Paris Hilton Claims She Was Playing a ‘Character’ During ‘The Simple Life’

In preparation of her upcoming documentary on YouTube entitled This Is Paris, Paris Hilton spoke at the Winter TCA press tour and opened up about some of her previous shows, specifically, The Simple Life. The hotel heiress admitted that she took on a persona during that series and wasn’t herself.

“It follows me in my real life, everything I’ve done before was me playing a character,” she said at the event. “I was talking about things that are very hard to talk about. It was an amazing experience but it was very scary. I was freaking out.”

The Simple Life debuted back in 2003 and ran until 2007. The reality show spotlighted Hilton alongside her friend Nichole Richie taking on low-paying jobs and struggling to do so.

The series didn’t do much good in shining a positive spotlight on the two as they often seemed helpless and clueless at times. Hilton said she knew she had to play up her “character” and realized what the public reaction would be as a result.

“I was in on the joke,” she noted. “Sometimes it is annoying people assuming I am the blonde airhead that I played on the show, but I like proving people wrong.”

Having experienced that side of Hollywood, Hilton was eager to get things back on her side and show the world that she isn’t the “airhead” she described her character as being. The documentary will show a side that not many people have seen and she hopes it comes as a breath of fresh air for the viewers.

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life,” she explained. “In this film I discuss things I’ve never discussed before. I hope that people are going to see who I truly am.”

Outside of the filming process and her press tour, Hilton recently made her public debut with her new boyfriend, Carter Reum. The two were seen inside at the InStyle and Warner Bros. annual party earlier in January. Reum is a tech startup entrepreneur and investor, and according to the article, is in good company as he’s in the friend circle of Gwyneth Paltrow’s.

“They are very happy together,” an insider told E! News. “They met through friends, and everyone is saying what a great couple they make.”

This Is Paris, which will be directed by Alexandra Dean after her work with Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, will premiere on YouTube in May.