Caitlyn Jenner defended her famous children after none of them showed up when she was eliminated from the U.K. reality series I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here earlier this month. Jenner said she also apologized to them after the show’s fans criticized them online. The former Olympian said she never expected Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner or her other children to be there due to their own busy schedules.
“My family are very well-known,” Jenner told The Daily Mail in an interview published Monday. “I never asked any of them to come down or expected them to… they all have businesses and families.”
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“I was disappointed they were criticized,” Jenner continued. “After the show was over, I texted or called all the kids to apologize.”
Jenner was voted off I’m A Celebrity during the Dec. 6 episode and she was not greeted by any of her family members. She did reunite with friend Sophia Hutchins at her hotel later though.
“Just got out of the jungle, and actually getting hair and makeup done, and boy do I need it! I haven’t had it in weeks, but when I came out of the jungle I had a lot of friends there,” Jenner said on her Instagram Story at the time, reports Us Weekly. “I had a big surprise when I got to the hotel … Sophia’s here! Yay!”
Kendall and Kylie also sent Jenner balloons spelling out “Welcome home” to greet her at her Malibu home on Dec. 10. However, that did not stop fans from pestering Jenner’s children online about not showing up to the I’m A Celebrity set. One fan even sent a direct message to Brandon Jenner on Instagram about it.
“I think it might have been a ‘storyline’ the producers wanted to fabricate in order to get more empathy for Caitlyn,” Brandon reportedly told the fan. “That’s how that kind of TV works.”
Jenner’s stepdaughter Kim Kardashian agreed with Brandon, tweeting, “NO ONE from I’m A Celeb even reached out and asked for letters, appearances or anything from any Kardashians or Jenners.”
In I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, a group of celebrities are dropped into an isolated camp in Australia. Jenner took part in Series 19, finishing in sixth place. The winner was former EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa, who lasted all 22 days in the camp. Usually, eliminated celebrities have emotional reunions with their families when they leave the camp, but Hutchins was the only one to join Jenner on her way home.
There have been rumors about the nature of Hutchins’ close relationship with Jenner for years, but Hutchins said they have never been romantically involved. In a New York Times interview, Hutchins said she is dating someone who works on Wall Street and is working as Jenner’s manager.
“We were never romantically involved,” Hutchins told the Times. “Because we weren’t addressing it. I don’t feel a need to address my sex life, quite frankly, unless I want to.”
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