It has been almost 15 years since the Kardashians were catapulted to fame with their hit reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Over the years, fans of the popular E! series have got to know each family member as though they were their own relative, with every single up and down documented for the cameras.
The majority of Kourtney’s most memorable storylines on the show revolved around her relationship with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, who she started dating when she was in her late twenties.
Their rocky on-again, off-again romance lasted for 10 years and was often blighted with scandals that took a toll on Kourtney — including cheating rumors, and Scott’s alcohol and drug use.
The pair share three children, but ended their relationship for good in 2015, which was just one year after their youngest child, Reign, was born.
At the time, fans hoped that Kourtney separating from Scott would give her a new lease on life but in the years that followed she appeared to be more and more unhappy on the show.
Kourtney’s happiness noticeably nosedived at the time, and her sister Khloé Kardashian later called her and Younes’s relationship “sooooooo negative and toxic.”
The romance was also addressed in the final season of KUWTK, which aired last June. Khloé asked Kourtney if she still spoke to Younes, and she replied: “No, never.”
Khloé then asked, “Do you look back and think he might have been a bit negative for you?" to which Kourtney admitted, “Yeah.”
Kourtney also experienced an emotional breakdown shortly before her 40th birthday in 2019, when she told Khloé that approaching the milestone had made her realize that she was yet to find true peace and happiness in her life.
During an emotional scene in Keeping Up, Kourtney cried as she said: "I feel like turning 40… It almost makes you analyze like, where you’re at in your life. It’s just giving me anxiety, because then I’m like, ‘I have so much and I should just be so happy.’”
“But you’re not happy?” Khloé asked. “I mean, I am,” Kourtney responded. “But then sometimes I’m just like it makes you really like analyze just like where you’re at, and then I’m like sometimes, ‘What am I doing?’"
And toward the end of the series’ 14-year run, Kourtney was open about how she didn’t even want to shoot Keeping Up anymore, and she was confronted about not putting enough filming hours in by Khloé and their sister, Kim Kardashian, as well as members the production crew.
She ended up taking a three-month break and her relationship with her family remained fraught, with tensions coming to a head in a 2020 episode of the show that saw Kourtney and Kim get embroiled in a physical fight.
The series came to an end one year later, and the family’s new show, The Kardashians, is set to premiere on Hulu next week.
Reflecting on her time on Keeping Up earlier this year, Kourtney admitted that it had become a “really toxic environment” and accused the show of editing her to look bad, which led to her playing a "character" of herself.
“I wasn’t in the happiest place,” she told Bustle last month. “I felt like I was being almost a character. ‘This is Kourtney, and she’s in a bad mood, so even though she was laughing really at lunch, we’re going to cut out the laughing and let’s only use the annoying comment that she said.’”
And Kourtney even admitted that her onscreen persona began to seep into her personal life, saying: “I was used to always being a bitch and having no feelings.”
In short, over the years Kourtney has built up a bit of a reputation for being moody and downbeat, with her sisters often accusing her of taking things too seriously and bringing down the atmosphere.
However, there appears to have been a shift in recent months, and Kourtney seemed happier than ever in a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
She was on the show alongside Kim, Khloé, their sister Kendall Jenner, and momager, Kris Jenner, on Wednesday to discuss their upcoming Hulu series.
The interview came just hours after Kourtney had confirmed that she and her fiancé, Travis Barker, had a “practice” wedding at a Las Vegas chapel at 2 a.m. on Monday morning.
She explained on Instagram at the time that while they’d been married by an Elvis Presley impersonator, they’d not obtained a marriage license so there was nothing legal about the ceremony.
“Once upon a time in a land far, far away (Las Vegas) at 2am, after an epic night and a little tequila, a queen and her handsome king ventured out to the only open chapel with an Elvis and got married (with no license). Practice makes perfect,” she wrote.
In a selection of photos that she and Travis shared with fans, Kourtney had the biggest smile on her face, and she was still glowing with happiness during the Kimmel appearance.
In a far cry from the Kourtney that we saw in the last couple of series of Keeping Up, she was smiling, laughing, and thriving throughout the chat. The mom of three also embraced her sexy side in a chic outfit that showed off her cleavage.
She giggled coyly as Jimmy quizzed her on the Vegas wedding, and when he gifted her with a selection of china plates that had photos of her and Travis’s many PDAs printed on them, she was anything but embarrassed.
While some might recoil at the thought of being presented with intimate photos of themselves with their significant other on live television, Kourtney said that she was “obsessed” with the gift as she breezily laughed it off like a pro.
Happy, confident, and seemingly carefree, Kourtney’s new attitude struck a chord with viewers, who took to social media to point out that she was worlds apart from the Kourtney that we’d got to know over the last 15 years.
Commenting on the interview, one person wrote: “Kourt looks so happy and I am happy for her.” Another echoed: “Kourtney looks so at peace. Happy for her.”
“Kourtney was so happy, engaging and funny here and I loved it,” someone else said.
One person reflected on Kourtney being “miserable all these years” as they wrote: “Now that she’s over all that and is finally in a relationship where she’s respected and she’s happy, you can actually see her glow. She has changed so much and it’s very evident. I am really happy that she found her happiness!!”
And with the star now age 42, Kourtney has been praised for redefining the way that we view women in their 40s as she proved that the milestone could actually be the beginning of a whole new adventure.
“It's nice to see Kourtney find true love and happiness in her 40s. Her first marriage! Life doesn't end after 35, kids,” one person tweeted. “Kourtney Kardashian is the perfect example of how women hit their ‘peak’ in their 40s,” another wrote.
not to out myself as a kuwtk viewer but it's nice to see kourtney find true love and happiness in her 40s. her first marriage! life doesn't end after 35, kids.
Kourtney Kardashian is the perfect example of how women hit their ‘peak’ in their 40’s🙌🏼
“Kourtney Kardashian is 42 years old, engaged to a tattooed covered guy she's been friends with for a long ass time, and got wasted then married non-legally in Vegas by Elvis. Chick is living my dream, honestly,” someone said.
Kourtney Kardashian is 42 years old, engaged to a tattooed covered guy she's been friends with for a long ass time, and got wasted then married non-legally in Vegas by Elvis. Chick is living my dream, honestly.
“I can’t believe Kourtney Kardashian is in her 40s and she’s prolly just beginning to live the best of her life,” one social media user added.
I can’t believe Kourtney Kardashian is in her 40’s and she’s prolly just beginning to live the best of her life🥺
In fact, the reaction to Kourtney’s newfound happiness was summarized by journalist Rebecca Holman in Grazia, who wrote: “We love to see it because she’s proof that nothing is set in stone. You can reinvent yourself, have more sex, be your hottest self, find all-consuming love at any age.”
And Kourtney herself has admitted that she is in a much better place nowadays, telling Vogue in February's profile of her sister Kim that she's happier than ever in her 40s.
“When Kim and I each turned 40, we got all these text messages from our grandmother and our cousin and people over 40,” she said. “They were like, You’re going to have the best sex of your life. You’re going to be in the best place in your life.”
“I have nothing mean to say," Kourtney went on to tell Bustle last month. "I’m not a bitch anymore, and I just have feelings; like, an abundance of them.”
And I think I speak for all of us when I say that I couldn’t be happier for her.
