Jennifer Lopez Once Said That She Refused to Be a Reality TV Star
Jennifer Lopez showed that she was willing to dabble in all aspects of the entertainment industry, from movies to music. When it came to reality TV, however, that was one genre Lopez once felt would do more harm than good to her career.
What Jennifer Lopez once felt about reality TV
Lopez wasn’t always too keen on doing a reality TV series. In fact, one of the reasons she was advised against doing American Idol was because there was concern it’d reduce her to a reality TV star. Which was seen as a step down from her prolific film career.
“American Idol was a big show at the time. It really comes down to, ‘What do I think I can bring to something?’ When all of my advisers were like, ‘Don’t do this, you’re going to be reduced to just a reality star,’” she remembered her team telling her on Interview.
“It was looked down upon,” she added about American Idol. “’Don’t do that or nobody will ever hire you for a movie ever again.’ And I was just like, ‘No. I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen.’”
A couple of years before Lopez’s American Idol debut, however, she rejected the idea of doing reality television. Lopez felt doing so would’ve ruined the mystique she created for herself as an artist.
“I want to act and make music, but I want people to be able to interpret it on their own terms,” Lopez once told Advocate. “I don’t want people to know too much about me. That’s the great thing about the old movie stars and singers: There was an air of mystery about them. Marc and I try to maintain as much of a private life in this public arena as we can.”
It’s worth noting, however, that Lopez did say she wouldn’t do a reality show about her life. Although American Idol fell into that category, it wasn’t as personal as shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians. The hit talent show gave Lopez the opportunity to connect with fans in a different way while still maintaining her personal boundaries.
Jennifer Lopez once led her own reality TV show
American Idol wasn’t the only reality show the “I’m Real” singer did. She once developed and produced her own show World of Dance. In the NBC show, Lopez and a panel of judges would mentor a roster of aspiring professional dancers as they competed for a $1 million prize. But World of Dance had as much impact on Lopez as it had on its contestants, reminding the singer the value of maintaining modesty.
“With World of Dance, it takes you back to the beginning and reminds you to stay that way — stay fresh, stay new, stay hopeful, to know that there’s more to go, that there are dreams to accomplish and how good that feels, that the journey is the biggest part of your life, not so much the destination,” she once told Entertainment Weekly about the series.
Additionally, Lopez was once all set to star in a TLC documentary which would’ve focused on her personal life behind the scenes. The series would culminate with the release of a fragrance line Lopez created at the time.
“I think it’ll be something very exciting,” she once said according to Reuters.
Jennifer Lopez showed fans another side of herself to ‘American Idol’
In the end, Lopez was glad she was able to open herself up to fans on the reality competition series. Although her team was right about American Idol changing her career, Lopez felt that it changed it for the better.
“When I did American Idol, people actually got to see me, my personality, who I really was, and see me talk for myself and how I felt about music and what I do and love, that I’m a good person who has emotions and feelings,” she said. “They saw me for who I really was and not what people were writing about me, and I think that changed and people started relating to me in a different way. That was a big change for my career and how people perceived me.”
