at a price that will make you whistle in awe. Their show has helped a great deal in building their personal brand that is evident in their endorsements and the businesses that they have. Get to know America’s top earning reality darlings and be star-struck even more by their glamor and the millions that they rake in.

7^th – Bethenny Frankel, $8.5 million

She is the former Forbes cover star and one of the original stars of The Real Housewives of New Work City. The American reality TV personality has also appeared on other reality shows like The Apprentice: Martha Stewart and was the subject of the series Bethenny Ever After. But this lady brings so much more to the table by way of her other hats — from being a talk show host, author, and a chef, and to a highly successful entrepreneur. Frankel built the Skinnygirl cocktail company in 2011 which she later sold to Fortune Brands’ Beam Global for around $100 million.

I went on onto reality TV as a business decision.” – Bethenny Frankel

6^th– Kourtney Kardashian, $10 million

The eldest among the Kardashian sisters may not make that much money compared to her mother and sisters, but she surely brings in a lot of cash from their reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians and its spin-offs. Aside from the reality show, Kourtney makes good money from her Manuka Doctor skincare product endorsements and Kardashian Beauty. The TV personality, model, and socialite has been involved with her sisters in running their own clothing and fragrance collection, as well as a jewelry line that characterizes their Armenian heritage.

5^th– Kris Jenner, $11.5 million

The American TV personality rose to fame for starring in Keeping Up With The Kardashians as the matriarch of the family. She was formerly married to lawyer Robert Kardashian. When the show started, she was seen married to former Olympic champion Bruce Jenner (now known as Caitlyn), and the show was still running when the two got a divorce in 2015. The TV exposure has earned her both popularity and fortune, which helped her grow her business as a producer, talent manager, and entrepreneur. The socialite acts as the agent of her children, and professionally, she derives a hefty amount of earnings from managing the careers of her Kardashian and Jenner kids.

4^th– Khloe Kardashian, $15 million

The middle child earns a bit more than her mother and elder sister, thanks to Keeping Up With The Kardashians and its spin-offs, and a host of endorsements. Along with the rest of her Kardashian sisters, Khloe is involved in the retail and fashion industries and their own clothing, fragrances, and jewelry line. She was formerly married to basketball player Lamar Odom, with whom she did a reality show (another spin-off of Keeping Up) until the two became estranged. She also appeared on the second season of The Celebrity Apprentice where she finished 10^th among sixteen candidates. Her talk show Kocktails with Khloe didn’t fly, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing another project called Revenge Body With Khloe Kardashian.

People will hate you, rate you, shake you and break you. But how strong you stand is what makes you.”- Khloe Kardashian

3^rd– Kendall Jenner, $17 million

The eldest among Kris Jenner’s daughter with Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner, the twenty-one-year-old Kendall is now considered as one of the highest paid models in America. Several years ago, she was seen in the show as the more quiet kid and teenager of the Kardashian-Jenner household, but it was just a matter of time when she would become all grown up and trying to be independent. With her huge social media following, Kendall has become a model at a period labeled by Vogue as the “Instagirl era” and by Harper’s Bazaar as the “Social Media Modeling.” By the end of 2016, she has become one of the top 10 most followed celebs on Instagram with close to seventy million followers.

2^nd– Kylie Jenner, $18 million

The Kardashian and Jenner sisters

Kylie grew up in the reality show of the family, and now, at nineteen years old, she has made a name for herself like her older sister and is also one of the ten most followed celebrities on Instagram. Though she does a bit of modeling like Kendall, Kylie focuses her attention more on designing clothes (she collaborated with PacSun clothing line) and getting busy with her own cosmetics line named Kylie Cosmetics. Aside from these involvements, she earns from her Kylie Jenner app which reached number 1 on the iTunes App Store and from the Kendall & Kylie game. It’s no wonder why this entrepreneur has her hands full this early.

Kim had monetized fame better than any other celebrity.”– Forbes

1^st– Kim Kardashian West, $53 million

One of the Time’s 100 most influential people in 2015 and one of the most followed celebrities on Instagram and Twitter in 2016, Forbes declared that Kim had monetized fame better than any other celebrity. With her earnings from Keeping Up With The Kardashians combined with money from the Kardashian Collection and Kardashian Beauty cosmetics line, tanning products, and the DASH boutique, as well as the Sears line. She was able to double her earnings in just two years from 2014, and a lot has to do with her digital presence – with several sponsored Instagram and Twitter posts, Kim has doubled her earnings in a span of two years from 2014. As if this weren’t enough, it was reported that forty percent of her paycheck comes from the income generated by her apps – from a mobile game app, an emoji app, and her subscription-based personal app.

And there you have it – the richest American reality stars. They all know how to capitalize on their fame and only do what they enjoy doing – and get paid for it, too!